Russia seethes as Turkey downs jet

UN calls for restraint; Nato stands by Ankara as US defends Turkey

MOSCOW/ ANKARA:

Turkey shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border on Tuesday, saying the jet had repeatedly violated its air space, in one of the most serious publicly acknowledged clashes between a Nato member country and Russia for half a century.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said the plane had been attacked when it was one kilometre inside of Syria and warned of ‘serious consequences’ for what he termed a ‘stab in the back’ administered by ‘the accomplices of terrorists’.

“We will never tolerate such crimes like the one committed today,” a grim-looking Putin said, as Russian and Turkish shares fell on fears of an escalation between the former Cold War enemies. Each country summoned a diplomatic representative of the other and Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg offered support for Ankara, while the alliance called a meeting of its ambassadors for Tuesday afternoon.

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov cancelled a visit to Turkey due on Wednesday and the defence ministry said it was preparing measures to respond to such incidents.

Footage from private Turkish broadcaster Haberturk TV showed the warplane going down in flames, a long plume of smoke trailing behind it as it crashed in a wooded part of an area the TV said was known by Turks as ‘Turkmen Mountain’.

Separate footage from Turkey’s Anadolu Agency showed two pilots parachuting out of the jet before it crashed. A deputy commander of rebel Turkmen forces in Syria said his men shot both pilots dead as they came down.

A video sent to Reuters earlier appeared to show one of the pilots immobile and badly wounded on the ground and an official from the rebel group said he was dead. But a Turkish government official told Reuters the pilots were believed still to be alive and that Ankara was working to secure their release from Syrian rebels.

Russia’s defence ministry said one of its Su-24 fighter jets had been downed in Syria and that, according to preliminary information, the pilots were able to eject. “For the entire duration of the flight, the aircraft was exclusively over Syrian territory,” it said.

The Turkish military said the aircraft had been warned 10 times in the space of five minutes about violating Turkish air space.

Officials said a second plane had also approached the border and been warned. “The data we have is very clear. There were two planes approaching our border, we warned them as they were getting too close,” another senior Turkish official told Reuters. “We warned them to avoid entering Turkish air space before they did, and we warned them many times.

Our findings show clearly that Turkish air space was violated multiple times. And they violated it knowingly,” the official said. A US military spokesman said it was an issue between the Turkish and Russian governments and that US-led coalition operations in Syria and Iraq were continuing ‘as planned’.

In Washington, an official said the United States believed the incursion probably lasted only a matter of seconds before the jet was downed. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the incident was still being investigated.

Russia targets tourism

Russia’s decision to launch separate air strikes in Syria mean Russian and Nato planes have been flying combat missions in the same air space for the first time since World War Two, targeting various insurgent groups close to Turkish borders.

Russia’s military involvement in Syria has brought losses, including the downed jet and the bombing by militants of a Russian passenger jet over Egypt. But there is no sign yet that public opinion is turning against the operation in Syria and the Kremlin said it would continue. Instead the Kremlin, helped by state-controlled television, has used these reverses to rally public opinion, portraying the campaign as a moral crusade that Russia must complete, despite indifference or obstruction from elsewhere.

A US official said US forces were not involved in the downing of the Russian jet, which was the first time a Russian or Soviet military aircraft has been publicly acknowledged to have been shot down by a Nato member since the 1950s.

Russia’s main stock index fell more than two percent, while Turkish stocks fell 1.3 per cent. Both the rouble and lira were weaker. Lavrov advised Russians not to visit Turkey and one of Russia’s largest tour operators to the country said it would temporarily suspend sales of trips.

Shot as they fell

Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan was briefed by the head of the military, while Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was due to report on the incident to Nato ambassadors. He also informed the United Nations and related countries.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said the warplane crashed in a mountainous area in the northern countryside of Latakia province, where there had been aerial bombardment earlier and where pro-government forces have been battling insurgents on the ground.

“A Russian pilot,” a voice is heard saying in the video sent to Reuters as men gather around the man on the ground. “God is great,” is also heard. The rebel group that sent the video operates in the northwestern area of Syria, where groups including the Free Syrian Army are active but Islamic State, which has beheaded captives in the past, has no known presence.

A deputy commander of a Turkmen brigade told reporters on a trip organised by Turkish authorities that his forces had shot dead both pilots as they descended. A US official said the pilots’ status remained unclear.

“Both of the pilots were retrieved dead. Our comrades opened fire into the air and they died in the air,” Alpaslan Celik said near the Syrian village of Yamadi, close to where the plane came down, holding what he said was a piece of a pilot’s parachute. In a further sign of a growing fallout over Syria, Syrian rebel fighters who have received US arms said they fired at a Russian helicopter, forcing it to land in territory held by Moscow’s Syrian government allies.

US back Turkey’s right to defend

US President Barack Obama said Nato member Turkey has the right to defend its own airspace. “Turkey, like every country, has a right to defend its territory and its airspace,” Obama said at the White House during an appearance with French President Francois Hollande.

Both Hollande and Obama warned against any escalation after the Russian jet downing, amid concern that the air clash could dramatically escalate tensions in the volatile region.

NATO stands by Turkey

Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg said that the military alliance stands by key ally Turkey but urged both sides to try to calm the crisis. “As we have repeatedly made clear, we stand in solidarity with Turkey and support the territorial integrity of our Nato ally, Turkey,” Stoltenberg said after an emergency meeting of all 28 members requested by Ankara.

“I look forward to further contacts between Ankara and Moscow and call for calm and de-escalation. Diplomacy and de-escalation are important to resolve this situation,” he said.

Calls for restraint

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for urgent measures to de-escalate tensions after the downing of Russian plane. Ban said a ‘credible and thorough review’ of the incident would help clarify what happened and prevent a repeat. “The secretary-general urges all relevant parties to take urgent measures with a view to de-escalate the tensions,” said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

Turkey’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Halit Cevik, said in a letter to the Security Council that his government was determined to defend its sovereignty, security and borders. “Our rules of engagement are well known and are reiterated to all parties on numerous occasions,” wrote Cevik. “Turkey will not hesitate to exercise its rights emanating from international law to protect the security of its citizens and borders.”

 

Published in The Express Tribune, November 25^th, 2015.