An intense and heated discussion arose last week from the news of a SU-24 Russian bomber being shut down by Turkey military forces. Turkish claimed it was just in response to the airspace violation carried out by one of the two Russian planes that overflew Turkish territory. While Turkish government states having warned the planes up to ten times, the Kremlin denies it and informs that the serious incident will bring consequences.
Up to now there is little coincidence between the two versions .In fact, only the undeniable aspects agree: ” A Russian bomber was shut down by a Turkish F-16, close to the Turkey frontier with Syria, on Tuesday 24. From that on, the versions run parallel.
In a letter sent to the UN Security Council by the Turkish permanent representative, Halit Cevik, he says that both aircrafts, unhearing the warnings that military gave, kept flying through Turkish space for 17 seconds (2,19 and 1,85 Kms, respectively) heading for the town of Yayladagui. After listening to the warnings, one of the pilots abandoned the Turkish airspace while the other one, who stayed there , was fired and brought down by a F-16 which was patrolling the area. “We didn’t know the nationality of the planes”, he added.
The days following, Turkish military forces have released several evidences to support their side of the story, such as an alleged radar image, showing two SU-24 flying in Turkish airspace, or a record in which ,supposedly, the Turkish warnings to the Russian pilots can be listened to.
On the other hand, Russian view of the facts could not be more different. According to the Kremlin, planes were shut down without warnings. “That was part of a deliberate plan” has even said the Russian ambassador in Spain, Yuri Korchajin. For Russian president Vladimir Putin, he has charged Erdogan of lying, saying that Turkey has enough ways to find out the nationality of the planes overflowing the area, and an offended Putin has defined the incident as a “stab in the back”.
Foreign Affairs Russian minister, Sergei Lavrov, has shown himself more calmed saying: “We will never go to war with Turkey”. But he has announced some measures to be taken. First of all, the sending of several S-400 antiaircraft weapons to the airbase of Jmeimim, in Syria, 30 kilometres south of the border.
It has been the first time that a NATO jet opens fire to a Russian plane in 63 years. It was on November 18, 1952, when North American aircrafts shut down 4 soviet MIGs in the Korean War. Since then, relationships between the two forces have been getting better. For the time being, NATO has taken a step forward in defense of its allied member, stating that several information services are supporting the Turkish argument. Nevertheless, general secretary, Jens Stoltenberg has appealed to all international agents involved for calming down and defusing the tension between them. In the meantime, Russia has already announced that current free visa regime for Turkish citizens will be suspended for the next year.