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Turkey has no intention to escalate tension with Russia: president

Xinhua, November 25, 2015 Adjust font size:

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Turkey has no intention to escalate the tension with Russia, one day after Ankara's downing of a Russian warplane angered Moscow.

"We don't have any intention of escalating tension with Russia, we are just defending our security," the Turkish leader told a meeting of Islamic countries in Istanbul.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday called Turkey's shooting down of a Russian Su-24 jet as "a stab in the back from accomplices of terrorists," warning of "serious consequences in Moscow-Ankara relations."

Erdogan said Turkey was never in favor of "tensions and crisis" and will continue to promote peace, dialogue and diplomacy as always.

He added, however, that no one should expect Turkey "to remain silent" when its border security is violated.

Erdogan also revealed that two Turkish citizens on the Turkish side of the border were wounded by falling pieces of the downed Russian plane.

He urged Islamic countries to stand together against Islamic State terror and not let terrorists to misuse Islam. Endit