Russia asks for UN discussions on Turkey

NEW YORK

Russia on Monday asked for a closed-door UN Security Council discussion to raise the issue of Turkey's shooting down of a Russian warplane and the presence of Turkish troops in northern Iraq, according to media reports.

The discussion is expected to be held Tuesday following another closed-door council meeting on Western Sahara, reports said.

The meeting will be chaired by the U.S., the current holder of the council’s presidency.

Russia is one of the five permanent members of the Security Council – alongside the U.S., Britain, China and France. Turkey is not a council member.

On Nov. 24, Turkish F-16 fighter jets shot down an unidentified jet. Russia announced it was a Russian SU-24 bomber. Ankara said the aircraft violated Turkish airspace near Syria despite repeated warnings.

Following the incident, Moscow announced wide-ranging sanctions against Turkey including the end of visa-free travel and a ban on Turkish food products. Russia also called on its nationals to boycott Turkey as a tourist destination.

It was unclear whether Russia called Tuesday's meeting in coordination with Iraq, which previously said it would resort to the Security Council if Turkey did not withdraw its recently deployed troops near Mosul, in northern Iraq.

Turkey on Friday deployed around 150 Turkish troops to replace forces already in the area as part of a training program for Kurdish peshmerga fighters. Turkish army sources said Saturday that they had been training fighters in four provinces of northern Iraq with the ultimate aim of fighting Daesh.

According to the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), the fresh deployments of Turkish military equipment and experts are meant to replace a unit already deployed in northern Iraq.