Turkey shot down a 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.

"We are looking into the circumstances of the crash of the Russian jet," Russia's Defence Ministry said. "The Ministry of Defence would like to stress that the plane was over the Syrian territory throughout the flight."

Russia said the Su-24 was downed by artillery fire, but Turkey claimed that its F-16s fired on the Russian plane after it ignored several warnings. The ministry said the pilots parachuted but added that Moscow had no further contact with them.

Turkish jet shoots down Russian military plane



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It had to happen sooner or later. Now to see what happens next. Turkey is a member of N.A.T.O.

been evident for time now that Turkey can't be trusted!
Got Caliphate-Ambitions of it's own!

yep,Fertilizer sure hit the Ventilator!

From reports I have read thus far ..... Russians were warned off, Russians have been attacking civilian positions inside Turkey.

Looks like they will take the Dispute to NATO and the UN!
Seems neither side is too interested to escalate it at the moment!

and the Turks have probably done the same in Iraq and Syria!
Can't see why Russia is so hellbent to prop up Assad,unless they can't afford to lose him as a Client for their Weapons and having a Place of Anchorage for their Navy!

THANK GOD!!! This is exactly the type of thing that could make this "little thing" boil over into a regional (or even larger) conflagration...

But, IIRC, Russia & Turkey have some non-trivial financial ties (incl. a large gas pipeline that's supposed to deliver Russian gas to the Baltics/Serbia/Estonia area), so each has a bit of self-interest in keeping things from getting too out-of-hand.

Knowing how Russia's behaved lately, I wouldn't be at ALL surprised if it was proven that the Russian jet was in Turkish airspace...

Wheres the guy that used to blow Putin out here? Claimed Russia had the best Air Force in the world...

became an Adviser to Putin?

Cuz Syria is the only exit for Russia to the Middle East. Once Syria gets closed Russia won't have no means to get there.

Turkey and the rebels it backs northern Syria had the right to defend themselves against Russian airstrikes, State Department spokesman told reporters. The rebels reportedly killed one Russian pilot who ejected from the jet hit by a Turkish missile.

During the regular press briefing, Mark Toner said the Syrian government did not have such a right, though.

When asked by RT's Gayane Chichakyan if the State Department considered the rebels who reportedly killed the Russian pilots "moderates," Toner replied:

"We've seen conflicting reports. One pilot may not have been killed. If these 'Turkomen' were actually being attacked by Russian strikes, they have every right to defend themselves."

AP's diplomatic correspondent Matt Lee asked a follow up question.

"Doesn't that apply to everyone, not just rebels backed by West? Including the Assad regime?"

What the Assad regime was doing "is not self-defense," Toner countered, arguing that the government in Damascus responded to "peaceful protests with four years of terror."

When other reporters questioned his description of the Syrian conflict as a "peaceful protest," Toner brushed them off by saying that "everyone in this room knows what happened."

Toner repeated several times that Washington stood by Turkey as a NATO ally, and its "right to protect its sovereign airspace", while refusing to comment on the specifics of this morning's downing of a Russian jet because, by his admission, he had no details yet.

The State Department spokesman confirmed the US was supplying TOW missiles - seen in a video purportedly showing the rebels destroying a Russian search-and-rescue helicopter - to the "moderates" in northern Syria who were supposedly battling Islamic State forces.

Another revelation at the briefing on Tuesday was that the "de-confliction" mechanism established between the US and Russia last month to avoid clashes in the skies over Syria did not apply to any other members of the US-led coalition.

Asked by Chichakyan if the State Department would condemn the rebels' use of US-supplied missiles against a Russian rescue helicopter, Toner replied that Syria was a "very complex environment."

Repeating that Russia was supporting Assad and directing airstrikes against the "moderate Syrian opposition," he said that this only increased the urgency to speed up the political transition, so that everyone could focus on fighting Islamic State.

What can we say? The utter stupidity coming from the State Department is so glaringly obvious, the US sponsors terrorism


http://www.rt.com/usa/323339-state-syria-russia-turkey/

There's always a lot more going on than you realize, in these international situations.

A few questions...
How long does it take to get an F-16 airborne?
How fast does an SU-24 cover a two mile wide strip (shard) of airspace? Flying at altitude of course.
If Turkish pilots alerted/warned the Russian pilot before it crossed into Turkish airspace (if they did and if it actually was) was the Russian fighter even in Turkish airspace long enough for the missile to be fired and hit the jet over Turkey? .... Doubtful. Wtf were they thinking?

What the Turks were thinking, was what they have been saying that they were thinking, for quite a long time now.

Russia has been cavalierly overflying Turkish airspace as well as several other nations in the region, for a VERY long time now. And so, Turkey copied what Russia did when it was still the Soviet Union (KAL 007), and waited for the next clear opportunity to shoot, and then did so.

Those Russian pilots dies, because Putin's Russia has been focusing on making Putin look like a tough guy, ONLY, and hasn't paid attention to any other details, such as international law, or demonstrating respect for other nations sovereignty.

Huston we have a problem. Both leaders are text book narcissists and want to act like tough guys. Russia has been playing the invading foreign airspace for years, usually met with great restraint by the USAF in Alaska and now off the Pacific Coast. Turkey is only a member of NATO because they would have been a key ally of the USSR during the Cold War.

What happened here is Putin got caught in a Dic* measuring contest in which he will lose.

Either way, nothing good will happen from this.

Not very long in an active combat zone. They probably have constant air patrols based on previous incidents. If not they have Air Craft on alert the moment any aircraft comes into a certain distance before designated no fly zone, war zone or military installation. Planes can get up in less then a minute if their on standby. We do it on a regular basis in Alaska and that is hardly a war zone, and we di it with F-22 none the less!

The Russians probably want to keep ISIS out of Russia. Saudi Arabia and Turkey seem to be supporting ISIS, as is also Britain and the U.S. After all, ISIS helps stir up trouble, which is good for the arms race.