Turkey shoots down Russian jet it says violated its airspace

Ankara said two of its F16 fighters shot down a Russian Su-24 after it violated Turkish airspace 10 times within five minutes along the Syrian border. Speaking before a meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah, Putin called Turkey’s downing of a Russian fighter jet “a stab in the back” carried out by the accomplices of terrorists, saying the incident would have serious consequences for Moscow’s relations with Ankara.

Russian activities have thwarted Turkey’s designs for control of Syria and Erdogan’s aspirations of regional hegemony, the geopolitical analyst suggested, another reason why the Turks may have shot down the plane.

A United States official told American CBS News that radar tracking confirmed the Russian plane was in Turkish airspace, though he said “it was close” to the border.

“The Russian instinct will be to oppose this”, Burns said. While pilots appear to have survived the crash, Turkish footage shows the jet catching fire and crashing into the mountains.

In October, NATO’s governing body, the North Atlantic Council, had warned Moscow it was courting “extreme danger” by sending planes into Turkish airspace.

The Turkmen minority in that part of northern Syria has strong ties to the Turkish government, which wants to afford them a degree of protection.

“We will never tolerate such crimes like the one committed today”, Putin said, as Russian and Turkish shares fell on fears of an escalation between the former Cold War enemies.

“We’ve seen Russian planes buzzing warships, goading other jets and being provocative above the alliance’s airspace”, he said.

The Russian plane took off from a Syrian airfield in Latakia, heading north. The United States was monitoring the situation the entire time, using radars and radios.

Anyone who bombs that area attacks “our brothers and sisters – Turkmen”, said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

“We were able to hear everything that was going on”, said Col. Steve Warren, a USA military spokesman. Turkey has also protested Russian infringement of its airspace in the past.

About 1,700 people have fled the mountainous Syrian area near to the Turkish border as a result of fighting in the last three days, a Turkish official said on Monday.

Some Western analysts characterised the downing of the jet as a robust response by Turkey which they said created clear red lines for Russian Federation and should thereby make further clashes less, rather than more likely. Russian and Syrian jets have been conducting anti-terror airstrikes in the region.

“Reducing the margin for error in this way lowers, rather than raises, the potential for more serious clashes”, said Keir Giles, associate fellow of the Russian Federation and Eurasia Programme at Chatham House in London.