Russia to reassess relations with Turkey after Su-24 incident - Lavrov

MOSCOW, November 25. /TASS/. Friendly relations between the peoples of the Russian Federation and Turkey do not depend on politicians but bilateral ties may be seriously reviewed, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Wednesday after a phone conversation with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu. "I am convinced that friendly relations between the Russian and Turkish peoples do not depend on the actions of these or those politicians," Lavrov said. "But as for the current stage of our relations, the deals that we struck with the Turkish government, we will certainly seriously review, reconsider what is currently going on in our relations, taking into account the attack on our plane." He said the conversation with Cavusoglu lasted about an hour, adding that the Turkish minister expressed condolences over the death of Russian servicemen and expressed regret over what happened on Tuesday, but at the same time was trying to justify the actions of Turkey’s Air Force and the right "to deliver strikes at airspace violators", saying relevant warnings were issued to Russia back in early October, when a Russian plane once flew for a few seconds into Turkish airspace. "Such warnings were indeed issued to us," the Russian minister said. "But that episode received a comprehensive explanation on our part." "Our objective control data clearly state that the [Su-24] plane was in Syrian airspace, where it was shot down and fell 4 kilometers from the Turkish border," Lavrov said. He noted that according to Turkish and NATO data, the Russian bomber was in Turkish airspace for 17 seconds, and in that connection recalled a similar incident three years ago, when Syrians shot down a Turkish plane that violated Syria’s airspace, but Tayyip Erdogan, who was then prime minister, speaking in parliament said that "a brief violation of the border can never be an excuse to use force." Lavrov also reported that in response to calls by the Turkish foreign minister to preserve good relations and organize dialogue on what happened, he cited the Russian president’s words that "dialogue should be promoted before using force in a situation that raises many questions." Besides, he expressed regret that "following yesterday’s meeting of the NATO Council, which Turkey convened at the level of permanent representatives in Brussels, rather strange assessments could be heard, which contained no regret or condolences but in essence aimed to cover up what the Turkish Air Force did." "The same strange reaction was heard on the part of the European Union," Lavrov stated. A Sukhoi Su-24 bomber of Russia’s Aerospace Forces was on Tuesday downed by an air-to-air missile fired by a Turkish F-16 fighter jet when the Russian plane was at an altitude of 6,000 meters 4 kilometers from Turkey’s border. Later the Russian Defense Ministry specified that the Su-24 was downed when it was returning to the Khmeimim airbase in Syria. "Objective control data analysis unambiguously showed that there was no violation of Turkey’s airspace," the ministry said. However, Turkey’s General Staff claims that the Turkish fighter jet shot down a plane that violated the country’s airspace. A statement circulated by the Turkish military says the plane’s crew received 10 warnings for five minutes. Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with King of Jordan Abdullah II on Tuesday that Ankara’s attack against the Russian Sukhoi Su-24 plane, which took part in Russia’s antiterrorism operation in Syria and did not present a threat to Turkey, was a "stab in Russia’s back" delivered by terrorists’ accomplices. Russia’s Aerospace Forces started delivering pinpoint strikes in Syria at facilities of the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist organizations, which are banned in Russia, on September 30, 2015, on a request from Syrian President Bashar Assad. The air group comprises over 50 aircraft and helicopters, including Sukhoi Su-24M, Su-25SM and state-of-the-art Su-34 aircraft. They were redeployed to the Khmeimim airbase in the province of Latakia. On October 7, four missile ships of the Russian Navy’s Caspian Flotilla fired 26 Kalibr cruise missiles (NATO codename Sizzler) at militants’ facilities in Syria. On October 8, the Syrian army passed to a large-scale offensive. Over 2,000 terrorist facilities have been destroyed by Russian aircraft since the start of the air operation. The Russian Federation does not plan to take part in ground operations in Syria. According to UN statistics, fighting between Syrian government troops and militants has killed more than 200,000 people and displaced millions since its start in 2011.

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