Russia, France Agree To Cooperate In The Fight Against ISIS

Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected Turkey’s version of Tuesday’s events, likening them to “a stab in the back”. “They say, ‘Consider it a guest visit.’ I replied that one should not come uninvited”, Erdogan said at a rally in the northeastern Turkish city of Bayburt. Turkey denied on Friday it had suspended air strikes against Isis targets in Syria after the downing of a Russian warplane on the Syrian border.

Speaking to his supporters in northeast Turkey, Erdogan said he “would like to meet [Putin] face to face in Paris”, during the upcoming climate meet.

“What we agreed, and this is important, is to strike only terrorists and Daesh and to not strike forces that are fighting terrorism”, Hollande said, according to CNBC.

On bilateral cooperation with France, he said the aim was to “establish constructive work by our military specialists to avoid duplication and avoid strikes on those territories and groups which are themselves ready to fight terrorism”.

But the fundamental issues remain, with a disjointed and inadequate strategy for fighting Islamic State and ending the civil war in Syria a major reason for the group’s rise.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has warned Russia “not to play with fire” in the wake of a crisis between Ankara and Moscow following the downing of a Russian jet by Turkey on November 24 near the Syrian border.

He said, “Russia is welcomed to be part of this broad-based coalition against ISIS”.

But Putin insisted it was “impossible” for Turkey not to have known it was shooting at a Russian plane.

Moreover, Putin dismissed as “rubbish” Turkey’s claim that it didn’t know the nationality of the plane when the Turkish Air Force hit it.

He said the conversation took place during their meeting at the G-20 summit in Antalya, with Mr Putin urging Turkey to accept the Russian planes “as guests”.

Turkey claims it downed the Russian plane that entered its airspace after sending repeated warnings to the pilot.

He said under Russian law punitive steps could include halting joint economic projects, restricting financial and trade transactions and changing customs duties. Russian Federation however said no warning had been given and that the aircraft did not violate Turkish airspace.