Turkey: Russia Should Apologize Over Downed Jet, Not Us


But Russia didn’t just settle with hurting Turkey in it’s pocket. On top of it’s economic measures against Ankara, Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin himself, have now accused Turkey of aiding and abetting ISIS in neighboring Syria, an accusation that has long been leveled at Turkey given it’s failure to bomb the terrorist group even as it bombs the Kurds fighting it. According to The Guardian:

“In response to Russian accusations that Turkey has been buying oil and gas from Islamic State in Syria, Erdoğan said: ‘Shame on you. It’s clear where Turkey buys its oil and gas … Those who claim we are buying oil from Daesh [an Arabic acronym for Isis] like this must prove their claims. Nobody can slander this country.’

Russia has insisted that its plane never strayed from Syrian airspace, while Turkey says it crossed into its airspace for 17 seconds. The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said that even if this was the case, shooting the plane down was an extreme over-reaction and looked like a pre-planned provocation.

The plane’s pilot and a marine sent on a rescue mission died. The surviving navigator claimed in an interview with Russian television that he received no audio or visual warning before the plane was shot down. The Turks have released audio recordings of what they say are radio warnings issued to the plane.

The Russia-Turkey spat makes work harder for François Hollande, who held talks with Putin as part of a diplomatic marathon aimed at building a wide-ranging coalition to launch airstrikes against Isis. ‘I’m in Moscow with you to figure out how we can act together in order to coordinate our actions in order to hit this terrorist group and look for political solutions for Syria,’ said Hollande in televised comments before the two presidents retired for talks.”

Additionally, Reuters quotes Erdogan as saying:

“Our pilots and our armed forces, they simply fulfilled their duties, which consisted of responding to … violations of the rules of engagement. I think this is the essence.”

Sources: ReutersThe Guardian

Picture: Valeriy Osipov on Flickr



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