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Turkey Shoots Down Russian Jet Near Syrian Border

(CBS News) — Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet over Syria Tuesday (Nov. 24) saying the Su-24 jet’s pilots violated Turkish airspace and failed ...
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(CBS News) — Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet over Syria Tuesday (Nov. 24) saying the Su-24 jet’s pilots violated Turkish airspace and failed to heed multiple warnings to leave.

A U.S. official told CBS News that radar tracking confirmed the Russian plane was in Turkish airspace, adding, “it was close,” but it did cross the border.

Russia flatly denied that its warplane had crossed into Turkish airspace.

“We are looking into the circumstances of the crash of the Russian jet. The Ministry of Defense would like to stress that the plane was over the Syrian territory throughout the flight,” the Russian ministry said in a statement.

The Turkish Defense Ministry was quoted by Reuters as saying the Russian jet was warned 10 times within five minutes to leave Turkish airspace before it was shot down. Turkish officials said the Su-24 was warned as it flew over Yaylidag, in Turkey’s southern Hatay province, and the Ministry of Defense released radar images purportedly showing the Ru-24’s flightpath over the southern tip of Turkey’s Hatay province, which juts down into northern Syria.

Turkey Shoots Down Russian Jet Near Syrian Border

The Russian jet crashed down into Syrian territory. Amateur videos showed it plummeting to the earth with flames trailing behind it before it disappeared behind a hill. Two parachutes were seen floating down to the ground, also; evidence that the two pilots from the jet had ejected.

CBS News correspondent Charlie D’Agata says unverified video posted by Syrian rebels from the area showed what appeared to be a lifeless Russian crewman. The rebels in the video said he was dead, though it was unclear, if true, whether he died in the initial strike or whether he was killed in crossfire on the ground.

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that the incident would have “serious consequences” for his country’s relations with Turkey, and insisting that the Su-24 jet remained just less than a mile inside Syrian airspace in a mission against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), he said Moscow felt “stabbed in the back” by the Turks.

“Instead of discussing the incident with Moscow, they turned to their NATO partners as if it was us who downed their jet,” Putin said. “It’s as if Turkey wants to put NATO at the service of ISIS.”

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