Our reaction would have been different had we known that it was Russian Aircraft: Tayyip Erdogan
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ANKARA: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned Russia's President Vladimir Putin not to "play with fire" over his country's downing of a Russian jet. Mr Erdogan also said he wanted to meet Mr Putin "face-to-face" at climate talks in Paris to resolve the issue. Mr Putin wants an apology from Turkey before he will speak to Mr Erdogan, the Russian president's aide said. Russia has suspended its visa-free arrangement with Turkey in the latest of a range of retaliatory measures. On Thursday, Turkey's President Erdogan seemed to offer an olive branch to Moscow: "If we had known it was a Russian plane, maybe we would have warned it differently." On Friday, he accused Moscow of "playing with fire" and "lying". Did he change his rhetoric dramatically in less than 24 hours? Hardly. The first message was delivered to a Western audience, the second, to a domestic. Turkey's Western allies in NATO fully backed Ankara in the crisis - but also questioned in more hushed tones whether 17 seconds of airspace violation was good enough reason to shoot down a plane. Despite the harsh rhetoric on Friday, Mr Erdogan also repeated his offer to meet Mr Putin next week. But Mr Putin made clear that he wants an apology before he agrees to a meeting. The war of words between the two strong men of the East shows no sign of abating. Source: BBC NEWS
