Turkey refuses to apologise for gunning down Russian plane
Moscow is reportedly preparing wide-ranging economic sanctions against Ankara after the incident, including putting a halt to joint investment projects.
Turkey on Thursday said it will not apologise for downing a Russian warplane along the Syrian border. Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told AFP, “We don’t need to apologise on an occasion that we are right. But we said on the phone [to Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday] that we are sorry.” Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier that his country had not received any apology from Turkey.
The BBC reported that Russia is preparing wide-ranging economic sanctions against Turkey after the incident. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said the measures could include putting a halt to joint investment projects.
The Turkish Army on Wednesday released an audio clip that purportedly shows that the country had warned the Russian jet to turn back before it was downed near the Syrian border on Tuesday. Earlier in the day, the Russian fighter pilot who had survived the gunning down of the plane said that Turkey had not issued any warnings.