Turkey will have to repent on shooting Russian plane: Vladimir Putin
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MOSCOW: Russian president Vladimir Putin ratcheted up the rhetoric against Turkey in his annual state of the nation address on Thursday, threatening to make Ankara “regret more than once” the shooting down a Russian bomber last week. “Allah has decided to punish the Turkish ruling clique by depriving them of wisdom and judgment,” he thundered. Turkey will have to repent on shooting Russian Plane, Putin added “If they think that after committing heinous war crimes and murdering our people they will get away just with tomatoes and restrictions on construction and other industries, they are deeply mistaken,” he said. The tirade came a day after Russia’s defence ministry accused Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his family of “robbing” Syria and financing terrorists by buying oil from ISIS, the militant group. Although Mr Putin pledged not to resort to sabre-rattling and hysteria after the Russian aircraft was shot down by Turkey on November 24, the shrill tone of the speech has heightened concern that the two headstrong leaders could pull their countries into a serious stand-off. Immediately after Mr. Putin’s hour long speech, Russian energy minister Alexander Novak Said Moscow had halted talks with Ankara on the planned Turkish Stream pipeline. (Financial Times)
