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ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s prime minister has accused Russia of trying to “cover up” its infringement of Turkey’s airspace with “unfounded” claims that Turkey is illegally importing oil from the Islamic State group in Syria.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed that Turkey shot down its plane to protect what he described as Turkish profiteering from the oil trade — a charge Turkey denies.

Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters Tuesday: “It is not possible to cover up the violation of the Turkish airspace with unfounded accusations against Turkey.”

He renewed a call for Russia to keep military and diplomatic channels for dialogue open, insisting that Russia’s stance was turning the Syria crisis into a “crisis between Russia and Turkey.”

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