Enraged Putin calls Turkey “accomplices of Terrorists”

By Park Sae-jin Posted : November 25, 2015, 10:18 Updated : November 25, 2015, 10:18

[Courtesy of Vladimir Putin's official Facebook page]


Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his anger against Turkish F-16 shooting down Russian jet fighter near the Syrian border. He called Turkey “Accomplices of terrorists” and warned of “serious consequences”, Tuesday.

It was the first time in history Russia and a NATO country exchanged direct fire over the crisis in Syria. Russia had been bombing IS establishments in Syria hard recently and is planning to send its ground troops to eradicate the terrorist group in coalition with U.S. and France.

Soon after the incident, Turkey official claimed that the Russian warplane violated the Turkish airspace and the F-16, warned the Russian jet fighter several times before firing.

But According to the Russian president, the claim made by Turkish officials is not true. Before attending a meeting with King Abdullah II of Jordan in Sochi, Putin emphasized that the Russian jet fighter was shot down over Syrian airspace and fell four kilometers inside Syrian territory.

“It was obvious,” Putin said the jet fighter posed no threat over Turkey. “The loss today is a stab in the back carried out by accomplices of terrorists.” He continued. Putin also questioned Turkey’s identity as NATO country. “Do they want to make NATO serve IS?”

Turkish officials responded to Putin’s words. A government official said, “This isn’t an action against any specific country” appealing that the attack was not targeted at Russia. “Turkish authorities repeatedly warned the Russian jet fighter when it was 15 kilometers or less away from the border. But the warplane didn’t heed the warnings and proceeded to fly over Turkey.” The official added.

But contrary to enraged emotions, U.S. is to sit back and watch the bushfire burn until things get clearer. U.S. President Barrack Obama said that Turkey has rights to defend its territory and airspace but called on parties to hold back on making comments or statements and ensure the situation does not get worse.


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