The question that everyone is asking at this time is did Turkey overreact when they shot down a Russian jet? NATO ally Turkey shot down a Russian warplane and stated that the warplane violated the country’s airspace. It was very close to the Syrian Border but did cross the tip of Turkey.
Turkey’s fighter jets took down the jet after many attempts to advise the Russia jet to turn around. For five minutes over airspace, Turkey warned Russia at least ten times to turn around or they would take action. Now the Russia Defense ministry states that an SU-24 was shot down near the Syrian border with Turkey. Russia states that the plane was in and over Syrian territory during its flight mission.
Turkey revealed flight radar images showing that the Russian Jet did briefly fly in Turkey’s airspace. The Turkey prime minister states that it was Turkey’s “duty” to defend its lands. Also, the Turks stated that they did warn the Russian ambassador that they would take action and whatever is needed to protect themselves. If their border was crossed again and if innocent Turkey civilians were shot at by Russian military, they said they would retaliate and take whatever actions necessary to protect their borders. The Turkish civilians are suffering from the results of the Russians taking part of this operations mission.
Russian Defense stated, “Today an aircraft from the Russian air group in the Syrian Arab Republic crashed on the territory of Syria supposedly shot down from the ground. The aircraft was flying at the altitude of 6,000 meters. The status of the Russian pilots is being defined. According to the preliminary data, the pilots managed to eject from the warplane. The circumstances of the crash are being defined. During all the flight time, the aircraft was flying only within the borders of the Syrian territory. That was registered by objective monitoring data.”
Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov has been quoted saying, “It would be incorrect to make any evaluations or statements until we have the full information. So we just need to show patience. It’s a very serious event. But, without the full information it’s impossible to say anything, it wouldn’t be right.”
Vladimir Putin has stated that this loss is “is a stab in the back, carried out by the accomplices of terrorists.” He also said, “I can’t describe it in any other way.” The Russian President states that the jet was downed and that the pilots were not a threat to Turkey. He was quick to state that there will be “significant consequences.” He also adds quickly that his military forces are doing a very heroic thing to work against terrorism.
Putin also added this as well: “Today’s tragic event will have significant consequences, including for Russia-Turkish relations … 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.” He also asked, “Do they want to make NATO serve ISIS? … We hope that the international community will find the strength to come together and fight against the common evil.”
Fighting ISIS is an obvious necessity. The Russians are fighting terrorists in the northern areas around Latakia, where militants are located, mainly people who originated in Russia. They were pursuing their goal: to make sure these people do not return to Russia. These are people who are clearly international terrorists, stated Putin.
On top of things, Foreign Minister Sergei did plan to visit Turkey, but that, of course, has been canceled at this time. Lavrov shared that the Russian advisers said that Russians is not to visit Turkey and that the threat of terrorism is no less than that in Egypt, where a bomb brought down a Russian passenger plane a month ago.
Is this the first incident that a NATO member has come into direct contact with Russia after the war in Syria? A NATO official stated that they are in talks with the Turkish officials. NATO has not stated whether they are in touch with Moscow though. Turkish Prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu has been ordered by the foreign ministry to speak with NATO and consult with the United Nations over the incidents.
At this point, there are so many variations on the status of the pilots that aid has been sent to help find the location of the two of them. There is a very graphic video that allegedly shows a dead Russian pilot, but it cannot be verified. The video did show a pilot wearing a Russian uniform. Also, there are stories that the dead pilot is now in the hands of the anti-Assad rebels from the Alwiya Al-‘Ashar group.
Russia’s military has blocked wireless communications in the area while they search for the pilots. But now there are reports that the Syrian rebels have taken down a Russian helicopter trying to recover the pilots that went down with the warplane.
Image via Turkish Military
