Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu wrote in the UK’s Times newspaper to stress that fighting ISIS was a top priority for Turkey, while also stressing the importance for Turkey to protect its sovereign territory. His article comes after a Turkish F-16 fighter jet shot down one of its Su-24 bombers over Syria on Tuesday leading to the plane crash into the mountainside of a rebel-held area.

One of the two Russian pilots was killed by gunfire as he parachuted from the burning jet, but the other was rescued by Russian and Syrian special forces.

US Russian President Putin, speaking after a meeting with his French counterpart Francois Hollande, in Moscow rejected Turkey’s claims that it did not know that the downed plane was Russian.

In the Times, Davutoglu wrote: “The downing of an unidentified jet in Turkish airspace was not – and is not – an act against a specific country.” He said that “Turkey took action based on standing rules of engagement adding that “the measures to defend our territory will remain in place.”

Speaking to France 24, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had said: “If we had known it was a Russian plane, maybe we would have warned it differently.”

Russian repercussions:

– No sooner did the incident occur that Russia told tourists to get out of Turkey. Russia’s tour operators were quick to respond to Kremlin’s travel warning by announcing that they are ending package holidays to Turkey. This could cost Turkey abotu $30 billion per year, say analysts.
– Russia is an important expoert market for Turkey, and there are expected to be huge drops with various trade embargoes. Rosselkhoznadzor, the agricultural and food security watchdog of Russia, is now subjecting all agricultural and food products important from Turkey to laboratory checks. Meat and fruit have been pulled from shop shelves. Meanwhile, a package of trade sanctions are currently being considered with the cabinet working out proposals over which restrictions to impose.
– Turkish trucks heading to Russia with products are being asked to wait at the border, with checks of weight, license plates, etc, before “excuses” are made to send them back.
– Turkish business travelers following the shooting are being detained. A total of 29 Turkish businessmen were detained on Wednesday because they had entered the country on a tourist visa but were there to attend a trade fair.
– Naturally, Russia-Turkey services and energy investment deals will be affected, or at least delayed, by the incident.
– Moscow is targeting rebels by stationing its most hi-tech S-400 missile defence system at its airbase in Syria.
– Protestors have been throwing eggs and stones at the Turkish embassy in Moscow and nobody appears to be stopping them!
– Considering Turkey to be a bedfellow to terrorists, cultural exchanges have been suspended and so have ‘joint projects’.