Russia cancels foreign minister’s visit to Turkey, suspends military cooperation

Moscow, Nov 25: Reacting on shooting down of a fighter plane, Russia suspended military cooperation with Turkey and its foreign minister Sergey Lavrov has cancelled his planned trip to Turkey.

Turkey shot down the Russian Sukhoi Su-24 jet near the Turkish-Syrian border on Tuesday for allegedly violating it's airspace.
Russian President Valdimir Putin has termed the shooting down of plane as stab in the back.

People in Russia have also been advised not to travel to Turkey and a warship has also been deployed to the coastline near where the plane crashed.

One of the pilots died while fate of other plot is yet to be disclosed.

Putin said the incident would have serious consequences on Moscow-Ankara relations as "Russia would not tolerate crimes like what happened today".

Opposition groups in Syria also shot a Russian helicopter as it took part in the search for the two pilots near the Turkish-Syrian border.

A war of words erupted among Turkey, Russia and their respective allies following the incident which has led to tensions in a region struggling to cope with the ongoing Syrian conflict.

Putin sharply criticised Turkey for establishing contact with NATO to discuss the incident, prior to contacting Russia.

"This event goes beyond the boundaries of fighting terrorism. It is a stab in the back from accomplices of terrorists," Putin said, according to a live broadcast by Russian 24 TV channel.

"We have always regarded Turkey not only as a close neighbour, but also a friendly state. I don't know who needed today's incident to happen, but Russia didn't need it in any case," said Putin.

Russia has been carrying out air strikes in Syria since September, saying it is targeting ISIS and al-Nusra Front.

OneIndia News