Turkish President Warns Russia Not to Play with Fire
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Russia not to play with fire amid growing tensions between the two countries over Ankara’s move to target a Russian military aircraft over Syria.
Addressing his supporters on Friday, Erdogan criticized Moscow for backing the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as well as Russia's anti-terror air raids against the militant groups operating in the Arab state, claiming such policies show Russia is “playing with fire.”
“We very sincerely recommend to Russia not to play with fire,” said Erdogan adding, however, that Ankara does not want its ties with Moscow to “suffer harm in any way.”
The Turkish president also said he may hold talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at a climate change summit that is to be held in Paris, France, next week.
Earlier on Friday, Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov had said the Russian head of state had refused to contact Erdogan, Press TV reported.
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday that Turkey had "crossed a line" by shooting down the Russian fighter jet.
Moscow-Ankara ties has sharply soured after Turkey shot down a Russian Sukhoi Su-24M inside Syria on Tuesday.
The fighter jet, which was on an anti-terror mission, crashed well within Syrian territory after coming under attack.
Putin has described the move a stab in the back, carried out by the accomplices of terrorists.
