Kerry Heads to Moscow for Robust Syria, Ukraine Talks

The incident has been viewed as the latest in a series of minor incidents since Turkey shot down a Russian warplane which violated Turkish airspace over the Syrian border on November 24. “We have always been in favour of overcoming tensions through dialogue rather than conflict”, Cavusoglu said after the incident, according to BBC.

“I suppose the plan could have been designed by the Erdogan team to present Russian Federation as an aggressor if the incident ended in a tragedy”, Colonel General (Retired) Leonid Ivashov told REN TV, adding that Turkish authorities would have benefited from a deadly outcome, reported Russia’s Sputnik news agency.

Karlov set an apology from the Turkish side for the downing of the Russian jet leading to the deaths of two Russian soldiers as the first condition, while he said they expected the people responsible for this act to be found and held account.

“The crew of the Russian patrol ship Smetlivy which was located 22 kilometres (13.7 miles) from the Greek island of Lemnos in the northern part of the Aegean Sea avoided collision with a Turkish seiner”, the ministry said, adding that the crew had fired small arms to warn the boat.

The Foreign Ministry also said it was surprised by the “ridiculous” claim of Russia’s worldwide isolation, which Washington is voicing ahead of John Kerry’s visit to Moscow on December 15.

Oxu.Az reports citing Turkish media that the due statement came from Russian ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov. In fact, Moscow terminated all military cooperation and implemented economic sanctions against Ankara including a ban on imports of some Turkish product.

The captain of the Turkish boat said he was unaware that his vessel had been shot at.

Cavusoglu also emphasized that Russia put itself in a “ridiculous position” after Putting accused Turkey of downing the Russian fighter jet to protect oil supplies from the Islamic States.

“No one believed it”, he said.

Cavusoglu further questions Russia’s real motives in the fight against Islamic State, claiming just 8 percent of the Russian airstrikes have targeted ISIS, while 92 percent have been against other groups hostile to Assad.

The body of the dead pilot was handed over to the Russian military staff in Ankara, from where it was taken to Russia.