Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his government to initiate harsh economic sanctions against Turkey over the weekend in retaliation for the recent shootdown of a Russian bomber by a Turkish fighter. “It is prohibited to touch Russia,” explained Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov Peskov during a press conference on Saturday. The move came despite an expression of sadness over the incident by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which stopped short of an apology. Meanwhile, the body of Oleg Peshkov, who was killed as he parachuted to earth after ejecting from the stricken SU-24 bomber on 24 November, was recovered by Turkish authorities over the weekend and handed over to Russian diplomats in Ankara on Sunday. In related news, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon disclosed Sunday that a Russian aircraft recently violated Israeli airspace but was given a simple warning by radio because “Russian planes have no intention of attacking us, so there is no need to automatically shoot them down, even if they accidentally [breach our air space].” Read More