Ankara, November 25 (RHC)-- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Ankara does not want any escalation with Moscow following Turkey's downing of a Russian fighter jet inside Syria.

During a televised speech from the Turkish city of Istanbul on Wednesday, Erdogan said: "We have no intention to escalate this incident."

Still claiming that the Russian Su-24M Fencer jet was in Turkey's territorial airspace when it was hit, the Turkish president said his country would defend its sovereignty.

An unnamed U.S. official told Reuters news agency that based on the detection of the heat signature of the Russian jet, Washington believes that the aircraft was hit inside Syrian airspace.