In a telephone conversation, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, discussed the latest Syrian developments, including Turkey’s recent downing of a Russian fighter jet near the Syrian border, Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hossein Jaber-Ansari said on Wednesday.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday that his country does not wish to escalate tensions with Russian Federation over the downing of the plane.
It also stated that the pilot had been returned to a military base while noting that the other pilot was shot dead from the ground.
One of its two pilots was killed by militants after bailing out, while his crewmate was rescued by Syrian army commandos and delivered in good condition to the Russian base.
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.
“We stand in solidarity with Turkey and support the territorial integrity of our North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally, Turkey, ” he said after an emergency meeting of the bloc.
He also announced that Russian Federation would be deploying its advanced S-400 air defense missile system at the Khmeimim Airbase in Syria. One Marine serving in the army on contract was killed.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said Turkey’s political leaders had been encouraging the “Islamization” of Turkish society, something he said was a problem, Russian agencies quoted him as saying.
Talks in Vienna on ending the Syrian conflict remain deadlocked over the fate of Assad, an ally of Russian Federation and Iran that the US and its Turkish, Gulf and European allies say must go.
Orlov accused Turkey of being an “accomplice” of Islamic State extremists and playing an ambiguous role in Syria’s civil war.
Turkey’s “criminal actions” show it’s protecting the terrorist group as there’s a “direct financial interest” of certain Turkish officials in oil products from refineries controlled by Islamic State, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday.
However he played down concerns of escalation of violence among the worldwide players involved in Syria.
At the same time, however, he strongly defended the shooting down of the Su-24, warning “no one should expect Turkey to stay silent to border violations or the violation of its rights”.
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