News / Russia

Turkey must pay compensation for jet downing: Russian diplomat

Wednesday, 16 December 2015 3:12 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 16 December 2015 3:12 PM ]

Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Meshkov ©AP

A senior Russian diplomat says Turkey should pay compensation for its downing of a Russian fighter jet on the Syrian soil as tensions grow between Moscow and Ankara.

Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Meshkov told RIA Novosti news agency on Wednesday that the Kremlin still expects Ankara to apologize, pay compensation and provide guarantees that such incidents will not happen again.

"Instead of continuing to deny their responsibility for the incident and denigrate Russia's legitimate actions in Syria, they should at least do what is provided by international legal standards: apologize, pay for the damages and provide guarantees that this will not happen again in the future," Meshkov said.

On November 24, Turkey shot down a Russian Su-24M Fencer aircraft with two pilots aboard, claiming the fighter jet had repeatedly violated the Turkish airspace.

A still image taken from a video shows a war plane crashing in flames in a mountainous area in northern Syria after it was shot down by Turkish fighter jets near the Turkish-Syrian border, November 24, 2015. ©Reuters

Moscow, however, dismissed Ankara’s claims, stressing that the plane was brought down in Syria's airspace, where Russia has been conducting operations against Takfiri terrorists since September 30 upon a request by the Damascus government.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Russian diplomat also criticized Turkey’s actions as threatening to the security of Russia as well as its nationals.

"Turkey's actions, and on the contrary, its inaction on certain issues pose a real threat to the security of the Russian Federation and its citizens," Meshkov stated.

He further stressed that ties with Turkey will not be the same "at least on the level that was reached in recent years."

Following the November 24 incident, Moscow imposed a number of punitive measures against Ankara, including import restriction on Turkish foods, a ban on tourist travel to Turkey, an embargo on hiring Turkish citizens in Russia and a ban on Turkish organizations' activities in Russia.

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