Two Turkish F-16 fighter jets shot down a Russian warplane near Turkey's border with Syria Tuesday in an incident that raises the possibility of conflict between Moscow and NATO.
A U.S. official confirmed to Fox News that the Russian Sukhoi-24 was downed by an air-to-air missile north of the Syrian port city of Latakia. The official added that the Russian jet was warned three times to depart Turkish airspace.
The official told Fox News that the Su-24's two pilots parachuted safely and were last seen attempting to evade capture. Two Russian helicopters were airborne to attempt a rescue mission.
Video footage of the incident showed the plane on fire before crashing on a hill. Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the warplane crashed in the Turkmen Mountains region in the coastal province of Latakia. The region has been subjected to an offensive by Syrian government forces over the past several days under the cover of Russian airstrikes. The area is controlled by several insurgent groups, including Al Qaeda's branch in Syria, the Nusra Front, and the 2nd Coastal Division that consists of local Turkmen fighters.
A Turkish military statement said the plane entered Turkish airspace over the town of Yayladagi, in Hatay province. It said the plane was warned 10 times within the space of 5 minutes.
Russia denied that the plane ever crossed the Syrian border into Turkish skies.
"We are looking into the circumstances of the crash of the Russian jet," the country's Defense Ministry said in a statement. "The Ministry of Defense would like to stress that the plane was over the Syrian territory throughout the flight."
Russia said the Su-24 was downed by artillery fire, but Turkey claimed that its F-16s fired on the Russian plane after it ignored the warnings. A statement from Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's office said the Turkish leader spoke with Turkey's military chief and foreign ministry about the incident. It said Davutoglu would start "initiatives" within NATO and the United Nations.
On Friday, Turkey's Foreign Ministry summoned the Russian ambassador demanding that Russia cease operations in Syria targeting Turkmen villages, saying the Russian actions did not "constitute a fight against terrorism" but the bombing of civilians. Ambassador Andrey Karlov was warned during the meeting that the Russian operations could lead to serious consequences, the ministry said.
Turkey changed its rules of engagement a few years ago after Syria shot down a Turkish plane. According to the new rules, Turkey said it would consider all "elements" approaching from Syria an ennemy threat and would act accordingly.
Following earlier accusations of Russian intrusion into Turkish airspace, the U.S. European Command on Nov. 6 deployed six U.S. Air Force F-15 fighters from their base in Britain to Incirlik Air Base in Turkey to help the NATO-member country secure its skies.
The European Command said the deployment was "in response to the government of Turkey's request for support in securing the sovereignty of Turkish airspace."
In October, NATO's governing body, the North Atlantic Council, had warned Moscow it was courting "extreme danger" by sending planes into Turkish air space.
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