Russian officials have denied claims the jet strayed into Turkish airspace.
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Speaking from inside Syria via Skype, he said the Russian jets were providing cover for advancing Syrian ground forces and their Lebanese Hezbollah allies.
Erdoğan’s remarks, made in an interview with CNN in Ankara, came after Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow is still awaiting an apology from Turkey for downing its fighter jet or an offer of reimbursement for damages.
Russian warplanes carried out heavy raids in Syria’s northern Latakia province, a monitoring group said.
It was shot down by F16 Fighting Falcon jets belonging to Turkey. “There was no contact at all”, Konstantin Murakhtin told Russian journalists at Moscow’s base in Syria after being rescued by special forces.
We have questions over the action of Turkey’s current leadership, says Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Ankara says that the planes entered Turkish airspace without authorisation and were warned to retreat ten times within a five-minute period before being shot down.
A Russian marine also died during initial attempts to rescue the jet’s pilots and small arms fire also destroyed one of two Mi-8 helicopters used in the rescue mission, a Russian military spokesman said.
The ambassador was in Tuesday’s emergency meeting of the North Atlantic Council, which Turkey called after it shot down a Russian plane that crossed into its airspace near the Syrian border.
Secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said assessments provided by other alliance members were consistent with Turkey’s claims that the Su-24 had violated its airspace. However, the Russian FM, added that the Russian government “do not plan to go to war with Turkey”, and he stressed that Russia’s attitude toward the “Turkish people has not changed”.
Both Putin and Lavrov have warned Russian citizens against traveling to Turkey in the aftermath of the incident, citing terrorist threats in the country.
The U.S. has urged caution, with President Obama calling for Turkey and Russian Federation to “talk and de-escalate” the situation.
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It comes as a further complication for David Cameron as he prepares to set out the case for RAF warplanes to join the air strikes on Islamic State (IS) extremists is Syria in a Commons statement on Thursday.
