Turkish fighter jets shot down a Russian warplane this morning near the border of Syria after repeated warnings over air space violations. Russia is now claiming however that it could prove the jet was still in Syrian airspace.
It’s the first time a NATO member’s armed forces have taken down a Russian military aircraft since the 1950s. Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that the incident, in which one pilot died, would have very serious repercussions for Russian-Turkey relations.
Putin called the event a “stab in the back” from Turkey.
Turkish prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu says he asserts the right to take “all kinds of measures” against border violations.
CNN Turk and other sources are now reporting that Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has called an emergency security meeting involving his top generals, heads of intelligence, Prime Minister Davutoğlu and other senior ministers.
Unconfirmed reports from Turkey’s news agency have stated that Turkmen Commanders claim their forces shot both Russian pilots while they were parachuting down, and that they have the bodies.
