BEIRUT, November 24. /TASS/. Turkey’s attack on a Russian warplane in Syria demonstrates that Turkey is backing terrorists and violates Syria’s sovereignty, SANA news agency quoted a military source as saying on Tuesday.
The Russian Su-24 jet was downed when it was returning from a combat mission against terrorists’ targets in Syria.
"The General Command of the [Syrian] Army and stresses that the desperate acts of aggression will only increase our determination to continue the war against the terrorist organizations with the support and help of Syria’s friends, mainly Russia," SANA said.
A Russian Su-24 frontline bomber was downed by an air-to-air missile launched from a Turkish F-16 fighter jet when it was returning from an anti-terrorist mission to the Hmeymim airbase in Syria. The warplane was at an altitude of 6,000 meters at a distance on one kilometer from the Turkish border. The Defense Ministry said earlier that pilots had managed to eject from the aircraft. Their whereabouts were being established.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said the downed Su-24 was no threat to Turkey as it was on a mission to bomb Islamic State targets. "It was a stab in the back," Putin said. The Russian president warned that attack on the Russian warplane would have "serious consequences" for the Russian-Turkish relations.
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