Turkish PM rules out compensation over downed Russian jet
ANKARA
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Paying compensation and apologizing to Russia over the jet downing incident is “out of the question,” Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım has said, stressing that Ankara has only “expressed sadness over the incident.”Yıldırım also said legal proceedings are ongoing for the man alleged to be responsible for killing the Russian pilot, Oleg Peshkov.
Previously, he had said Ankara could pay compensation to Russia if necessary.
“We will pay compensation if required and we want relations to return to normal. The essence of the matter is that. It is not a unilateral will but mutual,” Yıldırım told TRT late on June 27.
He also said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold a telephone conversation either on June 29 or June 30.
The Kremlin announced on June 28 that Putin will hold a telephone talk with Erdoğan on June 29.
Turkish presidential sources stated that Putin would a “thank-you call” to Erdoğan at 12 p.m. on June 29, private broadcaster CNN Türk reported.
President Erdoğan expressed his “regret and sorrow” to Putin in a letter addressing the downing of a Russian jet and the killing of two Russian pilots in 2015, expressing his desire to restore bilateral ties
