‘Turkey downs’ Russian warplane in Syria

Turkish military officials on Tuesday brought down a Russian warplane in Syria for “violating” its airspace.

Anadolu, a news agency in Turkey, quoted presidential sources as confirming the incident.

According to the agency, pilot of the ill-fated aircraft ejected himself from the plane.

“A war plane with unidentified nationality fell near the Turkish border in Syria’s Bayirbucak region,” the agency said in its report.

“The moment of the plane falling into Bayirbucak region across from Hatay’s Yayladagi was captured on camera. The pilot’s evacuation via parachute was also captured. Heavy smoke has been seen in the area where the plane fell.”

The Turkish government is strongly opposed to the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, with skirmishes between Turkish and Syrians in the past.

According to CNN, Turkish officials are accusing the Syrian planes of violating its air space, with Russia, however supporting the Assad regime, and had warplanes active over Syria.

In March, 2014 Turkey shot down a Syrian fighter jet after the warplane strayed into its airspace, according to then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

“Our F-16s went up in the air and shot that plane down. Why? Because if you violate my airspace, then from now on, our slap will be hard,” Erdogan who is now the president told supporters at a campaign rally in 2014.

But state-run media in Syria called the shoot-down an act of “blatant aggression” and said the downed plane was over northern Syria at the time.

Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin, the Russian president has said it is his duty “to arrange a meeting between God and the Islamic State”.

Putin has vowed to battle terrorism in Syria.