Turkey: shooting down of Russian warplane was 'national duty'

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Turkey’s Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu responded to his country shooting down a Russian fighter jet on Tuesday, saying Ankara had exercised its “national duty.”

“We would like the entire world to know that we will take all necessary measures and make any sacrifices when it comes to the lives and dignity of our citizens and for the security of our borders while our country is in a circle of fire,” the official Anadolu Agency quoted him as saying.

Davutoglu said Turkey had exercised its “international right and national duty” by downing the plane, which Turkish authorities say was flying over the country’s southern Hatay province.

He also called on the international community to work toward "extinguishing the fire that is burning in Syria."

Turkey has said it shot down the plane after it violated Turkish airspace. But Russia’s President Vladimir Putin accused Ankara of shooting it down over Syria, where Russia has been conducting raids on the Syrian opposition and jihadi groups.

Following the incident, Turkish-Russia relations have taken a turn for the worse.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told The Associated Press that Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov cancelled a planned trip to Turkey in the wake of the incident.

The meeting between Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart had been scheduled for Wednesday, AP said.