“This incident showed that, based on statements from other countries in the region, there is a player in the region who is unpredictable and that is Turkey and not Russia,” Gabriel told the weekly newsmagazine Der Spiegel.
He added that “Turkey has played a difficult role' in the Syrian conflict.”
On Tuesday a Russian Sukhoi Su-24 bomber crashed on Syrian territory four kilometers from the Turkish border.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that the Su-24 had not violated the Turkish border.
Ankara, for its part, insists that the Russian plane had indeed strayed into the country’s airspace.
Many leading European politicians have criticized Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over Tuesday’s incident with the Russian military jet.
On Tuesday, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier urged Turkey and Russia to exercise restraint and act in a rational and prudent manner in the wake of the incident which he labeled as “serious.”
