Turkish Fighter Jets Shoot Down Russian Jet over Syrian-Turkish Border

Turkish F-16s shot down a Russian fighter jet over the Syrian-Turkish border on Tuesday after the downed plane violated its airspace. The Turkish military claimed the Russian plane ignored ten warnings before it was brought down. Moscow confirmed that one of its SU-24 jets “crashed after an attack from the ground.” Numerous video clips circulating on social media showed the two Russian plots parachuting over rough, desert territory dotted with brush. Unverified reports claimed that one or both of the pilots were captured by Turkmen members of the Free Syrian Army, a non-Islamist rebel group, about 2 miles from the Turkish border. A joint Russian-Syrian rescue operation was underway in Latakia, northern Syria. The incident and its murky aftermath are another window into the confusing theater of the Syrian civil war, now in its fifth year. Under the guise of bombing Islamic State (ISIS) operations, Russian jets are in reality supporting Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad. Turkish jets are patrolling the nation’s perimeter while attacking forces loyal to Assad and ISIS bases as part of the US-led mission to support the non-Islamist rebels fighting Assad. Turkey and Russia, at once allies and opponents, are not known to have open lines of communication coordinating their air force’s sorties, such as those in place between Israel and Russia, that both overfly the Israeli/Syrian border area over the Golan Heights. Moscow’s sensitivities are heightened following the ISIS downing of a Russian commercial jet over Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula three weeks ago, in which 224 Russian citizens were killed.