Turkey Summons UN Security Council Members' Envoys over Russian Jet: Official
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Turkey's foreign ministry Tuesday summoned representatives from the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council to brief them on the downing of a Russian fighter jet, a Turkish official said.
Envoys from the US, Russia, China, France and Britain were called in after the warplane came down along Turkey's Syria border, sparking a furious response from Moscow, Reuters reported.
Turkish fighter jets shot down the Russian warplane near the Syrian border on Tuesday. Turkey claims the incident happened after repeated warnings over air space violations, but Moscow said it could prove the jet had not left Syrian air space.
It was the first time a NATO member's armed forces have downed a Russian or Soviet military aircraft since the 1950s and Russian and Turkish assets fell on fears of an escalation between the former Cold War enemies.
A Kremlin spokesman said it was a "very serious incident" but that it was too early to draw conclusions.
Footage from private Turkish broadcaster Haberturk TV showed the warplane going down in flames in a woodland area, a long plume of smoke trailing behind it. The plane went down in area known by Turks as "Turkmen Mountain", it said.