La Türkiye shot down a Russian fighter jet today, stating that the aircraft had invaded his airspace. However, Moscow denies: the Russian Defense Ministry, quoted by the Interfax agency, claims to be able to demonstrate that the warplane has always remained in Syrian airspace, although close to the Turkish border, and that "presumably" it was a ground attack. "It was shot down - Ankara replied - by two of our F-16s after 10 warnings launched in 5 minutes and left unheeded, so that it would leave our airspace".
According to Turkish media, the two pilots driving the fighter jumped with a parachute: one of the two died and, according to local sources quoted by Turkish CNN, the other would be in the hands of the anti-Assad Turcoman rebels. In a video, the rebels showed the corpse of one of the pilots.
The plane crashed on the Turcoman mountains in Syrian territory, north of the coastal city of Latakia, where the Russian jets engaged in the bombing of Syria. The Turkish premier, Ahmet Davutoglu, has ordered the foreign ministry to start an emergency consultation with NATO, the UN and the countries concerned.
NATO is "monitoring the situation carefully" after the shooting down of the Russian jet and "is in contact with the Turkish authorities" but at the moment there has not yet been a request to convene the Atlantic Council, which has been underway from 10 to a meeting already scheduled on Georgia. This was reported by the press office of the Atlantic Alliance.
Despite the shooting down of the fighter, the visit to Turkey by Russian Foreign Minister Serghei Lavrov, scheduled for tomorrow, has been confirmed.
Meanwhile, the funeral of Valeria Solesin, the Italian girl who fell on the streets of Paris, is being celebrated today in Venice. "On behalf of France - reads a message sent by President François Hollande and read during the celebrations by the Italian Defense Minister, Roberta Pinotti -, I solemnly want to say that we will not forget Valeria, who came to us to study for the love of life and culture, and who met his death under fire from terrorists. I share the pain of her parents, of an admirable dignity, of her family, of her loved ones, of her friends and of all of Italy ”.
Also present at the funeral were representatives of the Islamic community of Venice: "Our community wants to tell you that not in the name of our God, not in the name of our religion, which is a religion of peace, and certainly not in our name, did they murder you as the other victims in Paris and around the world,” they said during the ceremony.
