The HILL – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday expressed regret over Turkey’s downing of a Russian jet, saying his country “wished it hadn’t happened,” ABC News is reporting on 11/28/15.
Erdogan’s comments to supporters in Balikesir are the first public expression of regret since Turkish jets on Tuesday shot down the Russian warplane, claiming the plane was flying in Turkish airspace.
“We are truly saddened by this incident,” Erdogan said. “We wish it hadn’t happened as such, but unfortunately such a thing has happened. I hope that something like this doesn’t occur again.”
Erdogan on Saturday said neither country should allow the incident to escalate, leading to “saddening consequences.” He went on to call for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a climate conference in Paris this week.
Erdogan continued to defend Turkey’s actions as well as criticize Russia’s actions in Syria.
“If we allow our sovereign rights to be violated … then the territory would no longer be our territory,” Erdogan said.
Putin has called Turkey’s actions a “treacherous stab in the back” and maintained that the downed plane was flying over Syrian airspace, not Turkish.
Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said Friday that the Kremlin has refused multiple offers from Erdogan to meet because “we have seen that the Turkish side hasn’t been ready to offer an elementary apology over the plane incident.”
The incident comes as Russian-Turkish tensions are at a low point over the four-year civil war in Syria, where Syria’s backers, Russia and Iran, have clashed with the U.S.-led international coalition against ISIS.
It has also raised concerns for the Obama administration, particularly over how the U.S. should respond if Russia retaliates against Turkey, a NATO ally.
Speaking with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier this week, Secretary of State John Kerry “stressed the need for both sides not to allow this incident to escalate tensions between their two countries or in Syria,” and “underscored the importance of progress toward a diplomatic solution in Syria continuing unabated.”
Russia is preparing a broad swath of economic sanctions against Turkey and has restricted tourist travel into the nation in response to the plane’s downing.
Turkey on Saturday issued a travel warning to its citizens, warning that any non-essential travel to Russia should be delayed until “the situation becomes clear.”