And finally some comments from NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg who gave a this joint press briefing with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu a few minutes ago regarding the downing by Turkey last week of a Russian warplane near the Syrian border:
-- Turkey shared a lot of information [about the incident] with NATO and NATO allies
-- The information that we have from other sources is consistent with Turkey's asssessment of what happened
-- There is concern over incrased presence of Russian military in Syria and close to NATO borders
-- Turkey has a right to defend itself and its air space
-- I welcome any contacts between Moscow and Ankara
-- Important thing is to calm the tensions
-- Importance of focussing on mechanisms to avoid these kind of incidents in future and if they do happen, to prevent them from escalating
-- Many NATO allies expressed concern over the Russian military in Syria, last week's incident was not first report of violation of Turkish airspace
-- Our focus is now on calming tensions
-- It is the sovereign right of Turkey to defend its air space and territorial integrity
More from this morning's joint press briefing by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the Prime Minister of Turkey, Ahmet Davutoğlu which has just now concluded:
Davutolglu was asked whether Turkey would apologize to Russia for the incident:
-- As Prime Minister of a nation which has dignity and as Prime Minister of a new government I can say that the proection of our air space and land border is not only a right but a duty for our government
-- No Turkish PM would apologise because we did our duty. Our army did its job to protect this airspace.
-- If Russian side wants to talk we are ready, we can give any information regarding technical details of this incident.
-- But no country can ask us to apologise for doing our job.
-- It is contradictory of Russia to use economic sanctions when Russia criticized sanctions against it in Ukraine
-- Russian people are friendly to Turkish people, we expect Russian people to come as tourists to Antalya.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the Prime Minister of Turkey, Ahmet Davutoğlu gave a joint press briefing this morning.
Here are Davutoğlu's comments:
-- [The downing of the Russian plane] was a defensive action
-- We have no intention to escalate this situation
-- We are ready to talk at every level to prevent similar incidents
-- Turkey has right to defend air space
-- Turkey wantst to have good relations with all countries fighting against IS
-- The bombardment during this incident was not against IS, there is no single IS position in this part of Syria
-- The bombarment against civilians on our border creates new wave of refugees
-- if there are two coalitions functioning against IS in same air space it will be difficult to prevent these incidents
-- There is a need to coordiante these operationss against IS
-- If we are fighting against IS, we need to fight only against IS, not against moderate opposition and not against civilians
-- There was Russian bombardment in Azaz against humanitarian convoy carrying humanitarian aid to Aleppo
-- Turkey's Syrian border is a national security concern for Turkey
-- Based on this we are ready to talk, to have diplo and miliary channels with Russia and any other country to prevent these unintentional inciodents and to plan fight gainst terror
-- Turkey's Syria border is NATO border, so violation was not just against Turkey but against NATO
--We gave all information [regarding the incident] to NATO, and are ready to give all information to any party to explain our position
Tajikistan extradites suspected IS recruiters to Kyrgyzstan, our news desk reports:
Tajikistan has extradited two Kyrgyz nationals to Kyrgyzstan, where they face charges of recruiting for the Islamic State (IS) militant group in Syria and Iraq.
The Kyrgyz Prosecutor-General's Office confirmed on November 30 that Jahongir Kurmishev and Kanybek Miyimanov had been handed over to law enforcement officials in Kyrgyzstan.
Kurmishev and Miyimanov were arrested in Tajikistan's northern region of Sughd in September.
They are accused of persuading four Tajik women to join the IS group with their children, and trying to arrange their travel to Syria via Kyrgyzstan and Turkey.
Authorities in Tajikistan stopped the group from leaving the country in September and launched an investigation into their recruitment.
Tajik and Kyrgyz authorities have said that hundreds of their citizens are fighting alongside IS militants in Syria and Iraq. (24.kg, TASS)
The BBC's Kriszta Satori tweets that Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has said that airspace incidents will be hard to prevent as long as there are two coalitions fighting in Syria.
Noted Kyrgyz theologian 'attacked by IS supporters,' our Kyrgyz Service reports:
Kyrgyz officials say a well-known theologian has been attacked by supporters of the Islamic State (IS) extremist organization.
Kadyr Malikov, the director of Religion, Law and Politics analytical center in Bishkek, survived a stabbing attack near his house late on November 26.
Kyrgyz Interior Ministry spokesman Bakyt Seitov told RFE/RL on November 30 that two Kyrgyz men suspected in the attack had been detained in the Turkish city of Gaziantep, not far from the Syrian border.
Earlier on November 30, a spokesman of the Kyrgyz State Committee for National Security, Rakhat Sulaimanov, told RFE/RL that two other Kyrgyz men suspected of involvement in the attack had been detained in Kyrgyzstan.
Kyrgyz authorities have said that hundreds of Kyrgyz nationals are fighting alongside IS militants and other extremist Islamic groups' fighters in Syria and Iraq.
The Kremlin has refused to comment this morning on reports that the body of Oleg Peshkov, the Russian pilot killed after his plane was downed last week near the Syrian border, is being flown from Ankara to Moscow.
Asked whether Moscow saw the return of the pilot's remains as an attempt to improve relations between Turkey and Russia, Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said that he "did not yet want to comment on this matter."
TASS has more about the Kremlin's responses this morning to questions from reporters about contact -- or the lack of -- between Russian President Putin and Turkish President Erdogan in the wake of Turkey's downing of a Russian warplane on the Syrian border.
Erdogan had twice attempted to telephone Putin and had then send an official request for a meeting at the Paris climate conference on November 30, according to TASS.
Responding to a question about the Kremlin's reaction to these requests, Putin's aide Yuri Ushakov said:
"Our reaction boils down to [the fact that] the leadership of our country was informed about the requests by the Turkish side regarding a phone call and the possibility of a meeting at the climate summit in Paris."
Russian President Vladimir Putin will not meet his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, at the Paris climate summit, the Kremlin says.
Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters this morning that "a meeting with Erdogan is not planned... there will be no such meeting."
However, Putin is likely to meet with U.S. President Obama, Peskov said.
"We're not excluding [a meeting] with Obama, most likely he will speak with Obama on the sidelines of the conference," Peskov told reporters.
Tensions between Russia and Turkey have soared since Turkey downed a Russian jet near the Syrian border on November 24.
Syrian government forces have surrounded the town of Salma in northern Latakia Province, the Russian media is reporting.
Government daily Rossiiskaya Gazeta claims that militants from the North Caucasus are involved in the fighting:
Now, according to some reports, no more than 2,000 militants remain in the town, although during the active phase of the fighting they numbered more than 10,000. Most of the extremists, whom the Syrian military say include those from the Caucasian regions of Russia and the CIS, have fled Salma. A considerable number of militants were liquidated.
The Chechen-led militant group Ajnad al-Kavkaz is active in northern Latakia, though its presence in Salma is not confirmed. However, Ajnad al-Kavkaz does not have anything like 2,000 militants, and consists of a few dozen Chechens.