November 24, 2015 9:23 am
The Turkish Air Force shot down a Russian plane on Tuesday, according to a Turkish military official who said the aircraft violated Turkish airspace, “despite repeated warnings”.
Russia’s defence ministry on Tuesday confirmed that one of its jets had been shot down, but insisted it had not strayed into Turkish airspace.
“Today on the territory of Syria, presumably as a result of fire from the ground, a Russian Su-24 plane crashed in the Syrian Arabic Republic,” the defence ministry said in a statement quoted by Russian news wires. “The plane was at an altitude of 6,000 metres. The fate of the pilots is being confirmed. According to preliminary data, the pilots managed to eject.”
It added that the plane was “exclusively over Syrian territory throughout its entire flight”. “This is recorded by objective controls.”
Turkish media and local activists said the crash site was in Yamadi, on the Turkish-Syrian border, but the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based activist group, put the crash site in the Jabal Turkman area of northern Latakia.
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“Flames were seen rising from the burning plane as it flew in the sky over Jabal Turkman in the northern Latakia countryside, near the Alexandretta region [of Turkey],” said the SOHR.
Two parachutes were seen in the air, according to local activists and images broadcast on Turkish television, but there was no immediate confirmation on the fate of the crew.
Earlier this morning, several parts of the northern Latakia countryside were being shelled by warplanes in conjunction with clashes between regime forces and loyalist militia on one side, and rebels and Islamist divisions on the other.”
Syrian forces have been engaged in heavy combat against local Turkmen militia in that area for at least the past week, especially in the Bayirbucak area of north-west Syria, close to Turkey’s Yayladag border gate in Hatay province. Turkey summoned the Russian ambassador to complain about the bombing four days ago.
Turkey has repeatedly made clear it will not tolerate any violations of its airspace as the war in Syria has brought aircraft from both the Syrian regime and Russia close to its borders. In October, it shot down a drone after it crossed Turkish airspace. The Turkish prime minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, has asked for a consultation with Nato on Tuesday, according to Reuters. Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov is due in Turkey this week for a previously scheduled visit.