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[h=4]Turkey shoots down Russian warplane[/h]Turkish fighter jets shot down a Russian warplane Tuesday after it breached the Turkish border, according to media reports. Russia's TASS news agency reported the plane crashed in Syria on the border with
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Turkish military officials say the Su-24 attack aircraft ventured into their airspace, but Russia's defense ministry insists the plane stayed on the Syrian side of the border. The pilots were able to eject.
A still image made available on November 24, 2015 from video footage shown by the HaberTurk TV Channel shows a burning trail as a plane comes down after being shot down near the Turkish-Syrian border.(Photo: EPA)
Turkey said Tuesday that<span style="color: Red;">*</span>it shot down a Russian warplane after<span style="color: Red;">*</span>it<span style="color: Red;">*</span>ventured<span style="color: Red;">*</span>into Turkish airspace.
However<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Russia's defense ministry<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>plane,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Su-24 attack aircraft,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>did not breach the Turkish border and was downed by<span style="color: Red;">*</span>artillery fire.
The incident is being investigated and comes amid tense relations between Ankara, Moscow and the West over the conflict in Syria. Russia and a U.S.-led coalition are bombing targets in the war-ravaged country. Turkey is a member of NATO. The defense alliance will hold an extraordinary meeting later Tuesday.
The Turkish military<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said that 10 warnings were<span style="color: Red;">*</span>issued<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in five minutes before a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>warplane of unknown nationality was<span style="color: Red;">*</span>shot down<span style="color: Red;">*</span>by two<span style="color: Red;">*</span>F-16 jets after breaching its airspace. The nation's<span style="color: Red;">*</span>state-run Anadolu news agency said the plane went down<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in Bayirbucak, northwestern Syria, near<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Turkey.
"A probe is in progress into the circumstances of the Russian plane’s crash. The Defense Ministry says the plane invariably stayed within Syrian airspace. Objective monitoring data confirm this," Russia's defense ministry said, according to the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>TASS news agency.
Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, said the incident is "very serious.”
When asked what effect it<span style="color: Red;">*</span>would have on relations between Moscow and Ankara, he said:<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"It would be wrong now to give any assessments, assumptions or make any conclusions before we get a full picture,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>TASS reported.
Turkey's private<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Dogan news agency said that witnesses said the warplane<span style="color: Red;">*</span>crashed over tents in a village and pilots landed with parachutes. Russia's Interfax agency said the pilots ejected, and what happened to them is under investigation, citing the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>defense ministry.
A video posted online Monday purports to shows armed rebels gathered around a bruised<span style="color: Red;">*</span>soldier lying<span style="color: Red;">*</span>on the ground.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>A voice says,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>“The 10th Division has captured a Russian pilot, God is greatest.” The allegiances of this armed group was not clear.
Jahed Ahmad,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>a spokesman for the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>10th Brigade in the Coast rebel group, told the Associated Press that<span style="color: Red;">*</span>two<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Russian servicemembers tried to land in their parachutes in areas held by Syrian President Bashar Assad, but came under fire from his forces. He said<span style="color: Red;">*</span>one of the pilots was shot and killed.
What happened to the second<span style="color: Red;">*</span>pilot wasn't<span style="color: Red;">*</span>immediately known.
Jordan's King Abdullah II offered condolences to Putin over the pilot's death, Interfax reported.
Russian fighter planes breached Turkish airspace twice in October.
Russia<span style="color: Red;">*</span>launched extensive attacks on Islamic State targets in Raqqa,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the extremist group's<span style="color: Red;">*</span>headquarters in Syria,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>last week after Russian investigators concluded a homemade bomb brought down a Russian passenger plane<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in Egypt last month, killing all 224 aboard. The Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, claimed responsibility.
The U.S. government previously said<span style="color: Red;">*</span>most Russian strikes targeted<span style="color: Red;">*</span>moderate rebels, including some backed by the U.S., and that the real purpose of Russia's recent air campaign in Syria was not to defeat ISIL<span style="color: Red;">*</span>but to prop up<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Syria's president.
Contributing: Jim Michaels
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