Turkey would act differently if it knew the jet was Russian: President Erdoğan

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan gave an interview to France 24 TV channel on Thursday regarding the Russian jet downed near the Turkish-Syrian border on November 24. In the interview, Erdoğan said "Turkey would have acted differently if it had known the downed jet was Russian."

The president also said that he had called Putin on the day of the incident, but the Russian president had not answered his call.

During the interview, the president further touched upon Wednesday's attack on the Turkish embassy in Moscow which came under attack by a group of protesters throwing stones, eggs and paint. Erdoğan said, "We are sorry that such an attack on the Turkish embassy in the Russian capital Moscow happened."

"Turkey's strategic partnership with Russia needs solidarity, not threats," Erdoğan said in another interview that he gave to CNN on the same day, criticizing Russia's attitude about dismissing joint projects and added that such attitudes do not suit politicians.

Two Turkish F-16 fighter jets on an aerial patrol intercepted a Russian warplane within rules of engagement when it violated Turkish airspace near the Syrian border on Nov. 24.

The Russian warplane received 10 warnings about its violation within five minutes before it was shot down.

This was not the first time Russian warplanes had violated Turkish airspace. Back in October, Russian warplanes had violated Turkish airspace after which Russian officials had apologized while pledging that such incidents would not reoccur in the future.