Turkey will not pay compensation to Russia: Premier

By Sinan Uslu

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey will not pay compensation over the downing of a Russian jet that was violating Turkish airspace last year, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Tuesday in Ankara.

When asked by a journalist if Turkey has any plans to pay compensation, Yildirim said there are no such plans.

"We only expressed our sadness over the incident and shared the grief of the Russian pilot's family," Yildirim said during his party's group meeting.

Following the downing of a Russian warplane in Turkish airspace last November, the Kremlin ordered sanctions on food products, an end to visa-free travel, and a ban on Russian tourists taking package holidays in Turkey.

"The initiatives by the two presidents [Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin] have finally started bearing some fruit," said Yildirim. "Our most important goal is to improve our relations with our neighbors. This is not limited to Russia and Egypt, but also includes all our neighbors, from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea."

Yildirim also said that a planned agreement between Turkey and Israel to normalize ties, expected to lead to an improvement in the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, has been formally signed.

The agreement was signed by Turkish Foreign Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu in the capital Ankara at 11:00 a.m. (GMT 09:00), in a closed-door event.

* Anadolu Agency correspondent Satuk Bugra Kutlugun contributed to this report from Ankara