“We expressed our sadness and expressed our condolences for the Russian pilot who lost his life”, Cavusoglu told Turkish media, as quoted by RT.
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Agreement on the pipeline had been in limbo for months when Russia said it would not be carried out, amid tensions with Turkey following the downing of a Russian plane by the country’s air forces last Tuesday.
Ahmet Davutoglu speaking in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Friday again defended Turkey’s action and said Ankara would not apologize for “defending its borders”. Davutoglu insisted Turkey didn’t know the nationality of the aircraft it downed inside Turkish air space.
Since then, relations between North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member Turkey and Russia have deteriorated with the Russian side threatening sanctions. “We would not apologise for defending our borders”. Around 6 billion cubic meters will be delivered to Turkey and the rest will be supplied to Europe. However, after the temporary suspension of the TurkStream energy project, between Turkey and Russia, and the threat of the Russian President Vladimir Putin that more sanctions against Turkey are about to come, the Turkish government tries to enhance ties with other energy export-oriented countries.
Russia’s defense ministry said on Wednesday (December 2) it had proof that Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and his family were benefiting from the illegal smuggling of oil from Islamic State-held territory in Syria and Iraq. Moscow has already banned some Turkish food imports as part of a wider retaliatory sanctions package. It also suspended talks between the two countries over the major TurkStream pipeline project, which would carry Russian natural gas to western Turkey.
The Russian foreign minister said he heard nothing new at the meeting, while his Turkish counterpart said the crisis was on the way to cooling down. The start of the meeting on the sidelines of the ministerial council of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe was also confirmed by a diplomatic source in Belgrade. “We heard nothing new”.
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“We gave our response to the claims that have been raised”, Cavusoglu said after the talks.
