Davutoglu stated that “we’ll take from here not only the Baku wind, but also greetings”.
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A Turkish official says the foreign ministers of Turkey and Russia met Thursday on the sidelines of a Europe security meeting, their first high-level bilateral talks since Turkey downed a Russian fighter jet late last month.
“Those who believe that economic sanctions against an honorable nation like Turkey can bring it to its knees will be mistaken”, Davutoglu said. Turkey insists the aircraft violated its airspace despite repeated warnings. “We would not apologise for defending our borders”.
Meanwhile Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier on Thursday vowed never to forget Turkey’s downing of one of Moscow’s warplanes, as he lashed out once again at the leadership in Ankara over the incident.
The package of sanctions include bans on some Turkish exports, a prohibition on hiring of Turkish nationals from next year and a suspension of visa-free travel for Turkish citizens. As for Turkey, they are Russia’s biggest buyers and consumers of natural gas, without which they would have none.
One was killed while parachuting to the ground – in circumstances yet to be fully explained – while a second was rescued by Russian and Syrian forces from the Syrian side of the border.
The Gazprom’s project will involve construction of a 910km offshore natural gas pipeline, as well as a 180km onshore pipeline to transport Russia’s gas reserves through the Black Sea to Turkey’s transportation network.
Putin in his speech accused Turkey of a “treacherous war crime” in downing a Russian warplane at the border with Syria. Davutoglu said in the joint press conference that the two countries would do “whatever is needed for the TANAP project”, to finish ahead of schedule.
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The plane incident has plunged the two countries’ relationship into a crisis, with Russian Federation demanding an official apology from the Turkish leadership.
