The anti-Turkish statements made by Russian authorities are similar to the spirit of former USSR, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said earlier.
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As Turkey is an energy-dependent country and meets about 92 percent of its oil and 98 percent of its natural gas demand through imports, Azerbaijan with its vast hydrocarbon reserves in the Caspian region, is strategically important.
Turkish fighter jets shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border on Tuesday (Nov 24) after repeated warnings over air space violations, but Moscow said it could prove the jet had not left Syrian air space.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said he offered his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, Turkey’s condolences over the death of a Russian pilot.
Since the incident Russian officials have also accused Turkey of involvement in an illicit oil trade with the Islamic State group _ an accusation Turkey denies.
Cavusoglu said: “We are at a point where we do not want to be right now”.
He emphasized that Turkey considers it a great contradiction the Russia’s decision on economic sanctions against Turkey in connection with the crisis, the cause of which was not Turkey. “We will again, a few times remind them of what they did, and we will make them regret it more than once”, he said.
The Turkish and Russian foreign ministers, meanwhile, met on the sidelines of a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Serbia’s capital, Belgrade on Thursday, the first at a senior level between the two countries since the plane’s downing.
Russian President Vladimir Putin described the move as a war crime on Thursday and said the Kremlin would punish Ankara with additional sanctions.
Later on Thursday Davutoglu visited Azerbaijan with the aim of increasing gas imports through the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP), a key project due to bring 16 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe. According to Interfax, the embassy source also said that similar restrictions applied to foreign reporters in Russia, advising journalists to “contact the Russian Foreign Ministry on the matter”.
Turkey is the second-largest consumer of Russian natural gas.
Attending the OSCE meeting, German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier called for unity.
“We have the proof in our hands. We reject it outright, and frankly, we question some of these allegations that have been leveled against the family”, he said.
Negotiations over the pipeline also hit snags even before Turkey shot down the Russian jet.
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Erdogan warned Wednesday that “if Russia’s disproportionate reactions continue, we will be forced to take our own measures”.
