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France denies Turkey criticism claim at NATO meeting

November 28, 2015 at 3:17 pm

France’s Permanent Representative to NATO, Jean-Baptiste Mattei, has refuted reports that he had suggested that Turkey’s shooting down of a Russian Su-24 jet undermined “Operation ISIS”, Anadolu reported on Friday.

“I, like all the allies,” explained Mattei, “called for the respect of Turkey’s territorial integrity and underlined the necessity of preventing any escalation.” He also said that the situation is “extremely worrying.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin has insisted that the Russian jet did not enter Turkish airspace. However, Turkey released an audio recording of the warning directed to the Russian fighter, telling it to leave immediately.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the alliance’s assessment of the incident is consistent with information provided by Turkey, and that the Russian aircraft had violated the NATO member’s airspace.

Read: NATO backs Turkey after downing of Russian warplane