Update: Russian Pilot Captured by Syrian Rebels After Turkey Shot Down Russian War Plane

A Russian pilot has been captured by Syrian rebels after Turkey shot down Russian war plane for violating Turkish airspace 10 times

 

One of the pilots of a Russian plane that was shot down by Turkish Army F-16 fighter jet has been captured.

 

Reports said two pilots had ejected from the plane before it exploded 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. Russia meanwhile confirmed that one of its planes had been shot down.

 

"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. Turkey's Dogan news agency broadcast footage of what it said was Russian helicopters flying over Syrian territory in an apparent search for the lost pilots.

 

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.

 

Russia however insists that the air campaign is aimed against Islamic State (IS) jihadists. 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. Turkey and Russia have long been at loggerheads over the Syrian conflict, with Ankara seeking Assad's overthrow while Moscow does everything to keep him in power.

 

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.