Turkey 'will work' to calm tension over downed Russian jet
Turkish PM Ahmet Davutoglu has said
Ankara "will work with Russia and our allies to calm tensions" after
Turkey shot down a Russian warplane.
Writing in the UK's Times newspaper, Mr Davutoglu stressed that fighting Islamic State was the main priority.But he also said Turkey must protect its sovereign territory.
Russia says a Turkish F-16 fighter jet shot down one of its SU-24 bombers over Syria on Tuesday. Turkey says the bomber violated its airspace.
The plane crashed into a mountainside in a rebel-held area close to the Turkish border.
One of the two Russian pilots was killed by gunfire as he parachuted from the burning jet. The other pilot was rescued by Russian and Syrian special forces.
Tensions have sharply escalated between the Ankara and Moscow over the incident, with Russian President Vladimir Putin warning of "serious consequences".
On Thursday, he also rejected Turkey's claims that it did not know the downed plane was Russian.
Mr Putin was speaking after meeting his French counterpart Francois Hollande in Moscow and pledging closer co-operation against IS militants.
IS has claimed the 13 November attacks in Paris which killed 130 people, and a group's affiliate has said it bombed a Russian passenger plane in October, killing all 224 passengers on board.
Russia has been carrying out air strikes against opponents of President Bashar al-Assad since late September.
Turkey, which is a member of a US-led coalition, insists Mr Assad must step down before any political solution to the crisis is found.
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