w  rd 2 the woss

Turkish F-16s shot down a Russian jet on the Syrian border on Tuesday, sparking fury and outrage by the Russian people. This action may have completely undermined efforts to convince Russia to join the U.S.-led, anti-Islamic State coalition, which includes Turkey.Turkish officials said two Russian strike fighters flew toward the Turkish border, getting very close to crossing it. The pilots ignored 10 warnings over five minutes and then entered Turkey’s airspace for 17 seconds, the officials said.

 

 

Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudsky who is part of the Russian Defense Ministry said in Moscow that Turkey made no effort to reach the pilots. Konstantin Murakhtin, a navigator who was rescued in a joint operation by Syrian and Russian commandos after being ejected from the downed Su-24, told Russian media: “There were no warnings, either by radio or visually. There was no contact whatsoever.”

 

 

Russian officials stated that Murakhtin, one of two people in the ruined plane was “alive and well” after the 12-hour rescue operation succeeded. The pilot was killed by gunfire from the ground, seemingly from Syrian Turkmen fighters. The dead pilot was identified and named by Russia as Lieutenant Colonel Oleg Peshkov.

 

 

Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, after several denials of Russian planes entering Turkish airspace, said the downing of the plane was a “stab in the back by the accomplices of terrorists” and promised “serious consequences”.

 

 

The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said he had spoken to the Turkish foreign minister for an hour on Wednesday. He said the attack looked like a “pre-planned provocation”, and even if Turkish claims proved to be correct, there were no grounds for shooting the plane down.

 

 

It is not only the government that is angry but so are the citizens. In Moscow, a mass of adolescences gathered outside the Turkish embassy and threw rocks in rage. Some of the windows on the ground-floor of the building were broken. Surprisingly police at the scene did not make arrests.

 

 

Despite the outrage Russian officials made it clear their reaction would be measured. There is no talk of a military response and no proposal that diplomatic relations will be cut. However, the tone of associations between the two countries is likely to change dramatically.

 

 

Lavrov cancelled a visit to Istanbul planned for Wednesday, and recommended Russian citizens not travel to Turkey. Russia’s state tourism agency said it was banning all tour operators from offering holidays in Turkey. About four million Russians a year visit Turkey, mainly for tourism. Any planned cuts of airlines traveling to Turkey from Russia will affect Turkey’s economy greatly.

 

 

There is no talk of what will come next, but what is known is this will not escalate into a full out war between Russia and Turkey but it will also not be quickly and neatly cleaned up without any long-term consequences.