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.
Vladimir Putin calls plane's downing by Turkey 'stab in the back'
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