Davutolu asks Putin: What if Turkey had been bombing in Ukraine
Date
12/8/2015 11:34:02 PM
(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) Turkish Prime MinisterAhmet Davutoluhas attempted to justify the shooting down of aRussianmilitary aircraft by addressing a hypothetical question toRussianPresident Vladimir Putin. Indicating that theRussianleadership would have had to take a similar move if Turkey had become militarily involved in the Ukrainian crisis in the past Davutolu called on Putin to “empathize” with Turkey.
The incident did not take place on the Turkey-Russia border Davutolu said Dec. 8 referring to the Nov. 24 downing of aRussiawarplane by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) on the Syrian-Turkish border.
“The incident did not take place on the Russia-Syria border either because there is no such border. The incident took place on the Turkey-Syria border and it happened within a framework which directly involves Turkey and Turkey’s strategic interests” Davutolu said while addressing a parliamentary group meeting of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
“Turkey has been experiencing various problems on the border with Syria in the last five years. I’m calling on Putin for empathy from here” he said. “Russian leaders should imagine something like this: if we had bombed places in easternUkrainewhich had kinship relations with Russia like the kinship relation we have with the Bayrbucak Turkmens by agreeing to a call by the state ofUkraineby also violatingRussianairspace exactly asRussiaclaims that it agreed to a call by the state of Syria I wonder what would Putin think and do” he said.
“The matter whichRussiashould understand is that the venue is the Turkey-Syria border; those beyond the border are our siblings and protecting their rights is our duty just like protecting our border is our duty” he said.
Turkey claims the recentRussianbombardments in Syria have not targeted the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) but the Turkmen minority in the north of the country.
Turkey said it shot down theRussianplane after it violated its airspace despite repeated warnings. TheRussianplane crashed in northern Syria and a crew commander Oleg Peshkov was killed by Turkmen groups while descending with a parachute.Russiadenies the violation claim and has since slapped economic sanctions on Turkey.
Davutolu meanwhile also said Turkey had discussed possible measures againstRussiaand would impose sanctions if needed while underlining thatAnkararemained open to talks with Moscow. The possible measures were discussed at a cabinet meeting held on Dec. 7 he said.
The prime minister said his government is ready for all kinds of discussions withRussiabut would never be dictated to.
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