Putin claims the fighter jet was shot down in Syria, just a few kilometers from the Turkish border.
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A radar picture shows activities of the downed Russian warplane on the Turkish-Syrian border, November 24, 2015 in this handout photo provided by Turkish Interior Ministry Undersecretariat of Public Order and Security.
Turnbull said Australian RAAF Hornet jets were operating under a memorandum of understanding signed between the US-led anti-ISIS coalition and Russian Federation to try and avoid such incidents.
Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet on the Syrian border on Tuesday, threatening a major spike in tensions between two key protagonists in the four-year Syria civil war. Russian aircraft have crossed over into Turkish airspace two times before.
“According to Russian news agency TASS, Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian president Vladimir Putin emphasized that Russia was not threatening military consequences, but that “[Putin] stressed inevitability of consequences after such unfriendly actions of the Turkish side”.
In Washington, United States president Barack Obama said his priority was “to ensure that this does not escalate”. “This is a situation which calls on that we all are prudent and that we all contribute to de-escalating the situation”.
CNN-Turk said Syrian Turkmen forces fighting the Russian-backed regime of President Bashar al-Assad had captured one pilot. Russia’s defense ministry said they received no communication attempts from Turkey – visual or otherwise.
Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov cancelled a visit to Turkey planned for today. “They were conducting an operation against Isil”, he said, using another name for Islamic State.
“As we have repeatedly made clear, we stand in solidarity with Turkey and support the territorial integrity of our North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Ally, Turkey”, he added.
Putin was speaking at a meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah II, where he accepted the king’s condolences following reports that one of the pilots was dead.
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The Turkish army said the downing took place over the Yayladagi district of Turkey’s Hatay province on the border with Syria.
