Turkey will not pay compensation over downed Russian jet

By Reuters/Gulsen Solaker, Denis Pinchuk June 28, 2016 | 06:06 am PT

A combination picture taken from video shows a war plane crashing in flames in a mountainous area in northern Syria after it was shot down by Turkish fighter jets near the Turkish-Syrian border November 24, 2015. Photo by Reuter/Reuters Tv/Haberturk TV

Turkey will not pay compensation to Russia over the downing of a fighter jet last year and has only expressed regret over the incident, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Tuesday, after President Tayyip Erdogan wrote to his Russian counterpart.

The Kremlin said on Monday that Erdogan had apologised to Russian leader Vladimir Putin in a letter. Erdogan's spokesman confirmed the letter to Putin but did not refer explicitly to an apology, saying the Turkish president had expressed regret and asked the family of the pilot to "excuse us."

Yildirim also told reporters in parliament that legal proceedings were underway against an individual allegedly responsible for the killing of the Russian pilot.

Mending ties with Turkey "not a matter of few days"

The Kremlin said on Tuesday that one should not think it possible to mend Russia's strained relations with Turkey in a few days after Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan apologised for the downing of a Russian military plane.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Erdogan will hold a telephone conversation at Moscow's initiative on Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a conference call with journalists.