Syrian Arab News Agency link: http://sana.sy/en/?p=62488
Sochi, SANA
– Russian President Vladimir Putin said the downing of the Russian aircraft
over Syria is a stab in the back delivered by the forces backing terrorism.
“This
incident stands out against the usual fight against terrorism,” said Putin
during a meeting with King of Jordan Abdullah II in the Russian city of Sochi.
“Our troops
are fighting heroically against terrorists, risking their lives. But the loss
we suffered today came from a stab in the back delivered by accomplices of the
terrorists,” he added.
Putin said
the plane was hit by an air-to-air missile launched by a Turkish jet and
crashed in the Syrian territory four kilometers from the border with Turkey,
stressing that the Russian plane was flying at an altitude of 6000 meters about
a kilometer from the Turkish border.
He stressed
that the plane and pilots posed no threat to Turkey as they were carrying out a
mission against ISIS in mountainous areas targeting terrorists, most of whom
came from Russia.
“ISIS has
big money, hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars, from selling oil.
In addition they are protected by the military of an entire nation. One can
understand why they are acting so boldly and blatantly. Why they kill people in
such atrocious ways. Why they commit terrorist acts across the world, including
in the heart of Europe,” the Russian President said.
The downing
of the Russian warplane happened despite Russia signing an agreement with the
US to prevent such incidents in Syria, Putin stressed. Turkey claims to be part
of the US-led coalition fighting against ISIS in Syria, he added.
The incident
will have grave consequences for Russia’s relations with Turkey, Putin warned.
“We have
always treated Turkey as not only a close neighbor, but also as a friendly
nation,” he said. “I don’t know who has an interest in what happened today, but
we certainly don’t.”
Putin said
Russia respects the regional interests of other nations, but warned the
atrocity committed by Turkey would not go without an answer.
Before
Putin’s statements came out, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov had said Turkish
army’s downing of the Russian plane over Syria is “a very serious incident.”
Peskov told
reporters in a statement that Russia has confirmed information showing that the
aircraft was all the time flying within the borders of Syria, adding that this
was registered by electronic monitoring means
Asked about
any possible consequences the incident might have on the Russian-Turkish
relations, Peskov said it was too early to draw conclusions until the
whole situation is clear.
Meanwhile,
the Russian Defense Ministry announced that it has summoned the Turkish
military attaché in Moscow over the incident.
Earlier, the
Ministry said a Russian Su-24 fighter jet had been shot down in Lattakia
province.
The Ministry
confirmed that the plane hadn’t violated Turkish airspace and was flying at an
altitude of 6,000 meters.
The pilots
managed to eject from the downed jet, the ministry said, adding that their fate
is still unknown.
H. Said
No comments:
Post a Comment