Turkish military F-16s reportedly are responsible for a downed Russian warplane Tuesday, a SU-24 attack jet that the Turkish government says violated their airspace. The Turkish military say they gave the downed Russian warplane 10 warnings in five minutes to get out of their airspace, but the warnings were ignored.
However, Russian defense ministry officials produced an angry response to the News, saying that their downed Russian warplane didn’t stray into Turkish airspace. According to an unnamed U.S. Defense official, the Russian jet did go into Turkish airspace briefly.
Also, State Department spokesman Mark Toner is reported to have said that Turkey has a right to defend its own territory, including airspace.
Downed Russian warplane crashes in NW Syria
The Turkish military say they have warned Russia several times in the past not to violate their airspace. In fact, the Turks say they shot down a Russian drone last month after it violated their border. After the Russian jet went down, it crashed in the Bayirbucak area of NW Syria near Turkey’s border.
A spokesperson for the U.S.-led coalition based in Baghdad said they heard the Turks on an open channel issuing warnings to the Russians prior to the jet being shot down.
Fate of Russian pilots, one dead, one missing
Additionally, rebels reportedly say that they shot at the two pilots’ parachutes as they ejected from the plane and descended, allegedly killing one of them. The spokesperson said they would release the body of the jet pilot in exchange for the release of prisoners held by Syria.
Russia's military command in Moscow confirmed the death of at least one of the pilots, according to the RIA Novosti news agency.
However, the fate of the other pilot was not known at press time. A third Russian military man was killed by ground fire when an MI-8 helicopter he was in that was searching for the SU-24 pilots was attacked by Syrian rebels.
Putin says downing of jet is stab in the back
Russian President Vladimir Putin is reported to have said that the downing of the Russian jet is a stab in the back from Turkey to Russia. He added that Russia wouldn’t tolerate these actions and insisted that the Russian jet stayed within Syrian airspace.
Turkey called in the Russian ambassador to discuss the issue on Tuesday. He was also called in twice in October after Russian fighter jets violated Turkey’s airspace at that time, and Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said at that time that the Turkish pilots were told to intercept any Russian plane that came into Turkey. Russia has lodged an official protest with the Turkish government concerning their downed Russian warplane.
