Turkey refuses to apologise to Russia over jet incident

Turkey’s prime minister dismissed any suggestion Ankara should apologise for downing a Russian warplane in its airspace last week, after winning strong NATO support for the right to defend itself.

Seven days after NATO member Turkey shot down the Russian fighter jet in the first known incident of its kind since the Cold War, calls for calm have gone largely unheeded as Ankara refuses to back down and Russia responds with sanctions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin snubbed a meeting with Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Paris as the body of a pilot killed when Ankara downed one of Moscow’s warplanes was flown home.