Morning Star.png Turkey Shoots Down Russian Plane in Syria James Tweedie, The Morning Star, London, 25 November 2015 Tensions between Moscow and NATO reached their highest point in decades yesterday after Turkey shot down a Russian jet in the area around the Syrian border. Russia's Defence Ministry confirmed the Su-24 tactical bomber had been shot after video of the plane going down in flames followed by a large explosion on the ground appeared online. Turkey said the jet was shot down by an F-16 fighter after violating its airspace and ignoring warnings to leave. But Russia said the plane, on a bombing mission against terrorist forces, did not cross into Turkish airspace. The two crew ejected before the plane crashed in the northern Turkmen Mountains region of Syria's Latakia province near the Mediterranean coast. Rebel fighters released video appearing to show one - identified as Major Sergei Rumyantsev - lying dead on the ground surrounded by Turkish-backed ethnic Turkmen guerillas. Turkmen Brigade deputy commander Alpaslan Celik said that his men fired at the crew as they descended, killing both of them. Turkish Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlioglu summoned the representatives of the five permanent UN security council members - China, France, Germany, Russia and the US - to brief them on the incident. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu had earlier called an emergency NATO summit - before contacting the Russian government. Mr Davutoglu claimed his country had the right "to take all kinds of measures" against border incursions. US President Barack Obama supported his claim, saying Turkey "has a right to defend its territory and its airspace." Putin accuses Ankara of funding Isis terrorists But Russian President Vladimir Putin called the attack "a stab in the back delivered by accomplices of the terrorists," adding that Islamic State (Isis) not only benefited from oil smuggling through Turkey, but now enjoyed the protection of its military. "One can understand why they are acting so boldly and blatantly. Why they kill people in such atrocious ways," he said. "Why they commit terrorist acts across the world, including in the heart of Europe" - because they are supported by the armed forces of an entire state." He said Turkey's "atrocity" would not go unanswered. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov cancelled a planned visit to Turkey over the attack. US-led Combined Joint Task Force spokesman Steve Warren distanced NATO from Turkey's actions, saying: "This is an incident between the Russian and the Turkish governments. It is not an issue that involves the coalition." In Britain, Stop the War Coalition convener Lindsey German said the incident was a "major escalation" in the war which "highlights the folly of David Cameron's drive to involve Britain in bombing." "Further military intervention will lead to even further rivalry between the major powers," she warned. "Labour MPs should follow Jeremy Corbyn's lead and say No to bombing." A Russian aircraft briefly violated Turkish airspace in October after it was targeted by a surface-to-air missile battery's radar, prompting sabre-rattling from Ankara. Last month the US redeployed six F-15 fighters from its base in Britain to the Incirlik airbase in Turkey, ostensibly to defend its NATO ally from Russian incursions. On Friday, Turkey alleged Russia had bombed Turkmen villages in the region. Damascus and Kurdish rebels have produced video evidence showing that Turkey has allowed Isis to smuggle arms, money and recruits across its border into Syria. From: <http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-0f42-Turkey-Shoots-Down-Russian-Plane- in-Syria#.VlUsyHYrK00> http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-0f42-Turkey-Shoots-Down-Russian-Plane-i n-Syria#.VlUsyHYrK00 -- -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "YCLSA Discussion Forum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
