President Erdogan wishes plane downing had not happened

28 novembre 2015

1 min di lettura

(AGI) Jerusalem, Nov 28 - Turkish President Recep TayyipErdogan expressed his first regret for the downing of theRussian Su-24 fighter aircraft by two F-16 of Turkey' air forceon Saturday. "We wish it hadn't happened, but it happened. Ihope something like this doesn't happen again," Erdogan wasquoted saying by the Jerusalem Post. During a public meeting inthe western province of Balikesir, the Turkish president saidthat the Paris climate conference can be an opportunity todampen tensions with Moscow and reiterated his request to meetwith Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of theParis summit next week, reported Turkey's Anadolu news agency.The Kremlin considers Recep Tayyip Erdogan to be ratherunpredictable, making it difficult to foresee the consequencesof the crisis triggered by the downing of the Russian aircrafton the border between Turkey and Syria last Tuesday, saidVladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov in a TV interview."From our point of view, the level of predictability of theTurkish leadership is very hard to assess," he said. Asked ifTurkey could react to an eventual initiative on the part ofMoscow, denounced as an aggression, by impeding Russian shipsfrom crossing the Bosporus and Dardanelles Straits, therebyblocking its access to the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, MrPutin's spokesman preferred not to comment but underscored thatthis is not the time to discuss apocalyptic scenarios. Inthe meantime, Tahir Elci, a prominent pro-Kurdish lawyer, waskilled in Diyarbakir at the end of a press conference. Theassassination was followed by massive pro-Kurdish streetprotests and riots. (AGI) . .