No need to apologize when we are right, says Turkish FM

ANKARA / MOSCOW – Agence France-Presse

AA photo

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoglu has vowed to issue no apology to Moscow over the downing of a Russian jet on the Syrian border.

“We don’t need to apologize on an occasion on which we are right,” Çavuşoğlu said.  

“But we said on the phone [Nov. 25] that we are sorry,” he added, referring to a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier that his country had not received any apology from Turkish leaders following the Nov. 24 incident, in which one Russian pilot was killed.

Meanwhile, Russia's foreign ministry on Nov. 26 urged nationals currently in Turkey to return home after tensions with Ankara soared over the downing of a Russian warplane.
 
"In connection with the existing terrorist threats on Turkish territory, we once again recommend that Russian citizens refrain from visiting Turkey, and recommend that Russians who are there for personal purposes return home," the foreign ministry said in a statement.