Turkey’s attack on Su-24 a stab in Russia’s back, to have serious consequences - Putin

SOCHI, November 24. /TASS/. The attack against the Russian Sukhoi Su-24 plane, which took part in Russia’s antiterrorism operation in Syria and did not present a threat to Turkey, was a stab in Russia’s back delivered by terrorists’ accomplices, President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with King of Jordan Abdullah II on Tuesday. "Today’s loss is linked with a stab in our back delivered by terrorism accomplices. I can’t characterize otherwise what has happened today," the Russian leader said. "The Russian bomber was shot down over Syria by an air-to-air surface fired from a Turkish F-16 plane when the bomber was at an altitude of 6,000 meters at a distance of 1 km from the Turkish bomber," Putin said. Su-24 presented no threat to Turkey The Russian president said the Russian Su-24 bomber downed by the Turkish air force posed no threat to Turkey. "Anyway, our pilots and jet posed no threat to the Turkish Republic. This is obvious. They were conducting an operation against ISIL [former name of Islamic State terrorist organization]," Putin said at the meeting with the Jordanian king. He said the plane was flying above northern Latakia where militants coming from Russia are concentrated. "They [the pilots] were fulfilling their task," the president stressed adding that they were delivering preventive air strikes on terrorists who can come back to Russia at any moment. Attack to have serious consequences for Russian-Turkish ties Putin said the attack of the Turkish Air Force on Russia’s Sukhoi Su-24 warplane will have serious consequences for Russia-Turkey relations. "We will certainly carefully analyze what has happened and today’s tragic event will have serious consequences for Russian-Turkish relations," he said. According to Putin, Russia has always treated Turkey not simply as a close neighbor, but as a friendly state. "I have no idea who needed what has happened today, but in any case it’s not us," the Russian president said. Oil and financial support for terrorists Putin also said Russia has long been aware of oil supplies to Turkey from Syria’s territories seized by terrorists, which provided tangible financial support for the extremists. "We’ve long exposed heavy trafficking of oil and petroleum products from Islamic State-seized territories," Putin said, adding that monetary support for the militant groups was large, indeed. "Now we’ve suffered stabs in the back: attacks against our planes that fight with terrorism," the Russian leader said. He pointed out that Turkey attacked Russia’s Su-24 although "we have signed agreements with the American partners on the prevention of incidents in the air, and Turkey, as is known, is among the countries that have declared they are ostensibly fighting against terrorism within the US-led coalition." "If they, the ISIL, have such money, tens, hundreds of millions of dollars and maybe billions of dollars from oil trade and have support of the armed forces of entire countries then it is clear why they are so insolent and audacious, why they are killing people in the most barbaric manner and why they are committing terrorist attacks across the world, including in the heart of Europe," Putin said. NATO to serve Islamic State? The Russian president said Turkey’s contacts with NATO member states after the Turkish Air Force attacked the Russian bomber on an anti-terror mission in Syria look like an attempt to make the alliance serve terrorists. The Russian leader said that instead of immediately establishing contacts with Russia after the bomber incident, "the Turkish side applied to its NATO partners to discuss this issue, as far as we know." "It seems as if we have shot down a Turkish plane and not vice versa," the Russian president said. "So, does this mean that they want NATO to serve the Islamic State?" Putin noted. "I understand each country has its own regional interests, and we have always respected that. But we shall never tolerate crimes like today's one," the president said. He expressed hope "the international community will find the forces to unite in the face of this common evil [terrorism]." "In this connection, we certainly very much hope for an active participation of all regional countries in that struggle," Putin said. He said Russia will keep cooperating with special services and militaries of Jordan and other countries. Russia’s efforts to fight terrorists in Syria Russia’s Aerospace Forces started delivering pinpoint strikes in Syria at facilities of the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist organizations, which are banned in Russia, on September 30, 2015, on a request from Syrian President Bashar Assad. The air group comprises over 50 aircraft and helicopters, including Sukhoi Su-24M, Su-25SM and state-of-the-art Su-34 aircraft. They were redeployed to the Khmeimim airbase in the province of Latakia. On October 7, four missile ships of the Russian Navy’s Caspian Flotilla fired 26 Kalibr cruise missiles (NATO codename Sizzler) at militants’ facilities in Syria. On October 8, the Syrian army passed to a large-scale offensive. Over 2,000 terrorist facilities have been destroyed by Russian aircraft since the start of the air operation. The Russian Federation does not plan to take part in ground operations in Syria. According to UN statistics, fighting between Syrian government troops and militants has killed more than 200,000 people and displaced millions since its start in 2011. Russian President Vladimir Putin recently gave instructions to intensify strikes delivered by Russian aircraft in Syria after Federal Security Service (FSB) chief Alexander Bortnikov reported that the crash of Russia’s A321 airliner above the Sinai Peninsula on October 31 was caused by a terrorist act carried out with the help of a homemade explosive device. A total of 224 people were killed, making the air crash the largest in the history of domestic aviation. Following the tragedy, Russia suspended flights to Egypt. Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu reported to President Vladimir Putin November 17 that Russia has involved strategic and long-range aircraft in strikes against the Islamic State in Syria. Read more