President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday vowed Turkey would not retaliate against Russia’s "emotional" sanctions imposed after the downing of a Russian war plane.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday vowed Turkey would not retaliate against Russia's "emotional" sanctions imposed after the downing of a Russian war plane.

Russia has halted the sale of tours to Turkey -- a key tourist destination -- and is set to ban the import of Turkish fruit and vegetables as well as threatening other measures.

"(Russia) is our strategic partner, we will continue to provide them with products including food," Erdogan said in an interview with Turkish reporters on board his presidential plane published in newspapers.

Erdogan said the Russian actions were not in line with "state dignity".

"Turkey in this regard retains its nobility. We are not using the same language as them... We are expecting them to change their language," Erdogan said, accusing Moscow of reacting to the incident in an "emotional" way.

Erdogan said there was "no question" of Turkey retaliating against Russian citizens living in the country. "Reciprocity is something that must be done within the limits of the law."

Russia supplies Turkey with more than half of its natural gas supplies but Erdogan said he was not troubled by the risk of Russia cutting down exports.

"We have not lived with natural gas all our lives... this nation is accustomed to hardship," said Erdogan, emphasizing that Turkey had suppliers other than Russia.

Erdogan also said Russian President Vladimir Putin had in the past spoken of the Turkish president's "courage".

"He (Putin) has (said) many words about me as an honest head of state."
On November 24, Turkey shot down a Russian Sukhoi Su-24M jet inside Syria, claiming that the aircraft violated the Turkish airspace. Russia rejects Turkey’s claim. The aircraft was on a mission targeting terrorists in Syria.

The aircraft’s two pilots ejected as it was going down in flames. Peshkov was killed by militants in Syria, while the second was picked up by the Syrian army, and has already spoken to Russian media.