Russia accuses Turkey of 'planned provocation'
Protesters hold placards and shout slogans in front of the Turkish embassy in Moscow on November 25, 2015. Several hundred young activists on Wednesday hurled stones and eggs at Turkey's embassy in Moscow and brandished anti-Turkish placards after Ankara downed a Russian warplane on the Syrian border. PHOTO | KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV | AFP
What you need to know:
Some chanted “We will not forget, we will not forgive” and also yelled slurs directed at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Meanwhile, Russia on Wednesday accused Turkey of a “planned provocation” over the downing of a warplane on the Syrian border but pledged not to go to war as Nato-member Ankara sought to play down tensions.
The jet downing has threatened ties between two major rival players in the Syrian war and raised fears it could escalate into a wider geopolitical conflict.
MOSCOW, Wednesday
Several hundred young activists today hurled stones and eggs at Turkey’s embassy in Moscow and brandished anti-Turkish placards after Ankara downed a Russian warplane on the Syrian border.
The activists threw eggs, paint and paper planes at the diplomatic mission and broke several windows as Moscow police urged them to stop the protest but did not intervene, an AFP photographer reported from the scene.
Some chanted “We will not forget, we will not forgive” and also yelled slurs directed at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Some of the activists’ placards read: “Turkey you will remain without gas” and “Shame to accomplices of terrorists,” a reference to a statement by President Vladimir Putin, who accused the Turkish government of backing the Islamic State group militarily and financially.
After the rowdy protest, demonstrators left behind heaps of rubbish and broken glass.
An image grab shows a burning Russian fighter jet coming down after being shot down near the Turkish-Syrian border on November 24, 2015. Russian has called the shoot-down a very serious incident as Turkish army says it warned the fighter jet ten times before firing. PHOTO | AFP
PLANNED PROVOCATION
A Moscow police spokesman told AFP he was not aware of any incidents involving the Turkish diplomatic mission and the embassy was not immediately available for comment.
Meanwhile, Russia on Wednesday accused Turkey of a “planned provocation” over the downing of a warplane on the Syrian border but pledged not to go to war as Nato-member Ankara sought to play down tensions.
As the diplomatic fallout from Tuesday’s incident raged on, Moscow said Russian and Syrian special forces had rescued one of the pilots who ejected from the burning Russian plane but confirmed the second airman was dead.
The jet downing has threatened ties between two major rival players in the Syrian war and raised fears it could escalate into a wider geopolitical conflict.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov ratcheted up the pressure after talking to Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu by phone in the first contact between the two sides since the plane went down.
“We have serious doubts about this being an unpremeditated act, it really looks like a planned provocation,” Mr Lavrov said at a press conference in Moscow.
“We do not plan to go to war with Turkey, our attitude toward the Turkish people has not changed,” Lavrov added.
