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The Russian S-400

Erdogan warns Putin: Don't play with fire

Turkish president denies his country is buying oil from ISIS, and insists downing of Russian plane was according to rules of engagement, while trying to lower the flames over the incident.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Friday warned Russia not to "play with fire" in a dispute over the downing of a Russian warplane this week, but added he did not want to harm relations with Moscow.

 

 

"We very sincerely recommend to Russia not to play with fire," Erdogan told supporters during a speech in Bayburt, in northeast Turkey. "We really attach a lot of importance to our relations with Russia... We don't want these relations to suffer harm in any way."

 

He had said that Turkey did not down the Russian aircraft intentionally, but rather was adhering to "automatic rules of engagement."

 

The Turkish president also said he was "uncomfortable" with Russia's efforts to take the dispute into other areas of the relations between the two countries.

 

Erdogan (Photo: AP)
Erdogan (Photo: AP)

 

Erdogan was likely referring to recent reports that Russia had banned Turkish imports and goods from crossing into its border.

 

Erdogan said he may speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a climate summit in Paris next week, a discussion that would be welcomed by the United States and EU, both of which fear the spat has distracted from the battle against Islamic State militants in Syria.

 

But Putin's aide said on Friday that the Russian president has refused to contact Erdogan because Ankara does not want to apologize for the downing of the Russian warplane.

 

"We see Turkey's unwillingness to simply apologize for the incident with the plane," Ushakov told reporters when asked why Putin has refused to talk with Erdogan.

 

Ushakov said the Kremlin had received a request from Ankara regarding a possible meeting between the two leaders at a climate conference in Paris on Nov. 30 and that Putin would be informed about it later on Friday.

 

In Paris, Putin will meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the Syrian crisis and Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He will also meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel for talks about Syria and Ukraine, Ushakov said.

 

The speaker of the lower house of the Russian parliament, the Duma, was quoted by Reuters as saying that aside from the use of international law, Russia reserved the right to respond the downing militarily.

 

Sergey Naryshkin arrived in Romania on Friday for a meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation.

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin recently ended security cooperation with Ankara and asked Russian citizens to avoid visiting Turkey.

 

On Wednesday, Minister of Agriculture Alexander Tkachev said that Russia may substitute imports of vegetables from Turkey with those supplied from Iran, Israel, and Morocco due to a "breach in sanitary regulations."

 

Relations between the former Cold War antagonists have hit a recent nadir after Turkey shot down the jet near the Syrian border.

 


פרסום ראשון: 11.27.15, 14:49
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