Turkey’s patience with Russia 'has a limit'. Belarus president wants peacemaker’s laurels


Turkey’s foreign minister said Ankara’s patience with Russia ‘has a limit’ after Moscow’s ‘exaggerated’ reaction to a weekend naval incident between the two countries, reuters.com reports with reference to Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.

A Russian destroyer fired warning shots at a Turkish vessel in the Aegean on Sunday to avoid a collision and summoned the Turkish military attache over the incident.

“Ours was only a fishing boat, it seems to me that the reaction of the Russian naval ship was exaggerated,” Mevlut Cavusoglu told daily Corriere della Sera in Monday’s interview. “Russia and Turkey certainly have to re-establish the relations of trust that we have always had, but our patience has a limit.”

The incident is likely to heighten tensions between the two nations who are at odds over Syria and Turkey’s downing of a Russian warplane last month.

Read also: Ban on tomatoes just the beginning. Putin: ‘I guess Allah punished Turkey’s clique’

Meanwhile. Belarus President Alyaksandr Lukashenka called upon Russia and Turkey to meet each other halfway and settle for a compromise.

“It is necessary to prevent the building up of any further tensions and find the way to make at least half a step toward each other. The problem will be settled then. Those good and close relations that these nations and states once enjoyed will be restored,” the Belarusian leader made the statement at the conference in Ashgabat on Saturday.

It is to be recalled that Russian Internet users harshly criticised Belarus for its neutrality over Turkey’s downing the Sukhoi Su-24 fighter.

Read also: Poultry, beer, tourism: Russia’s clumsy bid to retaliate for Turkey’s downing Su-24

Belsat.eu, following Reuters, BelTA

TWITTER