Erdogan: Downing of Turkish jet with S-400 missile would mean aggression

Erdogan: Downing of Turkish jet with S-400 missile would mean aggression
# 27 November 2015 08:19 (UTC +04:00)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made the remarks in a statement to CNN International of the possibility of the Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile system targeting Turkish warplanes in case they enter Syrian airspace.

Erdogan did not rule out the possibility of such an incident.

“In this case Turkey will be forced to take measures that will certainly not be discussed. And of course it would be an aggression against our rights of sovereignty and it’s the natural right of the state to protect those rights. We do not want to see any escalation of the situation in the region. We do not want to become a party to that. But those who side with Syria and escalate the tension, I think, are the responsible parties to this,” the Turkish president stressed.

Asked whether he saw the moving of the Russian S-400s into western Syria as a threat to Turkey and other coalition members who may be flying sorties in this region, the Turkish president said Russia has been providing military support to Syria since long ago – since the rain of Bashar Al-Assad’s father.

“Russia has sold or given this kind of systems to Syria. It’s impossible to say that this is something new and did not take place last year,” said Erdogan.

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