Mr Putin has argued the plane was attacked when it was one kilometre inside the Syrian border and warned of “serious consequences” for what he described as a stab in the back administered by “the accomplices of terrorists”.
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The incident has triggered a major diplomatic confrontation from which both sides are apparently unwilling to back down. While calling for de-escalation, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation says the alliance stands in solidarity with Turkey.
Barack Obama and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed the need to contain escalating tensions with Russian Federation during a telephone call on Tuesday night.
The fighter jet was shot down on the Syrian border by two Turkish F-16s, with Ankara saying the plane had violated Turkish airspace 10 times within a five-minute period.
Speaking alongside French President Francois Hollande at the White House, Obama said USA authorities were still collecting details of the shootdown, while noting that Russian military aircraft have been targeting moderate Syrian opposition groups very close to Turkey’s borders.
According to Turkey researcher Aaron Stein, “This is the fourth Russian violation of Turkish airspace since they began airstrikes”.
The plane’s other pilot who died as he was sacked at from the ground will posthumously be given Russia’s highest award for valour, the Hero of Russian Federation medal, Putin added.
The Russian warplane was shot down by Turkey yesterday after allegedly ignoring repeated warnings after it crossed into its airspace from Syria.
Russia’s Aerospace Forces started delivering pinpoint strikes in Syria at facilities of the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist organizations, which are banned in Russian Federation, on September 30, 2015, on a request from Syrian President Bashar Assad.
A war of words erupted among Turkey, Russian Federation and their respective allies following the incident which has led to tensions in a region struggling to cope with the ongoing Syrian conflict.
Fadi Ahmed, a spokesman for the First Coastal Front rebel group, said “the Russian pilot was killed by gunfire as he fell with his parachute” in the Jabal Turkman area of Latakia province on the coast. “We call on all parties to exercise restraint in respect of this incident”, Turnbull told reporters.
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He said the risk of attacks “is no less of a threat than in Egypt”, where all 224 people onboard a Russian passenger jet were killed in October in an attack claimed by the Islamic State.
