Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu refused to apologize for shooting down a Russian jet that strayed into Turkey’s airspace last week during a NATO meeting in Brussels Monday.
“No country should ask us to apologize,” Davutoglu said Monday, according to a Reuters report.
The Turkish leader also encouraged the U.S. and Russia to coordinate their airstrikes in Syria, warning that similar incidents could occur in the future if the two continue to have different objectives politically and militarily.
Tensions in the region came to a head last week when Turkish forces shot down a Russian jet that Turkey says passed into its airspace on Nov. 24 as it carried out Russia’s bombing campaign in Syria.
Turkey insisted it had given the Russians ample warning to leave the airspace before downing the jet, while Russia argued the jet only briefly crossed Turkey’s airspace and posed no danger to the country that could have warranted the shoot-down.
After the incident, Turkey called for an emergency meeting of NATO, during which they played recordings of communications between Turkish officials and the Russian pilots that demonstrated the warnings Turkey had given the Russian jet before firing.
