Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Ankara does not need to apologise for doing its duty.
“The protection of our land borders, our airspace, is not only a right, it is a duty. We apologise for committing mistakes, not for doing our duty.”
Davutoglu’s statements came in a joint press conference held yesterday with the Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), Jens Stoltenberg, at NATO’s headquarters in Brussels, following a meeting between the two politicians.
The Turkish prime minister pointed out that the meeting with Stoltenberg was very fruitful, and that they discussed the downing of the Russian jet by Turkey after it violated Turkish airspace on 24 November.
Davutoglu stressed that “Turkish airspace should be respected” and “Turkish airspace is Turkish sovereignty.”
“Our action was a defensive action, and we wish it had not happened. But at the same time our rules of engagement was very clear, was declared in advance, and was informed to … our neighbour and our friend Russia three times,” he added.
“If there was no violation, there wouldn’t be such a crisis today.”
Davutoglu expressed his country’s openness to enter into a dialogue with Russia at all levels, stressing that Turkey does not wish to escalate tensions with it.
He stressed that Ankara repeatedly told Russia that it is his country that bears the brunt of the crisis, and that targeting civilians on Turkey’s borders causes waves of displacement towards Turkey. “We have been telling our Russian friends that their bombardments against civilians on our border is creating new waves of refugees which do not go to Russia or to any other country but coming to Turkey,” he said.
“Turkey is a country paying the price of this crisis.”
He stressed “the need to coordinate” the activities of “the two coalitions functioning in the same airspace” against Daesh.