Turkey's act of shooting down Russia's Su-24 jet is an inexplicable and treacherous stab in the back from those who were considered partners and allies in the fight against terrorism, Vladimir Putin said during a ceremony receiving 15 new ambassadors.
“I can’t help saying that we believe the traitor-like stabs in the back from those who we saw as partners and allies in the anti-terrorist fight are completely unexplainable. I’m referring to the incident of the Turkish Air Force downing the Russian bomber,” Putin said.
Russia's president also stated that it appears as if Ankara is seeking to drive the Russian-Turkish relations to a standstill.
"It seems that the Turkish government is deliberately pushing the Russian-Turkish relations to a standstill, we regret it," he said.
The incident involving Su-24 cuts across with common sense and international law, Vladimir Putin stressed, saying that Ankara still hasn't made a clear statement or offer to compensate our loss or to punish those responsible, Vladimir Putin stressed.
"The incident which happened two days ago in the skies over Syria defies common sense and international law. The plane was shot down over Syrian territory. And we have yet to receive an intelligible apology from Turkey on a top political level, " the president said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey acted in line with its sovereign right to respond to threats, claiming that the Russian jet had violated Turkish airspace.
However, flight data released by Russian Ministry of Defense shows that the Su-24s never entered Turkey, and were attacked while performing legitimate maneuvers over Syria.
One of the pilots from the downed Su-24 was rescued by the Syrian Army Tuesday morning. The other pilot was killed by fire from the ground after ejecting from the plane. A Russian naval infantry soldier also lost his life after an Mi-8 chopper was downed during a rescue operation.
