In response to the Tuesday incident, Russia has imposed restrictions on tourist travel with Turkey, while a large number of Turkish trucks are left stranded at the Russian border.
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But the Russian President is refusing to contact Mr Erdogan directly because Ankara does not want to apologise, a Putin aide said. “I hope something like this doesn’t happen again”, he said, adding that both sides should approach the issue in a more positive way.
Putin has called Turkey’s actions a “treacherous stab in the back” and maintained that the downed plane was flying over Syrian airspace, not Turkish.
Turkey’s president has warned Russian Federation not to “play with fire”, as Moscow launches economic retaliation over the downing of one of its fighter jets near the Syrian border.
Mr Erdogan’s friendly overture however, came after he again vigorously defended Turkey’s action and criticiced Russian Federation for its operations in Syria.
Among the measures announced were restrictions on certain imports of some Turkish goods, a ban on charter flights between the two countries and and an end to Russian tour operators selling holidays trips to Turkey.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that “Turkey’s reactions to the incident… reminds of the Theatre of the Absurd”.
Erdogan told supporters during a speech in Bayburt in northeast Turkey on Friday that Russian Federation “is playing with fire to go as far as mistreating our citizens who have gone to Russia”.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday said Turkey does not buy any oil from Islamic State, insisting that his country’s fight against the jihadist group is “undisputed”.
Turkey on Saturday issued a travel warning to its citizens, warning that any non-essential travel to Russian Federation should be delayed until “the situation becomes clear”.
Meanwhile, Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan continued their war of words in the wake of the Russian plane being shot down, with Putin demanding an apology and Erdogan refusing.
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“The focus should be to tackle, head-on, the worldwide threat that Daesh (ISIS) poses, securing the future of Syria and seeking a solution to the current refugee crisis”, he wrote.
