November 29, 2015

Turkey’s president, Putin hurl insults after plane downed

Originally published November 26, 2015 at 7:37 pm
Updated November 26, 2015 at 9:46 pm

President Vladimir Putin of Russia and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, stoked the confrontation over the downed Russian jet by hurling insults at each other and demanding redress.

By Neil Macfarquhar

The New York Times

MOSCOW — The downing of a Russian warplane by Turkey threatened to lead to a wholesale breach in the countries’ relations Thursday, with Russia preparing to sever economic ties and Turkish officials saying they had no reason to apologize.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev of Russia gave government officials two days to draw up a list of ways to curb economic links and investment projects. That included the possible shelving of a multibillion-dollar deal to build a gas pipeline through Turkey that President Vladimir Putin had trumpeted as a welcome alternative route for Russian gas exports to Europe.

Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, stoked the confrontation by hurling insults at each other and demanding redress.

“We have still not heard any comprehensible apologies from the Turkish political leaders, or any offers to compensate for the damage caused, or promises to punish the criminals for their crime,” Putin said at the Kremlin. He repeated Russia’s position that the warplane was brought down Tuesday over Syria, not Turkey.

“One gets the impression that the Turkish leaders are deliberately leading Russian-Turkish relations into a gridlock,” Putin said, adding later in the day: “Turkey was our friend, almost an ally, and it is a shame that this was destroyed in such a foolish manner.”

The standoff between the two leaders boded ill for the mission of President François Hollande of France, who met with Putin in Moscow on Thursday as part of his effort after the Paris attacks to cement an international coalition to confront the Islamic State group.

Putin and Hollande agreed to tighten cooperation in the fight against the Islamic State group, although they remained at odds over their approach toward Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for deadly attacks against both countries’ citizens in recent weeks: Nov. 13 shootings and suicide bombings in Paris that killed 130 people, and the Oct. 31 bombing of a Russian passenger jet over Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula that killed 224.

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