Special to WorldTribune.com

Russian President Valdimir Putin on Dec. 17 continued his verbal assault on Turkey while NATO moved to contain mounting tensions.

In his annual news conference before some 1,400 reporters at a Moscow conference center, Putin hinted that Turkey shot down a Russian Su-24 in November in an “arrangement” with the United States that included the U.S. looking the other way as Ankara’s troops entered Iraq.

“Perhaps there was such an arrangement,” Putin said.

“If someone in the Turkish leadership decided to lick the Americans in a particular place I don’t know whether they acted correctly or not and I don’t know … whether the Americans needed that.”

Putin said Russian sanctions on Turkey over the November incident would stay in place for some time, adding that the current Turkish leadership, led by President Recep Tayyp Erdogan, is pushing “creeping Islamization” on the country that would have the nation’s founder, Kemal Ataturk, turning in his grave.

Meanwhile, NATO officials said on Dec. 17 that the alliance would offer an assistance package to Turkey to help “minimize the risk of Ankara shooting down another Russian warplane” while addressing concerns of the Syrian conflict spilling over into Turksih territory.

“NATO rules of engagement are more cautious than those of Turkey,” a NATO source said.

The package includes interceptor aircraft, Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) radar planes and a naval unit with command ships and frigates with anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles.

“It’s a face-saving show of allied support for Turkey while trying to get them to behave more intelligently,” said Nick Witney, a former head of the European Defense Agency now at the European Council on Foreign Relations.

  As Putin piles on, Putin charges Erdogan in collusion with U.S. as NATO moves to calm tensions, spillover from Syria, Su-24 shot down, WorldTribune.com