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Russian Su-24 bomber was shot down by Turkey
Posted On Nov 24 2015
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Turkey has called an extraordinary meeting of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) while Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he had scrapped a planned trip to Turkey on Wednesday aimed at narrowing differences on the Syria conflict.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday defended the Russian warplane shot down by Turkey had been outside of Turkish airspace when the incident occurred.
Russia’s defence ministry said one of its Su-24 fighter jets had been downed in Syria and that, according to preliminary information, the pilots were able to eject.
The plane was hit by a Turkish warplane as it was travelling one kilometer away from the Turkish border, Putin said. “NATO has issued a stern ultimatum”, Erdogan said. “In any case, our pilots and our plane in no way threatened the Turkish republic…”
“We were stabbed in the back by the accomplices of terrorists. It fell on the Syrian territory 4 kilometers from Turkey”.
He said the plane was shot down because it targeted members of an IS group.
After welcoming French President Francois Hollande to the White House, U.S. President Obama says Islamic State “cannot be tolerated, it must be destroyed and we must do it together”. The bombing mission involved flying a loop with the plane going through Turkish airspace. The map shows the track of the Turkish jet’s flight until the missile was launched.
“We have always treated Turkey as not only a close neighbor, but also as a friendly nation”, Putin said. The aircraft was shot down “in lines with the rules of engagement”, according to a statement by the Turkish military.
Mr Davutoglu said that Turkey had a duty to act against anyone violating its borders.
A Turkish government official said the SU-24 was shot down by Ankara’s F-16s after being repeatedly warned about entering Turkish airspace.
The USA president suggested that if Russian Federation would instead concentrate its airstrikes on the Islamic State group, then mistakes would be “less likely to occur”.
