Turkey shoots down Russian fighter jet: What are the implications?
Officials in Turkey said two Turkish military jets shot down a Russian fighter plane Tuesday after it refused to leave Turkey's airspace despite numerous warnings to do so.
Russian president Vladimir Putin likened the shooting down of the plane to being “stabbed in the back,” and said the incident was “beyond the normal framework of fighting against terrorism.”
The plane was shot down near the northwestern border of Syria, and marks the first direct clash between the countries involved in backing separate factions of the Syrian civil war.
Here are some of the implications of the downing of the Russian jet.
What happened today
While information about the incident is still being processed, here is what Turkish officials say occurred.
- A Russian Su-24 fighter plane was tracked flying over Turkey airspace. Turkish military officials warned the pilot – 10 times in 5 minutes according to reports – that he was to maneuver away from Turkey's border with Syria. The pilot did not, and two of Turkey's F-16 fighter jets shot down the plane.
What the Russians are saying:
- Russian officials initially said the Su-24 was downed by artillery fire, contradicting Turkey's claim (and, later, Russian President Vladimir Putin's statement) that F-16s shot the plane down.
- According to Russian officials, the plane was not flying over Turkey's airspace, and the incident is "very serious."
