Ankara (AFP) --- NATO member Turkey on
Tuesday shot down a Russian fighter jet on the Syrian border, threatening a
major spike in tensions between two key protagonists in the four-year Syria
civil war.
The Turkish
presidency said in a statement that the plane was a Russian Su-24 fighter jet,
while Turkish media said one pilot had been captured by rebel forces in Syria .
The Turkish army
said that the plane had violated Turkish airspace 10 times within a five minute
period and was shot down by two Turkish F-16s. However Russia insisted
that the plane was inside Syrian airspace.
"A Russian
Su-24 plane was downed under the rules of engagement because it violated the
Turkish airspace despite the warnings," the Turkish presidency said.
Reports said two
pilots had ejected from the plane and Turkish television pictures showed two
white parachutes descending to the ground.
The CNN-Turk
channel said Syrian Turkmen forces fighting the Russian-backed regime of
President Bashar al-Assad captured one pilot.
"Presumably as
a result of firing, an Su-24 plane of the Russian forces crashed in the Syrian Arab
Republic ," Russian
news agencies quoted the defence ministry as saying.
The Russian
ministry said the fate of the pilots was not yet clear.
The fighter jet
exploded in the air and the fireball fell on a mountain on the Syrian side of
the border, television pictures showed.
Footage posted by
the state-run Anatolia news agency showed
plumes of smoke rising behind a mountain a few kilometres from the Turkish
border.
Turkish reports
said the incident happened in the border area between Turkey 's southern Hatay province and an area in
northwest Syria
populated by the Turkic-speaking Turkmen minority.
The incident came
as Russian and Syrian jets are carrying out a heavy bombing campaign against
targets in northern Syria .
The Turkish
government has expressed anger at the bombing campaign, saying it is aimed at
buttressing the Syria
regime and has displaced thousands of Turkmen Syrians.
Amid fears of a diplomatic crisis, key NATO
member Turkey
said it would take the issue to the United Nations and NATO.
"Necessary
initiatives will be taken at NATO, UN and at the level of countries concerned
by the foreign ministry upon instructions from Mr Prime Minister," a
statement from Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's office said.
Russian fighter
jets entered Turkish airspace in two separate incidents in October, prompting Ankara to summon the
Russian ambassador twice to protest both violations.
The Turkish
military in October also shot down a Russian-made drone that had entered its
airspace. But Moscow
denied the drone belonged to its forces.
Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov is due to visit Turkey
on Wednesday in a bid to smooth ties and find a joint approach to finding peace
in Syria .
Along with Saudi Arabia and the United
States , Turkey
and Russia are taking part
in talks in Vienna that aim to narrow
differences on the Syria
conflict and have taken on an extra importance after the Paris attacks.
A Turkish foreign
ministry official told AFP Lavrov's visit would go ahead as planned.
"There is no change in the programme," said the official.
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