Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Istanbul: It is the first public casualty of Russia's aggressive engagement in the five-year long Syrian civil war – its Su-24 warplane streaking to the ground in a fiery blaze against the clear blue sky.
Soon after, the white puffs of two parachutes are seen falling to earth, soon to become targets for the anti-regime fighters below.
In a dangerous escalation in the Syrian conflict, the Russian warplane crashed in Syria near the Turkish border, downed by Turkish F-16s after it violated Turkish airspace.
It was the first time a NATO member's armed forces have downed a Russian or Soviet military aircraft since the 1950s.
The plane was warned 10 times in five minutes that it had violated Turkish airspace before it was attacked, the Turkish Defence Ministry said.
NATO convened an emergency session in Brussels to discuss the incident as tensions between Turkey and Russia intensified, while Turkey announced it had summonsed the Russian ambassador over the affair.
While none of the 28 NATO envoys defended Russia's actions, many expressed concern that Turkey did not escort the Russian warplane out of its airspace rather than shooting it down, diplomats at the meeting told Reuters.
Reuters later reported that the United States believed the jet was shot down inside Syrian airspace after a brief incursion into Turkish airspace.
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the assessment was based on detection of the heat signature of the jet.
NATO calls for calm
Russian President Vladimir Putin said the plane was attacked when it was flying one kilometre inside Syria, warning of serious consequences for what he termed a "stab in the back" administered by Turkey, a country he described as "the accomplices of terrorists".
Speaking after an emergency meeting of alliance ambassadors, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg urged calm and called for a "de-escalation" in the wake of the incident.
The alliance has repeatedly expressed solidarity with Turkey over Russian violations of its airspace, he said.
"As we have repeatedly made clear, we stand in solidarity with Turkey and support the territorial integrity of our NATO ally, Turkey."
Turkey released radar images of the Russian jet in its airspace, while US officials confirmed the Russian plane briefly crossed into Turkey and Mr Stoltenberg confirmed other NATO allies had intelligence that backed the Turkish account of the incident.
In a video widely circulated on social media a commander of rebel Turkmen forces in Syria indicates fighters shot at two Russian pilots after they ejected from their jet.
The region in which the Russian jet went down – known as the Turkmen Mountains or Jabal al-Akrad – borders Syria and Turkey and has allegedly been subjected to a series of Russian air strikes over the last week that have forced thousands from the Turkmen minority to flee into Turkey, human rights groups say.
Turkey had already requested an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council over the air strikes on the Turkmen region after at least 1500 civilians fled their homes in Syrian over the border into Turkey on Saturday following the attacks.
Tensions between Turkey and Russia escalated early last month when Russian warplanes violated Turkish airspace twice – on October 3 and 4 – violations Russia said had happened by accident due to weather conditions.
Russian aims in Syria
Since it began its air campaign in Syria to prop up the regime of President Bashar al-Assad on September 30, Russia has been harshly criticised for pursuing mostly opposition groups fighting to overthrow Mr Assad, as opposed to Islamic State, which it says it is targeting.
In recent days, Russia had shifted its air campaign in an effort to mimic the US-led anti-IS coalition's recent offensive to target IS-run oil and natural gas infrastructure, the Institute for the Study of War reported.
But only Syrian rebel groups are in the area over which the Russian warplane was flying, experts say, not IS terrorists.
US President Barack Obama echoed the NATO leader's words, saying Turkey had a right to defend its territory, but called on Turkey and Russia to ensure the situation does not escalate.
Speaking at a media conference with French President Francois Hollande, Mr Obama said the incident highlighted the failings of Russia's military operations in Syria.
"The problem has been Russia's focus on propping up Assad rather than concentrating on ISIL," he said, using an alternative name for IS.
Urging Russia to join the international movement pushing for a political solution in Syria, Mr Obama said: "The sooner we agree to a political process, the less likely events like this will be."
According to groups monitoring the Syrian war, Russian air strikes have killed more than 400 civilians since they began in September.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the death toll from September 30 to November 20 had reached 403 civilians, including 97 children, while another group, the Syrian Network for Human Rights, said the toll was as high as 526, including 137 children.
Russia denied the civilian casualty toll and criticised the "so-called fake 'human rights observatories' and other propaganda organisations".
At least 250,000 people have died in Syria's civil war, more than 4 million Syrians have fled their homes, mostly to neighbouring countries, while a further 7.6 million have been displaced.
Human rights groups say it is the Assad regime, rather than IS that is responsible for the majority of deaths in Syria, in particular through its use of barrel bombs. The Syrian government denies the allegations.
