Turkey and Russia do not have 'luxury' of unfriendly ties - Turkish minister

Turkish minister, Volkan Bozkir said he expected ties with Moscow to be maintained following the incident

ANKARA: Turkey and Russia do not have the luxury of unfriendly relations, Turkey's EU minister said on Thursday, two days after Turkish jets shot down a Russian plane along the Syria border.



Speaking in Ankara, Volkan Bozkir said he expected ties with Moscow to be maintained following the incident, which elicited a furious response from President Vladimir Putin.



Bozkir also said that progress was expected on Turkey's stalled bid to join the EU, with chapter 17 of the accession process - dealing with economy and monetary policy - due to be opened on December 14-15.