Erdogan expresses desire to meet Vladimir Putin at the Paris Summit
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ANKARA: Days after his country downed a Russian warplane, incurring the wrath of Moscow, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday he wanted to meet Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the climate summit in Paris next week. “I would like to meet him face to face on Monday,” Erdogan said after days of tit-for-tat accusations over the November 24 incident that has severely damaged ties. Turkey says the Russian plane stayed into its airspace and ignored repeated warnings but Russia insisted it did not cross the border and accused Ankara of a “planned provocation.” “It was an automatic response to the air space violation,” Erdogan said. “Turkey did not deliberately down the Russian warplane.” He described Putin’s criticism of Ankara over the incident as “unacceptable.” “Russia is obliged to prove its allegations, otherwise it will be considered a liar because of those grave and unfair accusations targeting Turkey,” he said. Erdogan said it was not the first time Russian jets had breached Turkish air space and that he had warned Putin about “ugly incidents” after two incursions in October. Source: timesofisrael
