German reconnaissance planes will soon arrive in Turkey’s Incirlik air base to support the U.S.-led coalition’s fight against Islamic State, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Friday.
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Already suffering under sanctions imposed on Russia in the wake of previous adventures, Russians will now be forced to endure additional strictures after Vladimir Putin issued a weekend directive slashing business ties with Turkey. He also reiterated that Turkey did not know which nation the plane was from, and that it was in Turkish airspace.
No one believes in the anti-Turkish propaganda but Russian authorities, said the prime minister. “We would not apologize for defending our borders”.
Earlier Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller said Turkey could directly appeal to Russian Federation for negotiations over the proposed Turkish Stream natural gas pipeline – if the project is a priority for Ankara. In October, Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller said the company will only construct 2 lines of the pipeline so far as the Nord Stream 2 pipeline can cover Europe’s growing demand for gas.
On Tuesday, a source familiar with the situation told RIA Novosti that talks on the Turkish Stream were suspended after a November 24 incident in which a Turkish fighter jet shot down a Russian Su-24 bomber in Syria.
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“Neither our conscience, nor our history, nor our morals could have allowed (the plane) to bomb innocent people by violating (our border)”, Davutoglu said.
