ANKARA: Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said Ankara “will work with Russia and our allies to calm tensions” after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane.
Writing in the UK’s Times newspaper, Mr Davutoglu stressed that fighting Islamic State was the main priority. But he also said Turkey must protect the sovereign territory.
Russia says Turkey’s F-16 fighter jet shot down its SU-24 bomber over Syria on Tuesday. Turkey says the bomber violated its airspace. The plane crashed into a mountainside on in a rebel-held area close to the Turkish border.
One of the two Russian pilots was killed by gunfire as he parachuted from the burning jet. The other pilot was rescued by Russian and Syrian special forces.
Tensions have sharply escalated between the Ankara and Moscow over the incident, with Russian President Vladimir Putin warning of “serious consequences”.
“The downing of an unidentified jet in Turkish airspace was not – and is not – an act against a specific country,” Mr Davutoglu wrote in the Times.
He pointed out that “Turkey took action, based on standing rules of engagement”, adding that “the measures to defend our territory will remain in place”. But the prime minister also stressed that “the necessary discussions are now taking place”.
Mr Davutoglu warned that the international community “must not turn on itself”, urging a united front in fighting IS.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier rejected calls by Russia to apologise, saying Ankara did not need to say sorry for the violation of its airspace.
However, he told France 24 television: “If we had known it was a Russian plane, maybe we would have warned it differently”.
On Thursday, Mr Putin insisted it was “impossible” for Turkey not to have known it was shooting at a Russian plane.
“We had informed our American colleagues in advance about where, when and on which echelons our pilots will work. The American side, which heads the coalition in which Turkey takes part, knew about the time and the place where our planes were,” he said.
