Diplomatic crisis that started with the downing of Russian warplane by Turkish forces continues. During the day, statements from Turkey and Russia have been made one after the other.
Doğan News Agency (DHA): Syria shoots Turkmen Mountain
DHA reported that troops of Syrian government conduct new airstrikes on Turkmen Mountain.
Davutoğlu: we don’t intend to create tension
Stating that the violated airspace is also a part of NATO’s airspace, Turkey’s Prime Minister Davutoğlu said that they don’t intend to create a tension between Russia and Turkey and the communication channels are open: “Our economic, political and cultural relations with Russia is strong. We always act carefully to avoid such incidents that can affect our relations with Russia. We don’t intend to create tension between Russia and Turkey. Russia is a friend and an important partner of us. The communication channels between us are open now.”
Peskov: no dialog for now
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that Russia will continue to conduct airstrikes that targets ISIS on the regions near Syrian border.
At the press conference, Peskov stated that Putin and Erdoğan haven’t talked to each other yet. He also added: “We began to doubt Turkey’s willingness to take part in the fight against terrorism. On the other hand, we want to form a new coalition in order to fight against ISIS.”
Putin: if such incidents happen again, we have to react
“We cannot rule out possible incidents, and if such incidents happen again, we have to react. And our citizens in Turkey, of course, could be exposed to considerable danger, and the Russian Foreign Ministry is obliged to warn them.”
NATO and UN called for calm
Jens Stoltenberg, the Secretary General of NATO, made a statement on the downing of the Russian warplane and he said that there is an important situation and they should try to decrease the tension.
Turkey informed NATO about the downing and Stoltenberg stated that the information they have is coherent with the information that Turkey provided. He also added: “Russia’s purpose should be to destroy ISIS. As far as we saw, Russia’s operations mostly targeted regions where there are no ISIS members. We should focus on ISIS territories. ISIS is our common enemy.”
UN made a similar statement. Stéphane Dujarric, the Spokesperson for Secretary General of UN Ban Ki-Moon, stated that the Secretary General watches the developments about the downing of Russian warplane with deep concern.
