Turkey shot a Russian SU-24 aircraft down after the jet violated its airspace Tuesday. Here’s what a Turkish bomber told the SU-24 just before it fired.
“This is Turkish air force speaking,” the Turkish pilot says. “You are approaching Turkish airspace. Change your heading south immediately,” The Mirror reports.
The SU-24 ignores the warning and seconds later is shot down.
Footage shows two of the pilots parachute out of the aircraft, but are subsequently gunned down by rebel forces in Syria. However, a senior Turkish official states one of the pilots may still be alive.
Following the incident, Turkey wrote a letter to the United Nations Security Council, saying the SU-24 clearly violated its airspace by flying one mile across the border. Turkey added it issued 10 warnings in five minutes. Russia denies the charge, arguing it was only ever in Syrian airspace. One U.S. official tells CNN the SU-24 was in Turkish airspace for roughly 30 seconds or less.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan says the situation could have been much worse, as Russia has flagrantly violated the country’s airspace over the past few weeks.
“Nobody should doubt that we made our best efforts to avoid this latest incident,” Erdogan said in a speech in Ankara. “But everyone should respect the right of Turkey to defend its borders,”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned of serious consequences.
“We will never tolerate such crimes like the one committed today,” Putin said, according to Reuters.
All Russian jets will now be accompanied by Russian bombers.
The U.S. says it is not involved in the incident whatsoever and will continue with operations in Syria as planned.
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