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Turkish president urges Russia not to "lose a friend like Turkey"

Xinhua, October 7, 2015 Adjust font size:

Visiting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday warned Russia not to "lose the friendship of Turkey."

He made the remarks during a press conference here following a meeting with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel.

"Our positive relations with Russia are well known by all. But if Russia loses a friend like Turkey, with whom it has been cooperating in many areas, it will lose a lot," Erdogan said.

Speaking about alleged violations of Turkish airspace by Russian fighter planes, he added: "We cannot sit back, watch and tolerate that."

Turkey announced on Monday that a Russian warplane entered its airspace on Saturday above the southern town of Yayladagi in Hatay province, near the Syrian border.

The Russian defense minister blamed poor weather conditions for the brief violation.

Meanwhile, Turkey's foreign affairs minister said on Tuesday that Russia had entered its airspace a second time near Syria, warning that any further incidents of this type could have "unforeseen consequences." Endit