Turkey shoots down a Russian jet near its borders

This frame grab from video by Haberturk TV, shows a Russian warplane on fire before crashing on a hill as seen from Hatay province, Turkey, Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2015. Turkey shot down the Russian warplane Tuesday, claiming it had violated Turkish airspace and ignored repeated warnings. Russia denied that the plane crossed the Syrian border into Turkish skies. (Haberturk TV via AP)

A Russian Su-24, an all-weather attack aircraft, was shot down by two Turkish F-16 in the Turkey-Syria border, as governmental resources say that the aircraft breached the Turkish airspace while Russia denies.

The plane crashed in the mountainous Jabal Turkmen area of the coastal Syrian province of Latakia, which is contested by Syrian government and rebel forces. It is the first time a Russian aircraft has crashed in Syria since Moscow launched air strikes against opponents of President Bashar al-Assad in September.

The Turkish military released a statement saying that they destroyed the aircraft after it breached their airspace despite being warned for 10 times. While the Russian ministry of defense said in a statement they released, that the attack probably came from the ground of Syrian lands. While saying that they have proof that the aircraft stayed the whole time in the Syrian airspace.

According to initial investigations, both pilots managed to get out safely of the airplane before the attack using parachutes, landing near the Syrian village of Yamadi.

According to Aljazeera, some Turkmen Syrian rebels announced that they managed to capture one of the two Russian pilots. He’s being held in Atera village, according to the site.

Turkish officials said that this act isn’t targeting a specific country, but it’s a known procedure to guarantee Turkey’s control over its airspace. Meanwhile the Turkish Military staff called for the counsellor of political affairs assistant in the Russian embassy, providing him with a detailed explanation on the reasons they had to shoot down the Russian aircraft.

President Putin said, “This was a stab in the back by the accomplices of terrorists.” While Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesperson, said that shooting down a Russian aircraft in Turkey is “a gravely dangerous matter”, he also said “it’s still early to draw any kind of speculations.” He added that president Putin might address the aircraft shooting during his meeting with Jordan’s king Abdullah II.

Russian helicopters seem to be searching the Syrian-Turkish borders for the two pilots, according to Turkish news agency, Dogan. While video footage by Turkish Anadolu news agency, show the two pilots jumping out of the plane with parachutes, while another video sent by rebels in Southern Syria to Reuters, shows one of the pilots dead from his deep injuries surrounded by unknown fighters.

Turkish TV channel CNN confirmed that claim saying one of the pilots is in the hands of Turkman forces in Syria, while the other pilot’s whereabouts remain unknown. Meanwhile, a Nato official said that they’re keeping a close eye on the situation, with the help of the Turkish military, while an exceptional conference would be held in Ankara to inform Nato on the circumstances of the incident. Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg declared: “We stand in solidarity with Turkey and support the territorial integrity of our Nato ally.”