Turkey shoots down RUSSIAN jet for violating its air space: Flaming Su-24 fighter spirals into the ground in Syria where rebels capture one pilot and are hunting the other
. Turkish army shoots down Russian war plane on Syrian border
. The jet violated Turkish air space and ignored warnings, army says
. Russia claims the jet had been in Syrian airspace when shot down
. Pilot captured by Turkmen – ethnic Turks subjected to airstrikes this week
Turkish military has shot down a Russian war plane near its border to Syria, Ankara and Moscow confirms.
The Russian Sukhoi Su-24 jet was shot down by Turkish F-16 fighter planes on Tuesday morning after violating the country’s air space and ignoring nearly a dozen warnings, army officials said.
However, Russia’s Ministry of Defence claims the jet was in Syrian airspace, and was shot down from the ground.
Footage shows the plane engulfed in flames as it comes crashing down in Syria’s Turkomen Mountains, an area which has been the cause of recent tensions between Turkey and Russia.
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Conflicting stories: Turkey claims they shot the plane down as it was violating the country’s airspace after the pilots ignored ‘ten warnings in the space of five minutes’, but Russia says the jet was in Syrian airspace
The area is mainly populated by Turkmens – Syrians citizens, but ethnic Turks – and is the target of a current Syrian government offensive, where President Bashar al-Assad’s ground troops are supported by Russian airstrikes.
The Turkish army said the pilots of the Russian jet had been warned ‘ten times in the space of five minutes’ before the plane was shot down.
Both pilots ejected themselves from the jet and could be seen parachuting down to the ground, where one has been reported dead and the other captured by Syrian Turkmen rebels.
A video posted on Twitter by a man believed to be a Syrian-Turkmen rebel soldier, one of many groups fighting against the Syrian government who are not allied with ISIS, claims to show the captured pilot.
Just hours before the Russian jet was shot down, Ankara called for a U.N Security Council meeting to discuss attacks on Turkmen areas in Syria.
It followed a summoning of Moscow’s ambassador on Friday, when Ankara called for an immediate end to the Russian military operation near the Syrian border as it targeted Turkmen civilian villages.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said in a statement that they are looking into the circumstances of the crash of the Russian jet.
‘The Ministry of Defence would like to stress that the plane was over the Syrian territory throughout the flight.’
The statement also claimed that the Sukhoi-24 had been shot down from the ground at the altitude of 6,000metres(3.73m).
Vladimir Putin’s spokesman called the downing of the Su-24 warplane a ‘very serious incident’ but declined to comment further until more facts emerged.
‘It is just impossible to say something without having full information,’ said Dmitry Peskov.
One of the pilots can be seen parachuting down after ejecting from the plane, as the wreckage burns
The two pilots can be seen parachuting down far left and far right in this image
Russia’s Ministry of Defence claims the jet was in Syrian airspace, and was shot down from the ground
Russia’s government-run TV Zvezda claimed the warplane had been in Syrian airspace the entire time, which allegedly could be proven by ‘control systems’, a ministry spokesman said.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has spoken with the chief of military staff and the foreign minister about the developments on the Syrian border, the prime minister’s office said in a statement, without mentioning the downed jet.
He has ordered the foreign ministry to consult with NATO, the United Nations and related countries on the latest developments, his office said.
Last month, Turkish jets shot down an unidentified drone that had also violated Turkey’s airspace.
Turkey and Russia have long been at loggerheads over the Syrian conflict, with Ankara seeking Assad’s overthrow while Moscow does everything to keep him in power.
