Tuesday, October 06, 2015

Erdogan Warns Russia Against Losing Turkey's Friendship


THE DAILY STAR: ANKARA: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Tuesday warned Russia against losing Ankara's friendship, after Russian warplanes twice violated its airspace near the Syrian border.

"If Russia loses a friend like Turkey with whom it has a lot of cooperation it is going to lose a lot of things. It needs to know this," Erdogan said in Belgium at a press conference alongside Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel broadcast on Turkish television.

In his toughest remarks yet against Russia in the current crisis, Erdogan accused Moscow and its ally Iran of working to maintain the "state terror" of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

His comments came after Russian warplanes twice violated Turkish airspace at the weekend during Moscow's bombing campaign in Syria aimed at bolstering the Assad regime.

"It is of course not possible to remain patient about this," said Erdogan, referring to the incursions into Turkish air space. » | Agence France Presse | Tuesday, October 6, 2015