Russian, Turkish ministers meet for first time since downing of Russian jet

Prior to the downing of the jet, the two nations had been on civil terms.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Thursday after talks in Baku with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev that the TANAP gas project could be completed before its original target, 2018.

Turkey’s gas grid BOTAS and Qatar’s national oil energy company inked a memorandum of understanding during Erdogan’s visit on December 2 which will pave the way for Turkey to import LNG in both a regular and long-term manner, according to Turkish officials.

“No one can blame Turkey, no one can expect an apology from Turkey”, Davutoglu said in the speech, which was televised on Turkish television.

The rapidly escalating tension between Turkey and Russia after the downing of the Russian jet by the Turkish air force has reached a new level with Kremlin issuing an executive order containing a number of “special economic measures” against Turkey.

At a meeting during the G20 summit in November, 2015, the Russian and Turkish leaders agreed to extend a pipeline project which will supply natural gas to Turkey and Europe.

“Russia is Turkey’s biggest natural gas supplier but it is not the only one”, Erdogan said while addressing the Turkey Innovation Week in Istanbul.

“Neither our conscience, nor our history, nor our morals could have allowed (the plane) to bomb innocent people by violating (our border)”, Davutoglu said.

However, after the temporary suspension of the TurkStream energy project, between Turkey and Russia, and the threat of the Russian President Vladimir Putin that more sanctions against Turkey are about to come, the Turkish government tries to enhance ties with other energy export-oriented countries.

Davutoglu said the sanctions would be detrimental to both sides.

“It’s important to keep the channels of dialogue open”, he said.