Russia accused Turkey of abetting Islamic State and warned of "serious consequences" for relations between the two countries, after Ankara's forces shot down a Russian fighter jet that allegedly entered Turkish airspace from Syria.
Turkey defended Tuesday's actions and said the pilot of the Su-24 jet had failed to respond to repeated warnings to change course, but Russian president Vladimir Putin called the incident a "stab in the back" from a supposedly friendly state.
Russia did not detail what steps it would take in response, but the nation’s anger is likely to be inflamed by reports that militants with close Turkish links shot dead one crewman as he parachuted to the ground, and killed another Russian serviceman during a failed rescue mission.
International leaders called for a calm response to the first known case since the 1950s of a Nato member shooting down one of Moscow’s warplanes.
The Turkish army said two of its F-16 fighters targeted the Russian plane after its pilot had ignored 10 warnings within five minutes and repeatedly flew over Turkish territory. Mr Putin insisted the jet never left Syrian airspace. “In any case, our pilots and our plane in no way threatened the Turkish republic . . . They were conducting an operation against Isil,” he said, using another name for Islamic State.
Accomplice of terrorism
“We will never tolerate crimes like the one committed today . . . which was a stab in the back from an accomplice of terrorism.”
Mr Putin said the plane was struck 1km inside Syria, while attacking what he claimed were concentrations of Russian-born Islamic State fighters “who could return to Russia at any time”.
The Russian leader also accused Turkey of complicity in oil smuggling that raised huge sums for Islamic State, and he expressed annoyance that Turkey had not immediately sought talks with Moscow but requested an emergency meeting with its Nato allies. "It's as if we shot down their plane, and not they ours. What do they want to do – put Nato at the service of Isil?" Mr Putin asked.
At the Nato meeting, the alliance’s secretary general Jens Stoltenberg backed Ankara’s view of events.
“The allied assessments that we have are consistent with the information we have from Turkey,” he said. “We stand in solidarity with Turkey and support the territorial integrity of our Nato ally.”
In Washington, US president Barack Obama said his priority was "to ensure that this does not escalate".
“It’s very important right now for us to make sure that both the Russians and the Turks are talking to each other to find out exactly what happened,” Mr Obama said. “Turkey, like every country, has the right to defend its territory and its airspace.”
Mr Obama added: “Russia could play a more constructive role if it shifts the focus of its strikes to defeating Isis.”
Moscow ally
Ankara, like western capitals, accuses Russia of mainly bombing not Islamic State in Syria but other militants fighting the forces of president Bashar al-Assad – Moscow’s closest ally in the Middle East.
Turkey summoned Russia’s ambassador last weekend to complain about alleged bombing of villages in the area the plane came down on Tuesday, which is home to Turkmen people with close ties to Turkey.
