An effigy of Turkish President Recep Erdogan has been burnt in front of the Council of Ministers building in the Crimean capital Simferopol, the Meduza.io news portal reported Friday. The hapless “Erdogan” was made of straw, and identifiable by a print-out photograph attached to its head.
Tensions have flared up between Russia and Turkey after a Russian Su-24 bomber was shot down by Turkish forces on Tuesday, with Ankara saying that the plane had unlawfully veered into Turkish airspace from Syria — an accusation Moscow denied.
Russian President Vladimir Putin referred to the downing of the jet as “a stab in the back by accomplices of terrorists” later on Tuesday, and warned that “further incidents” might follow, Russian media reported.
The Turkish embassy in Moscow was vandalized by unidentified perpetrators on Wednesday in apparent retaliation, a local news website reported.
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