Turkey warns Russia not to ‘play with fire’ over downed jet

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned Russia’s President Vladimir Putin not to “play with fire” over his country’s downing of a Russian jet. Mr Erdogan also said he wanted to meet Mr Putin “face-to-face” at climate talks in Paris to resolve the issue. Mr Putin wants an apology from Turkey before he will speak […]

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned Russia’s President Vladimir Putin not to “play with fire” over his country’s downing of a Russian jet.
Mr Erdogan also said he wanted to meet Mr Putin “face-to-face” at climate talks in Paris to resolve the issue.
Mr Putin wants an apology from Turkey before he will speak to Mr Erdogan, the Russian president’s aide said.
Russia has decided to suspend its visa-free arrangement with Turkey, Russia’s foreign minister announced.
Turkey says the jet was in its airspace when it was targeted, but Russia insists it was flying over Syria.
“I would like to meet [Mr Putin] face-to-face in Paris,” said Mr Erdogan in a televised address. “I would like to bring the issue to a reasonable point. We are disturbed that the issue has been escalated.”
The Russian SU-24 bomber was shot down on Tuesday, causing it to crash into a mountainside in a rebel-held area close to the Turkish border.
One of the two Russian pilots was killed by gunfire as he parachuted from the burning jet. The other pilot was rescued by Russian and Syrian special forces.
The Turkish military says it sent a number of warnings to the Russian jet before firing a missile, some 17 seconds after the plane entered Turkish air space.
The surviving Russian pilot has said he received no such warning and was adamant the plane did not stray out of Syrian air space.