Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said that attacks on Turkomans -- ethnic Turks in Syria -- could not be carried out under the pretext of fighting the IS group, Reuters reports.
A Turkoman rebel group in Latakia province claimed yesterday that it had shot and killed both Russian pilots from the downed Su-24 jet, but Russia announced this morning that one of the men -- the plane's navigator -- had been rescued.
Kommersant has more detailed quotes from Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's earlier comments during his press conference -- which is still ongoing in Moscow.
"We are not planning to fight with Turkey, relations with the Turkish people have not changed, we have questions about the actions of the current Turkish leadership."
Lavrov said that Russia has "always sought to establish practical, pragmatic relations with our Turkish neighbors, including in the context of the Syrian crisis."
Lavrov said that the recommendation that Russians do not visit Turkey was not "revenge" for the Su-24 incident and "was not made in a hot-headed manner. We evaluated the presence of a terrorist threat in Turkey entirely objectively."
Lavrov said that he had talked this morning on the telephone with Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu. "Of course we waited for some kind of explanation from the Turkish side yesterday and at the highest level. But better late than never."
Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov says it's "no secret" that terrorists use Turkish territory.
Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov: Russia is seriously rethinking its relations with Turkey. Russia is not planning to fight with Turkey.
"There are not only militants but terrorist infrastructure in the area where the Su-24 was shot down," says Lavrov.
It is not clear but the Russian Foreign Minister could be referring to the two North Caucasian militant groups in northern Latakia, one of which --Junud al-Sham -- is believed to run a training camp for new miltiants. Russia said yesterday that the Su-24 had been engaged in strikes against North Caucasian militants in the area.
"Moscow has raised big questions as to whether the emergency hotline was not activated by Turkey either before or after the incident with the Su-24," says Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov.
Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov is making some very harsh statements.
Lavrov is quoted by RIA Novosti as saying, "The head of the Turkish Foreign Ministry could not answer the question of whether Ankara agreed the actions against the Russian Su-24 with the U.S."
Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov: "The incident with the Russian Su-24 looks like a planned provocation."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is speaking now about the Su-24 incident.
Lavrov says that the Turkish Foreign Ministry tried to justify the actions of the Turkish air force by talking about a border violation.
Iran's Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, has told his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov that the downing of the Russian Su -24 jet could lead to an escalation of the Syrian crisis, Iranian news websites are reporting.
Zarif spoke to Lavrov by telephone yesterday evening, November 24, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman said this morning.
The Iranian Foreign Minister said the Su-24 incident had "sent the wrong signal to terrorists."
Iran, like Russia, is a major ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his government.