Rabat, Morocco (TMT)- The downing of a Russian jet by two Turkish F-16s near the Syrian border has errupted dangerous tensions between Turkey and Russia.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told France 24 in an exclusive interview that he wanted to talk with the Russian President about what happened, “but Putin has not returned my call,” Erdogan said.
Erdogan stressed taht the Russian jet “ignored repeated warnings over five minutes,” 10 warnings according to the Turkish authorities.
“Had we known it was a Russian plane we may have acted differently,”Erdogan said.
“But our pilots know the rules of engagement and have to do their duty to protect Turkish airspace,” the Turkish president stressed.
Just before that, Erdogan told supporters during a speech in Bayburt, in northeast Turkey, “We very sincerely recommend to Russia not to play with fire.”
“We really attach a lot of importance to our relations with Russia… We don’t want these relations to suffer harm in any way,” Erdogan stressed.
The Moroccan Times.
