Turkey warns Russia not to ‘play with fire’

Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan yesterday warned Moscow not to “play with fire”, citing reports that Turkish businessmen had been detained in Russia, while Moscow responded with tighter visa regulations.

Relations between the former Cold War antagonists are at their lowest in recent memory after Turkey shot down a Russian jet near the Syrian border on Tuesday. Russia has threatened economic retaliation, a response Erdogan has dismissed as emotional and indecorous.

The incident has proved a distraction for the West, which is looking to build support for fight against Islamic State (IS) in Syria. The Syrian civil war has been complicated by Russian air strikes in defence of president Bashar al-Assad.