Turkey: Russia must give up ‘baseless’ claims on IS trade
Obama urges Putin and Erdogan to set tensions aside, focus on ‘common enemy’ of Islamic State
Turkey’s prime minister has accused Russia of trying to “cover up” its infringement of Turkey’s airspace with “unfounded” claims that Turkey is illegally importing oil from the Islamic State group in Syria.
On Monday, Turkey sent back to Russia the body of a pilot killed when his plane was shot down by the Turkish air force on November 24 for allegedly violating its air space on the Syrian border.
One of the Russian pilots aboard the downed plane was shot dead in Syria after parachuting from the burning aircraft, while the second was found safe and sound. One Russian soldier was killed in a rescue operation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed that Turkey shot down its plane to protect what he described as Turkish profiteering from the oil trade — a charge Turkey denies.
“It is not possible to cover up the violation of the Turkish airspace with unfounded accusations against Turkey,” Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters Tuesday.
He renewed a call for Russia to keep military and diplomatic channels for dialogue open, insisting that Moscow’s stance was turning the Syria crisis into a “crisis between Russia and Turkey.”
US President Barack Obama, meanwhile, called for a reduction in tensions between Ankara and Moscow, after meeting his Turkish counterpart in Paris on Tuesday.
“I want to be very clear, Turkey is a NATO ally. The US supports Turkish rights to defend itself and its airspace and its territory,” Obama told reporters after meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the ongoing global climate talks.
“We all have a common enemy and that is ISIL and I want to make sure we focus on that threat,” Obama said, using an acronym for the radical Islamic State group, which has overrun much of Syria and parts of Iraq.
Erdogan said he was keen to move past the dispute.
“We are always willing to resort to the diplomatic language… we want to avoid the tensions,” he said.
The United States and its allies are concerned the Turkey-Russia spat could further complicate efforts to reach a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Syria, where Russia and Turkey support opposing sides.
Obama met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday on the sidelines of the climate summit in Paris.
“President Obama expressed his regret for the recent loss of a Russian pilot and crew member,” a White House official said after their closed-door meeting.
