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Turkey Shoots Down Russian Jet Fighter
Turkish officials say jet violated its airspace; Russia says jet was in Syrian skies
By Dion Nissenbaum and
Emre Peker in Istanbul and James Marson in Moscow
Updated Nov. 24, 2015 9:59 a.m. ET
ISTANBUL—The Turkish military shot down a Russian jet fighter along the Syrian border on Tuesday, in an escalation of tensions between Moscow and a key North Atlantic Treaty Organization member amid the chaotic Middle East civil war.
Two Turkish F-16s shot down the jet fighter after it crossed into Turkish airspace and ignored 10 warnings in five minutes to return to Syrian airspace, according to the Turkish military. Russia said the plane was in Syrian territory.
Russian President Vladimir Putin tore into Turkey over the downing, saying the jet fighter was carrying out strikes on Islamic State militants, including natives of Russia, and posed no threat to Turkey. The downing was “a stab in the back, carried out by accomplices of terrorists,” he said.
“Today’s tragic incident will have serious consequences for Russian-Turkish relations,” Mr. Putin said at a televised meeting with the king of Jordan. NATO ministers were meeting later Tuesday at Turkey’s request.
The long-feared confrontation could undermine expanding international efforts to create a broad military coalition to defeat Islamic State fighters who have staged a string of deadly terrorist attacks from Paris to Egypt.
It also represents the most serious clash between global powers that are jostling for control in the tangled Middle East conflict.
America and its Western allies have been struggling to contain Russia’s influence in Syria and persuade Moscow to play a more constructive role in targeting Islamic State. But Russia has resisted efforts to shift its strategy in Syria, and Tuesday’s shootdown could make it more difficult for the world leaders to work with Moscow.
The Turkish military released a map showing what it said was the flight of the jet as it apparently crossed into Turkey over Hatay Province, which abuts northern Syria.
Mr. Putin said the plane was one kilometer (0.6 miles) inside the Syrian border when it was hit.
The jet fighter crashed inside Syria, just south of the Turkish border, where Russian and Syrian planes have been targeting Turkmen fighters who have been seeking more support from Ankara in their fight against the Syrian regime. Turkey’s leaders have repeatedly warned Russia and Syria that it was ready to intervene to help Turkmen rebels in Syria.
While both pilots appeared to have ejected from the plane after it was hit, Syrian rebels released video showing the body of what appeared to be one of the Russian pilots.
A spokesman for Syrian forces in the area told The Wall Street Journal that they found the body in the mountains north of Latakia.
Turkey and Russia’s diplomatic relations have been increasingly strained since Moscow started ramping up its military support for the embattled regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
NATO ministers were to meet later Tuesday to discuss the shootdown. Carmen Romero, the NATO deputy spokeswoman said the meeting was called at the request of Turkey.
Mr. Putin said Russia believed that Turkey had contacted its NATO partners before Russia over the incident, “as if we had downed a Turkish plane and they hadn’t downed ours.”
The Turkish military said it repeatedly warned the jet that it was within 15 kilometers (9 miles) of Turkey’s border and tracked the plane as it crossed into Turkish airspace.
“This isn’t an action against any specific country,” said one Turkish government official. “Our F-16s took necessary steps to defend Turkey’s sovereign territory.”
Russia’s decision to start carrying out airstrikes in Syria in September created new challenges for the U.S. and its allies in the fight against Islamic State militants, as Moscow tries to shore up Mr. Assad and military leaders refine plans meant to avoid destabilizing confrontations between the competing forces flying over the region
This isn’t the first time Turkey has shot down a jet fighter on its border with Syria. In March, 2014, Turkey shot down a Syrian jet that it accused of violating its airspace in similar circumstances.
Ankara and its NATO allies have repeatedly accused Russia of breaching Turkey’s airspace from Syria, and shot down one unmarked Russian-made drone in mid-October.
The mounting risk of military confrontation between Turkey and Russia along the Syrian border is also threatening strong trade ties, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warning Moscow to “think carefully” about taking steps counter to Ankara’s national interests.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov canceled a previously scheduled Wednesday visit to Turkey and recommended that Russians not visit the country.
After Russia’s first incursions into the Turkish airspace in early October, Mr. Erdogan threatened Moscow with diverting Turkey’s natural gas purchases to other providers—a move that would curb Russian energy sales to its second biggest market.
Russia has responded by announcing that it cut in half the capacity of a gas pipeline dubbed Turk Stream, which Moscow wants to build to circumvent Ukraine to deliver gas to Europe.
Tense diplomatic ties between Moscow and Ankara could also threaten the construction of Turkey’s first nuclear power plant.
While Moscow says it is fighting terrorists, Turkey maintains that Russia has been striking Western- and Ankara-backed rebels seeking to oust the regime in Damascus.
Last week, Turkey called Moscow’s ambassador in Ankara to the foreign ministry and warned Russia against continuing a bombing campaign targeting Turkmen villages in northern Syria.
“No one can justify massacres of our Turkmen, Arab, Kurdish brothers over there under the claim of fighting terrorism,” Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Friday.
—Andrey Ostroukh and Thomas Grove in Moscow and Mohammed Nour Alakraa in Beirut contributed to this article.
Turkish officials say jet violated its airspace; Russia says jet was in Syrian skies
By Dion Nissenbaum and
Emre Peker in Istanbul and James Marson in Moscow
Updated Nov. 24, 2015 9:59 a.m. ET
ISTANBUL—The Turkish military shot down a Russian jet fighter along the Syrian border on Tuesday, in an escalation of tensions between Moscow and a key North Atlantic Treaty Organization member amid the chaotic Middle East civil war.
Two Turkish F-16s shot down the jet fighter after it crossed into Turkish airspace and ignored 10 warnings in five minutes to return to Syrian airspace, according to the Turkish military. Russia said the plane was in Syrian territory.
Russian President Vladimir Putin tore into Turkey over the downing, saying the jet fighter was carrying out strikes on Islamic State militants, including natives of Russia, and posed no threat to Turkey. The downing was “a stab in the back, carried out by accomplices of terrorists,” he said.
“Today’s tragic incident will have serious consequences for Russian-Turkish relations,” Mr. Putin said at a televised meeting with the king of Jordan. NATO ministers were meeting later Tuesday at Turkey’s request.
The long-feared confrontation could undermine expanding international efforts to create a broad military coalition to defeat Islamic State fighters who have staged a string of deadly terrorist attacks from Paris to Egypt.
It also represents the most serious clash between global powers that are jostling for control in the tangled Middle East conflict.
America and its Western allies have been struggling to contain Russia’s influence in Syria and persuade Moscow to play a more constructive role in targeting Islamic State. But Russia has resisted efforts to shift its strategy in Syria, and Tuesday’s shootdown could make it more difficult for the world leaders to work with Moscow.
The Turkish military released a map showing what it said was the flight of the jet as it apparently crossed into Turkey over Hatay Province, which abuts northern Syria.
Mr. Putin said the plane was one kilometer (0.6 miles) inside the Syrian border when it was hit.
The jet fighter crashed inside Syria, just south of the Turkish border, where Russian and Syrian planes have been targeting Turkmen fighters who have been seeking more support from Ankara in their fight against the Syrian regime. Turkey’s leaders have repeatedly warned Russia and Syria that it was ready to intervene to help Turkmen rebels in Syria.
While both pilots appeared to have ejected from the plane after it was hit, Syrian rebels released video showing the body of what appeared to be one of the Russian pilots.
A spokesman for Syrian forces in the area told The Wall Street Journal that they found the body in the mountains north of Latakia.
Turkey and Russia’s diplomatic relations have been increasingly strained since Moscow started ramping up its military support for the embattled regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
NATO ministers were to meet later Tuesday to discuss the shootdown. Carmen Romero, the NATO deputy spokeswoman said the meeting was called at the request of Turkey.
Mr. Putin said Russia believed that Turkey had contacted its NATO partners before Russia over the incident, “as if we had downed a Turkish plane and they hadn’t downed ours.”
The Turkish military said it repeatedly warned the jet that it was within 15 kilometers (9 miles) of Turkey’s border and tracked the plane as it crossed into Turkish airspace.
“This isn’t an action against any specific country,” said one Turkish government official. “Our F-16s took necessary steps to defend Turkey’s sovereign territory.”
Russia’s decision to start carrying out airstrikes in Syria in September created new challenges for the U.S. and its allies in the fight against Islamic State militants, as Moscow tries to shore up Mr. Assad and military leaders refine plans meant to avoid destabilizing confrontations between the competing forces flying over the region
This isn’t the first time Turkey has shot down a jet fighter on its border with Syria. In March, 2014, Turkey shot down a Syrian jet that it accused of violating its airspace in similar circumstances.
Ankara and its NATO allies have repeatedly accused Russia of breaching Turkey’s airspace from Syria, and shot down one unmarked Russian-made drone in mid-October.
The mounting risk of military confrontation between Turkey and Russia along the Syrian border is also threatening strong trade ties, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warning Moscow to “think carefully” about taking steps counter to Ankara’s national interests.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov canceled a previously scheduled Wednesday visit to Turkey and recommended that Russians not visit the country.
After Russia’s first incursions into the Turkish airspace in early October, Mr. Erdogan threatened Moscow with diverting Turkey’s natural gas purchases to other providers—a move that would curb Russian energy sales to its second biggest market.
Russia has responded by announcing that it cut in half the capacity of a gas pipeline dubbed Turk Stream, which Moscow wants to build to circumvent Ukraine to deliver gas to Europe.
Tense diplomatic ties between Moscow and Ankara could also threaten the construction of Turkey’s first nuclear power plant.
While Moscow says it is fighting terrorists, Turkey maintains that Russia has been striking Western- and Ankara-backed rebels seeking to oust the regime in Damascus.
Last week, Turkey called Moscow’s ambassador in Ankara to the foreign ministry and warned Russia against continuing a bombing campaign targeting Turkmen villages in northern Syria.
“No one can justify massacres of our Turkmen, Arab, Kurdish brothers over there under the claim of fighting terrorism,” Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Friday.
—Andrey Ostroukh and Thomas Grove in Moscow and Mohammed Nour Alakraa in Beirut contributed to this article.
Did **** just get real?
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