Turkey’s president has warned Russian Federation not to “play with fire”, as Moscow launches economic retaliation over the downing of one of its fighter jets near the Syrian border.
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Erdogan said Turkey downed the jet as a result of what he called the automatic enforcement of the rules of engagement.
On Friday, Erdogan described Putin’s criticism as “unacceptable” and asked Russian Federation to prove its “grave and unfair” accusations. And we are going to exchange some information about that: “what can be struck, and what must not be struck”.
“We see Turkey’s unwillingness to simply apologise for the incident with the plane”, he said.
Putin made the remarks after meeting with French President François Hollande and said Russian Federation will work with France and the USA in the fight against ISIS, which claimed responsibility for the November 13 Paris terror attacks.
Turkey denied on Friday it had suspended air strikes against Isis targets in Syria after the downing of a Russian warplane on the Syrian border. Turkey is part of that coalition and they had to know it was the Russian airforce working in that area.
Putin had refused Erdogan’s earlier attempts at contact, because Turkey was not ready to apologize, according to Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov. “I think this is the essence”.
The incident marked the first time in half a century that a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member had shot down a Russian plane, and it drew a harsh response from Moscow.
Ankara has argued that it did not realise the plane, which it said had violated Turkish airspace, was Russian, and claimed it issued multiple warnings to the pilot to change course.
And it would include restricting food imports from Turkey.
Erdogan said: “We wish it hadn’t happened, but it happened”. The extent of any communications between the United States and Russian militaries before or after the incident was not immediately clear. “Russia is quite concerned with increasing terrorist threats in the Republic of Turkey”, Lavrov added, after a spate of bloody attacks blamed on Islamic State extremists there.
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Putin and Hollande also believed that forces fighting the IS and other terrorist groups will not be targeted in both countries’ military operations in Syria, and vowed to support those forces on the common mission.
