Russia MFA considers expelling Russian journalists from Turkey unacceptable

In particular, they discussed methods of dealing with the IS terrorist organization (ISIL, ISIS or Daesh), as well as the presence of Turkish troops in Iraq.

On Saturday, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Turkey was seeking and alternative to Russian energy supply.

Erdogan said that he spoke with Ruhani on the phone and told him: “You will pay a high price if it continues like that”. “The journalists were charged with ‘espionage, disclosure of state secrets and terrorism.’ They are facing life in prison”, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

According to Rossiya 1 TV channel, the journalists arrived in Turkey on an assignment “to make a package on what is actually happening on the border between Turkey and Syria, and to clarify the situation with the traffic across the border of militants and illegal oil tank trucks”.

Bilgic said Turkey pursued “principled policies” for a peaceful solution to problems in its region.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation considers the behavior of Turkey as unacceptable for expelling the staff of “Russia-1”.

Russia has rejected Turkey’s criticism after a sailor on a Russian naval ship allegedly brandished a missile launcher as the vessel passed through Istanbul.

Cavusoglu did not provide details but said: “The ship’s passage in such a way was an openly provocative passage”.

Turkey called a Sunday meeting with the Russian Ambassador to inform Russia that counterattacks to similar provocations in the future will come from “the most unexpected places”.

The alleged incident came with Ankara and Moscow at loggerheads after Turkey downed a Russian jet on its border with Syria last month, sparking fury and economic sanctions from the Kremlin.

Murad Sezer / ReutersThe Russian Navy’s large landing ship Caesar Kunikov sets sail in the Bosphorus towards the Black Sea, in Istanbul, Turkey.

“I’d like to stress that the Russian ship didn’t violate a single article of the 1936 Montreux Convention regulating navigation in the straits, as well as the provisions of relevant Turkish instructions”.