The downing of a Russian by Turkey jet on Tuesday was one of the most
serious publicly acknowledged clashes between a NATO member and Russia
for half a century, and further complicated international efforts to
battle Islamic State militants in Syria.
President Tayyip Erdogan made no apology, saying his nation had
simply been defending its own security and the “rights of our brothers
in Syria”. He made clear Turkish policy would not change.
Russian officials expressed fury over Turkey’s action and spoke of
retaliatory measures that were likely to include curbing travel by
Russian tourists to Turkish resorts and some restrictions on trade.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described it as a planned act
and said it would affect efforts towards a political solution in Syria.
Moscow would “seriously reconsider” its relations with Ankara, he said.
Jets believed to be Russian also hit a depot for trucks waiting to go
through a major rebel-controlled border crossing with Turkey, Bab
al-Salam, the head of the crossing said.
Syrian jets have struck the area before, but if confirmed to have
been carried out by Russia, it would be one of Moscow’s closest air
strikes to Turkish soil, targeting a humanitarian corridor into
rebel-held Syria and a lifeline for ordinary Syrians crossing to Turkey.
But the Russian response was carefully calibrated, indicating Moscow
did not want to jeopardize its main objective in the region: to rally
international support for its view on how the conflict in Syria should
be resolved.
“We have no intention of fighting a war with Turkey,” Lavrov said.
Erdogan also said Ankara had no intention of escalating tensions with
Russia.
In Paris, where deadly attacks on Nov. 13 claimed by Islamic State
prompted France to step up its aerial bombing of the militant group in
Syria, President Francois Hollande expressed concern over the war of
words between Ankara and Moscow.
“We must all work to make sure that the situation (between Russia and
Turkey) de-escalates,” Hollande told a joint news conference with
German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Hollande was due to discuss Syria and the fight against Islamic State
with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday.
Putin said an advanced weapons system would be despatched to Russia’s Khmeimim air base in Syria’s Latakia province.
“I hope that this, along with other measures that we are taking, will
be enough to ensure (the safety) of our flights,” Putin told reporters,
in an apparent warning to Turkey not to try to shoot down any more
Russian planes.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia was forced to fly
missions close to the Turkish border because that was where the
militants tended to be located. Russian operations would continue, he
said.
Turkey said the downed jet had encroached on Turkish air space and
was warned repeatedly to change course, but Russian officials have said
the plane was at no time over Turkey.
The crew ejected, and one pilot was shot dead by rebels as he
parachuted to the ground. A Russian marine sent to recover the crew was
also killed in an attack by rebels.
The surviving pilot was quoted by Russian agencies as saying the crew
“knew the region like the back of their hand”, that they did not fly
over Turkish air space, and that there were no visual or radio warnings
from Turkey.
The Turkish military later released what it said was an audio
recording of a warning to a Russian fighter jet before it was shot down
near the Syrian border. A voice on the recording can be heard saying
“change your heading” in English.
The Turkish military said it had explained the rules of engagement
that led to the downing of the jet to Russian military attaches and had
tried to rescue the pilots.
At a business event in Istanbul, Erdogan said Turkey had made a “huge
effort” to prevent such incidents but that the limits of its patience
had been tested after repeatedly warning Russia about air space
incursions in recent weeks.
“Nobody should expect us to remain silent against the constant
violation of our border security, the ignoring of our sovereign rights,”
Erdogan said.
Turkey has been angered by Russian air strikes in Syria, particularly
those near its border targeting Turkmens, who are Syrians of Turkish
descent.
Russia made clear it could target Turkey economically.
“The direct consequences could lead to our refusal to take part in a
whole raft of important joint projects and Turkish companies losing
their positions on the Russian market,” Medvedev said in a statement.
Russia is a major exporter of grain and energy to Turkey, and sends
over four million tourists each year to Turkish resorts, second only to
the number of German tourists.
The Russian government has already said it will discourage Russian
tourists from traveling to Turkey, though the immediate impact will be
limited because Turkey is now in the off-season.
(with AFP, AP, Reuters)
http://neurope.eu/article/verbal-standoff-between-russia-and-turkey-continues/