Russia will reconsider ties with Turkey after downing of jet calling it a ”planned act”: Lavrov

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who canceled a visit to Turkey planned to take place on Wednesday amid a crisis over the downing of a Russian jet by Turkey, said Russia will not wage a war against Turkey although it will seriously reconsider relations with Ankara in light of the incident.

Lavrov said the downing of the Russian Su-24 at the Turkish-Syrian border on Nov. 24 was a “planned provocation,” and, in what appears to be a reference to Russian criticism that Turkey buys smuggled oil from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), said Russia will ask the UN Security Council to examine information on how terrorists are financed.

Lavrov’s sharp criticism targeting Turkey came as Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, had a phone conversation to discuss the downing of the plane, apparently the first official contact between the two countries since the incident.

Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgiç said Çavuşoğlu briefed Lavrov on Turkey’s action and that the two ministers agreed to meet in the coming days. But Lavrov said that they had no concrete plans for a meeting. The Russian foreign minister said suggested that he and Çavuşoğlu could meet on the sidelines of some international event, but didn’t say there is any such plan.

“In their discussion, agreement was reached to share details on the matter via diplomatic and military channels,” Bilgiç said.

Lavrov also said he hoped that the downing of the Russian jet will not be used to push for a no-fly zone over Syria and accused Turkey over its Syria policies, saying that it was no secret that “terrorists use Turkish territory.”

Earlier in the day, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Turkey’s political leaders had been encouraging the Islamization of Turkish society, something he said was a problem.

“The problem is not the tragedy we witnessed yesterday,” the TASS news agency quoted him as saying. “The problem is much deeper. We observe … that the current Turkish leadership over a significant number of years has been pursuing a deliberate policy of supporting the Islamization of their country.”

Source Turkiye