Turkey says downed drone is Russian-made, but Russia disavows it 'in a friendly manner'

Turkey says the drone it shot down was Russian-made

last updated 19 October 2015

On Monday, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that the drone Turkish fighter jets shot down on Friday is Russian-made, but that as it has since Friday, "Russia has told us in a friendly manner that it doesn't belong to them."

In a live TV interview, Davutoglu speculated that the drone might belong to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Syrian Kurdish militias, or some other group. Friday's incident "has shown that Turkey both has the capacity and the political will to put an end to such violations," he said, according to Reuters, adding that regardless of which party was responsible, "I hope Russia, whose friendship and neighborliness we value, will adopt a more careful stance and Turkish-Russian relations will not be negatively affected."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.