Russia warns Turkey of economic revenge

Moscow, November 25

An angry Russia on Wednesday said it viewed the downing of its jet near the Turkish border with Syria as a planned act and Moscow would “seriously reconsider” its relations with Ankara. In Istanbul, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan defended the action, saying it had simply acted to defend its own security and the “rights of our brothers” in Syria.

Even as the situation remains tense between the two nations, neither side has shown any interest in a military escalation. “We do not intend to wage a war on Turkey. Our attitude to the Turkish people has not changed. We have questions over the action of Turkey’s current leadership,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who cancelled a trip to Istanbul scheduled for Wednesday, said.

Russia made clear it will exact economic revenge through trade and tourism. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said important joint projects could be cancelled and Turkish firms could lose Russian market share.

When asked if future talks were being prepared, Lavrov said there were no plans to send any officials to Turkey and that Moscow did not plan to host any Turkish visits. 

A Turkish foreign ministry spokesman said on Wednesday Lavrov and his counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu had agreed to meet in the coming days, a statement later denied by Moscow. 

It was not immediately clear whether Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s planned visit to Moscow on December 15 would be cancelled.

Speaking at a business event in Istanbul, Erdogan said the Russian jet had been fired at while in Turkish airspace but had crashed inside Syria, although he said parts of it landed in Turkey and injured two Turkish citizens.

“We have no intention of escalating this incident. We are only defending our own security and the rights of our brothers,” Erdogan said, adding Turkey’s policy in Syria would not change.

“We will continue our humanitarian efforts on both sides of the (Syrian) border. We are determined to take all necessary measures to prevent a new wave of immigration.” Turkey has been angered by Russian air strikes in Syria targeting Turkmens near its border, who are Syrians of Turkish descent. It had repeatedly warned Russia over airspace violations since October and last week summoned the Russian ambassador to protest against the bombing of Turkmen villages.

Putin has said Russian planes had in no way threatened Turkey, but had merely been carrying out their duty to fight Islamic State militants inside Syria. Erdogan dismissed that version of events.

“It has been said that they were there to fight Daesh,” he said of Russian air strikes, and using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.

“First of all, the Daesh terrorist organisation does not have a presence in this region of Latakia and the north where Turkmens are based. Let’s not fool ourselves.” He said Turkey had made a “huge effort” to prevent an incident like the downing of the Russian aircraft, but that the limits of its patience had been tested.

Putin on Wednesday accused Turkey’s political leaders of encouraging the “Islamisation” of Turkish society, something he described as a deeper problem than the downing of the jet. — Agencies