Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday dismissed as “emotional” and “unfitting of politicians” suggestions that projects with Russia could be cancelled in the wake of Turkey’s downing of a Russian warplane near the Syrian border. “How do you define what the Turkish air force did”, Peskov told reporters. It was not clear if Turkey had received any replies from the Russian pilots but did not release them, or if the Russian pilots never replied to the warnings or if the Russians never even heard the warnings.
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The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Kremlin chief of staff Sergey Ivanov, secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev and his deputy Rashid Nurgaliyev, Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, director of the Federal Security Service Alexander Bortnikov, director of the Foreign Intelligence Service Mikhail Fradkov, Boris Gryzlov, a permanent member of the council, and several other invited persons.
The recordings, made available to The Associated Press on Thursday, indicate the plane was warned several times that it was approaching Turkey’s airspace and asked to change course, but there is no indication of a Russian reply. Turkey insists the plane was in its airspace for 17 seconds.
Zakharova also urged Turkey to speak up about the rebels who killed the pilot.
Erdogan instead lashed out at Russian Federation, accusing it of using its fight against the Islamic State group in Syria as a pretext to target opposition groups including the Turkmen, in a bid to strengthen Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Russian Federation also tightened control over Turkish food imports over alleged safety standard violations.
“This is a great disrespect to Turkey and those who make the claims are slanderers”, he said. “If they prove it, Tayyip Erdogan would step down”.
Also, Russian state company Rosatom was contracted in 2010 to build and operate Turkey’s first nuclear power plant in a $20 billion project, though it is far from complete.
In retaliation for the downing, Russian Federation announced Wednesday it will deploy long-range air defense missiles to its base in Syria and destroy any target that may threaten its warplanes.
“These barrels are not only carrying oil but also the blood of our citizens, because with this money terrorists buy weapons and ammunition and then organise bloody attacks”, he added.
The foreign minister was referring to Tuesday’s incident, when two Turkish F-16 fighter jets on an aerial patrol intercepted an unidentified aircraft within engagement rules when it intruded into Turkish airspace close to the Syrian border.
Russian Federation is the largest destination for Turkey’s exports, and the two countries are bound by plans for a new gas pipeline and strong trade in food and tourism.
Turkish fruit and vegetables are commonplace in Russian stores, especially since Putin blocked all imports of European Union produce past year in response to Western sanctions.
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Erdogan lamented Russia’s intention to halt economic cooperation with Turkey, saying political leaders should talk first. “That is why we consider this hit treacherous”, he said.
