Turkey's Davutoglu says attacks on Turkmens cannot be justified by fight against Islamic State

Turkish PM says Ankara was keeping communication channels open with Moscow

ISTANBUL: Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Wednesday sent Russia a stern warning over its operations in Syria, saying attacks on Turkmens could not be carried out under the pretext of fighting Islamic State.

Davutoglu, speaking at a meeting of his ruling AK Party a day after Turkey downed a Russian jet near the Syrian border, said Ankara was keeping communication channels open with Moscow.



Turkish prime minister’s remarks came after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey did not want any escalation with Russia over its downing of a Russian plane on the Syrian frontier but vowed to always defend Turkish borders. “We have no intention to escalate this incident. We are just defending our security and the rights of our brothers,” Erdogan said in a televised speech in Istanbul.

“Turkey has never favoured tensions and crisis, it has and will always favour peace and dialogue,” said Erdogan. But he added: “No one should expect us to remain silent when our border security and our sovereignty are being violated.”



Turkey said it shot down the Russian warplane after it repeatedly violated air space above the Turkish border. Moscow however insists that the plane never strayed from Syrian air space.