CHP leader: Putin’s threats against Turkey unacceptable

ANKARA

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a news conference at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey in this December 1, 2014 file photo. REUTERS Photo

Turkey does not tolerate Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “unacceptable” threats, the country’s main opposition leader has said, while also criticizing President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu for not appropriately managing the crisis between Ankara and Moscow after Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) shot down a Russian fighter jet last month on its Syrian border.

“I never approve the use of such harsh comments by a head of a state against a neighboring country,” Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), said late Dec. 17.

While the two countries had developed their bilateral relations in recent years, today’s picture is not right, Kılıçdaroğlu said in an interview with Habertürk.

Earlier in the day, Putin subjected Turkey to a furious tirade, using barrack-room language to wonder aloud whether it had shot down the Russian warplane to curry favor with the United States. 

Addressing almost 1,400 reporters in a cavernous hall inside a Moscow conference center, the Russian president dedicated a chunk of his annual news conference to spelling out why he saw no prospect of a rapprochement with Ankara. 

“The two countries should be able to behave more calmly but we never approve of Putin’s escalation of the matter and we don’t accept it either. A hostile attitude towards Turkey is definitely not right,” Kılıçdaroğlu said.

Dubbing the situation “a deep crisis,” the CHP leader said President Erdoğan should not speak about this issue and instead Prime Minister Davutoğlu should be the one to make statements.

“Mr. President could have played a key role in resolving the problem,” he said. Instead, the opposite happened as the president did not respond to the issue with a conciliatory tone, he added.