Another pilot, Aleksandr Akhmadulin, ejected out of the jet with him when the plane was shot for allegedly going into Turkish airspace but is said to have been brutally killed by men living in the mountains – which Turkey says are Syrian rebels but Russian Federation says are Islamic State (ISIS) jihadists. The message to Russian Federation was clear.
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This comes a day after Putin declared both pilots dead after Turkish jets shot down their Su-24 aircraft.
Putin on Wednesday also accused Turkey’s political leaders of encouraging the “Islamisation” of Turkish society, something he described as a deeper problem than the downing of the jet.
On Tuesday evening dozens of demonstrators gathered outside the Russian Consulate in Istanbul to protest against Moscow’s operations in Turkmen regions of Syria where the jet came down.
Turkey says it warned the pilots at least 10 times to turn around as the plane was approaching Turkish airspace, but the pilots ignored the warning and crossed the border anyway.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Wednesday confirmed that the pilot was rescued “by Syrian and Russian forces” and was “alive, safe and sound”.
In condemnation of Russian air strikes in Syria, during which Turkish air space has been violated several times in recent weeks, Erdogan said that only Turkey’s “cool-headedness” had prevented worse incidents in the past.
“After such tragic events like the destruction of our plane and the death of our pilot, this is a necessary measure”, Mr Putin said in televised comments.
A United States official who spoke to Reuters said claimed overnight that the jet’s heat signature showed it was hit inside Syrian airspace after briefly entering Turkish airspace.
It is one of the most serious clashes between a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member country and Russian Federation for half a century.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Wednesday “dangerous escalation” in relations between Russia and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation can not be excused, even in the case of border protection.
Russian aircraft have accompanied forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that are conducting offensives against opposition groups.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday called the downing “a stab in the back delivered by accomplices of the terrorists”.
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Turkey, a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member, called for an emergency meeting yesterday afternoon to discuss the issue. He defended his country’s move to shoot down the plane saying: “no one should expect Turkey to stay silent to border violations or the violation of its rights”.
