While denying charges that their warplane had violated Syrian airspace, Russia claimed they had proof that the jet had not left Syrian air space after Turkish fighter jets shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border on Tuesday after repeated warnings over air space violations.
Russian and Turkish assets fell on fears of an escalation between the former Cold War enemies as this was the first time a NATO member's armed forces have downed a Russian or Soviet military aircraft since the 1950s.
A Kremlin spokesman said it was a "very serious incident" but that it was too early to draw conclusions.
With a long plume of smoke trailing behind it, footage of the crash aired on private Turkish broadcaster Haberturk TV showed the warplane going down in flames in a woodland area. The plane went down in area known by Turks as "Turkmen Mountain", the TV channels said.
Two pilots in the plane were seen parachuting out of the jet before it crashed in a separate footage from Turkey's Anadolu Agency.
One of its Su-24 fighter jets had been downed in Syria and that and preliminary reports suggest that the pilots were able to eject, said Russia's defense ministry. The defense ministry claimed that the aircraft had been over Syria for the duration of its flight.
In a time period of 5 minutes, the Russian fighter jet had been warned 10 times about violating Turkish airspace, said the Turkish military. Officials said a second plane had also approached the border and had been warned.
"The data we have is very clear. There were two planes approaching our border, we warned them as they were getting too close," a senior Turkish official told Reuters.
"We warned them to avoid entering Turkish airspace before they did, and we warned them many times. Our findings show clearly that Turkish airspace was violated multiple times. And they violated it knowingly," the official said.
For the first time since World War II, Russian and NATO planes have been flying combat missions in the same air space targeting various insurgent groups close to Turkish borders after Russia's unilateral decision to launch air strikes in Syria.
Following the news about the shootdown of the fighter jet and possible tensions between the two countries, Russia's main stock index fell more than two percent, while Turkish stocks fell 1.3 percent. Both the rouble and lira were weaker.
While Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu ordered consultations with NATO, the United Nations and related countries, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan was briefed by the head of the military, their respective offices said.
The mountainous area in the northern countryside of Latakia province where the warplane crashed had been the area of bombardment earlier and where pro-government forces have been battling insurgents on the ground, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.
This area is not known to have presence of Isis troops and members.
Citing local sources, CNN reported that one of the pilots was in the hands of Turkmen forces in Syria who were looking for the other one. Turkey's Dogan news agency reported that the Russian military helicopters were also searching for the pilots.
(Source:www.reuters.com)
Russian and Turkish assets fell on fears of an escalation between the former Cold War enemies as this was the first time a NATO member's armed forces have downed a Russian or Soviet military aircraft since the 1950s.
A Kremlin spokesman said it was a "very serious incident" but that it was too early to draw conclusions.
With a long plume of smoke trailing behind it, footage of the crash aired on private Turkish broadcaster Haberturk TV showed the warplane going down in flames in a woodland area. The plane went down in area known by Turks as "Turkmen Mountain", the TV channels said.
Two pilots in the plane were seen parachuting out of the jet before it crashed in a separate footage from Turkey's Anadolu Agency.
One of its Su-24 fighter jets had been downed in Syria and that and preliminary reports suggest that the pilots were able to eject, said Russia's defense ministry. The defense ministry claimed that the aircraft had been over Syria for the duration of its flight.
In a time period of 5 minutes, the Russian fighter jet had been warned 10 times about violating Turkish airspace, said the Turkish military. Officials said a second plane had also approached the border and had been warned.
"The data we have is very clear. There were two planes approaching our border, we warned them as they were getting too close," a senior Turkish official told Reuters.
"We warned them to avoid entering Turkish airspace before they did, and we warned them many times. Our findings show clearly that Turkish airspace was violated multiple times. And they violated it knowingly," the official said.
For the first time since World War II, Russian and NATO planes have been flying combat missions in the same air space targeting various insurgent groups close to Turkish borders after Russia's unilateral decision to launch air strikes in Syria.
Following the news about the shootdown of the fighter jet and possible tensions between the two countries, Russia's main stock index fell more than two percent, while Turkish stocks fell 1.3 percent. Both the rouble and lira were weaker.
While Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu ordered consultations with NATO, the United Nations and related countries, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan was briefed by the head of the military, their respective offices said.
The mountainous area in the northern countryside of Latakia province where the warplane crashed had been the area of bombardment earlier and where pro-government forces have been battling insurgents on the ground, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.
This area is not known to have presence of Isis troops and members.
Citing local sources, CNN reported that one of the pilots was in the hands of Turkmen forces in Syria who were looking for the other one. Turkey's Dogan news agency reported that the Russian military helicopters were also searching for the pilots.
(Source:www.reuters.com)
