Turkey Hopes Moscow-Ankara Tensions to Be Settled Diplomatically

Turkish Foreign Minister hopes that the current tension in relations between Moscow and Ankara will be settled diplomatically.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu expressed hope Friday that the current tension in relations between Moscow and Ankara, which escalated after Turkey downed a Russian military aircraft, will be settled by diplomatic means.

"Turkey does not want tensions. We believe that this problem will be solved through diplomatic channels. We expect the same position from Russia, too. We are confident that the tension will be eased soon," Cavusoglu said during a meeting with speaker of the Azerbaijani parliament Ogtay Asadov, as quoted by the Azeri Press Agency.

According to Asadov, Azerbaijan stands ready to do its utmost to eliminate the tension between Turkey and Russia, the media reported.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the Russian Su-24 plane was downed on Tuesday by an air-to-air missile launched by a Turkish F-16 jet over Syrian territory, falling 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from the Turkish border. Putin described the Turkish attack as a "stab in the back" carried out by "accomplices of terrorists."

Ankara claimed that the Russian aircraft was downed because it violated Turkish airspace. Contrary to Turkish allegations, the Russian General Staff and the Syrian Air Defense Command confirmed that the Su-24 never crossed into Turkish airspace, citing precise objective control data.