Putin alleges Turkey shot down jet to protect IS oil supply

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday the reason Turkey downed a Russian warplane last week was that it wanted to protect supplies of oil from Islamic State. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan called the allegations “slander” and said he would be ready to resign if they were proved true, but still offered to talk to the Russian president face-to-face on the sidelines of a UN climate summit.  Putin refused to meet with Erdogan, as Moscow rolled out its sanctions against Turkey aimed at economic revenge.

Protection of Turkish airspace, Turkish borders is a national duty, and our army did their job to protect this airspace. But if the Russian side wants to talk, and wants to prevent any future unintentional events like this, we are ready to talk.

Turkish Prime Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu

The downing of a Russian warplane on Nov. 24 – the first time a NATO member has shot down a Russian plane since 1952 – sparked Cold War-style tensions between the two rival players in the Syria conflict.  Turkish officials have said the plane violated Turkish airspace and had been warned repeatedly, while Moscow maintains the aircraft was over Syria, where Russia is carrying out an air campaign to support the forces of President Bashar Assad in a four-year-old civil war.  The Russian air force said that its Su-34 fighter bombers in Syria were now armed with air-to-air missiles for defense.

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