As a response to the incident, which was seen as a hostile act, Russian Federation suspended military contacts with Turkey and imposed economic sanctions.
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Russian Federation has retaliated by deploying long-range air defense missile systems to its base in Syria, 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of the border with Turkey.
“I don’t expect Russian Federation to take a step that would put Turkey’s supply security at risk unless the tensions between the two countries escalate dramatically”, Danis said in an e-mail.
Ahmet Davutoglu speaking in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Friday again defended Turkey’s action and said Ankara would not apologize for “defending its borders”.
In a joint news conference with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev in the capital Baku, Davutoglu also said Turkey was willing to share details of its recent jet downing incident with Russian Federation. “Maybe there will be something new compared to what was said publicly”, Lavrov said in Nicosia, Cyprus on Wednesday, according to TASS.
Moscow says its warplanes have been targeting terrorist groups near Syria’s border with Turkey, while Ankara says the Russian airstrikes have been aimed at moderate militant groups made of ethnic Turks who oppose Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime. It is expected to have a capacity of 16 billion cubic meters of gas a year and cost about $10 billion.
Novak said in Moscow on December 3 that sanctions announced by the Kremlin have shut down “an intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation” that included talks on the pipeline project. “Where the flag of Azerbaijan will be, there will be the flag of Turkey”, Davutoglu said.
Earlier this week Erdogan visited Qatar to explore the possibility of buying more liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes from its Gulf Arab ally.
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Perhaps mindful of that very fact, Turkey focused its attention on getting a tangible benefit, namely a steep gas discount from Gazprom, rather than settle for the promise of large transit fees (unlike Gazprom’s apologists in Bulgaria). Erdogan is scheduled to visit Turkmenistan, another gas exporter, next week.
