Turkey 'Will Regret More than Once' Shooting Down of Russian Bomber, Says Putin
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Turkey will regret "more than once" about its shooting down of a Russian bomber jet near the Syrian-Turkish border, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday, adding Moscow would not ignore Ankara's "aiding of terrorists".
In a reference clearly aimed at the West, Putin said in his annual state of the nation address that countries "should not apply double standards on terror" or use terrorist groups for their own needs.
President Vladimir Putin used his annual speech to warn Turkey that the Kremlin planned to adopt further sanctions against it to punish Ankara for shooting down a Russian warplane near the Syrian-Turkish border last week.
Russia has already banned some Turkish food imports in retaliation as part of a sanctions package, and has accused Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and his family of benefiting from the smuggling of oil from Daesh (ISIL)- controlled territory in Syria and Iraq.
But on Thursday, without specifying how, Putin made clear Moscow planned to go much further, using strong rhetoric which underscored the continued depth of his anger toward Ankara over the November 24 incident.
"We are not planning to engage in military sabre-rattling," Putin told an audience in the Kremlin, Reuters reported.
"But if anyone thinks that having committed this awful war crime, the murder of our people, that they are going to get away with some measures concerning their tomatoes or some limits on construction and other sectors, they are sorely mistaken."
