MOSCOW, November 26. /TASS/. Russia’s military operations in Syria will be more thoroughly protected after Turkey’s attack on the Russian Su-24 bomber this week, Russia’s EU envoy Vladimir Chizhov told Euronews on Thursday.
"Of course, on the military side, we are not going to declare war on Turkey. But further operations of the Russian air force in Syria will be more heavily protected," Chizhov said.
The diplomat said the incident is a "provocative action" by the Turkish side and it "will certainly impact in a negative way" the bilateral relations of Russia and Turkey.
A Turkish F-16 fighter jet on Tuesday shot down a Russian Su-24M bomber that, according to Ankara, had allegedly violated Turkey’s airspace near the border with Syria. Moscow however says the Russian bomber was flying over Syria’s territory on a combat mission against the Islamic State (IS).
According to the Russian defense ministry, the Russian warplane had not crossed into Turkey. Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that the attack on the Russian bomber would have "very serious consequences" for the Russian-Turkish relations.
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