Special to WorldTribune.com
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned of “significant consequences” and dubbed Turkey “accomplices of terrorists” on Nov. 24 after a Russian Su-24 was shot down by Turkey.
Russian news agencies reported that one of the pilots who had parachuted from the crippled plane was killed by groundfire. Russian General Staff spokesman Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoi also said that a Russian Mi-8 helicopter that was searching for the two pilots of the Su-24 was fired on by Syrian rebels and one crew member was killed.
“The loss today is a stab in the back, carried out by the accomplices of terrorists,.” Putin said.
“I can’t describe it in any other way,” he said. “Our aircraft was downed over the territory of Syria, using air-to-air missile from a Turkish F-16. It fell on the Syrian territory 4 kilometers from Turkey.”
Rudskoi said that Russian radar data showed Turkish warplanes had violated Syrian airspace in the course of shooting down the Su-24.
Putin went on to say that “neither our pilots nor our jet threatened the territory of Turkey. This is obvious. They are fighting terrorists in the northern areas around Latakia, where militants are located, mainly people who originated in Russia, and they were pursuing their direct duty, to make sure these people do not return to Russia. These are people who are clearly international terrorists.”
“We will analyze everything, and today’s tragic event will have significant consequences, including for Russia-Turkish relations. We have always treated Turkey as a friendly state. Instead of immediately getting in contact with us, as far as we know, the Turkish side immediately turned to their partners from NATO to discuss this incident, as if we shot down their plane and not they ours.”
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 official said the action was not against any specific country but an act of self defense.
“In line with the military rules of engagement [MRoE], the Turkish authorities repeatedly warned an unidentified aircraft that they were 15km or less away from the border,” the official said. “The aircraft didn’t heed the warnings and proceeded to fly over Turkey. The Turkish Air Forces responded by downing the aircraft.
“In the past, we have made public our military rules of engagement and reminded our counterparts that any violation of Turkish airspace would trigger the actions prescribed by the MRoE. This isn’t an action against any specific country: Our F-16s took necessary steps to defend Turkey’s sovereign territory.”
Putin slams Turkey as ‘accomplices of terrorists’ after downing of Russian jet added by World Tribune on
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