Turkey, Russia Hold First High-Level Talks Since Plane Downing

Erdogan on Thursday said Turkey had proof Russia was involved in the illegal oil trade with IS, countering “immoral” Russian allegations. “Our hope is that they will give up their baseless claims”.

Mr Putin repeated his condemnation of Turkey’s oil dealings with Isis and its shooting-down of a Russian jet last week. “And evidently Allah chose to punish the ruling clique in Turkey by depriving them of their intelligence and reason”.

“We have reached an agreement [with Azerbaijan] to realize the TANAP project not in 2018 as planned, before it [2018]”, Davutoglu told a joint press conference with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Baku.

Russia’s plans to significantly grow its gas export capacity to Europe through the expansion of the Nord Stream pipeline and the construction of the TurkStream link are facing an increasingly uncertain future, with energy minister Alexander Novak on Thursday forced to address issues facing both projects.

Davutoglu said that if Armenia withdraws from Azerbaijan’s occupied lands, it will be able to join the energy projects. “The accusations should end”.

Turkish dailies on Friday mainly dedicated their front pages to the escalating tension between Ankara and Moscow over the shooting down of a Russian warplane that Turkey said it violated its airspace on November 24.

He recalled Ankara’s support for Moscow after the US and European Union imposed sanctions on Russian Federation for its role in the conflict in Ukraine. One of the two pilots was killed by opposition militants after parachuting from the plane while the other was later freed in an operation by the Syrian Army.

The authenticity of the video was not immediately clear, but Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov confirmed Thursday that the victim was Chechen and called for revenge.

Turkey is looking for alternatives to Russian grain after the dispute between Moscow and Ankara over the shooting down of a Russian warplane placed a question mark over future deliveries and put new deals on hold, traders and analysts said.

Mr Lavrov said his country’s aim is to ensure that it does not allow the “overflow” of terrorist threats in Turkey from making their way into Russian Federation.

“Modern Russian weapons have worked efficiently, and the priceless experience of its use in combat will be analyzed to help further improve our weapons”, he said. “It is being prepared to become a Russian military base”, the military source said.