Report: US officials blame Turkey for overreacting to minor violation of airspace
While US President Barack Obama publicly expressed support for Ankara’s right to defend its sovereignty after Turkey shot down a Russian plane it says strayed into its airspace on Tuesday, US officials reportedly believe Turkey needlessly escalated tensions.
CBS News on Tuesday quoted anonymous US officials as blaming Turkey for overreacting to a minor violation of its airspace.
Russia’s defense ministry said one of its Su-24 fighter jets had been downed in Syria and that “for the entire duration of the flight, the aircraft was exclusively over Syrian territory,” a suggestion Turkey denied.
“The data we have is very clear. There were two planes approaching our border, we warned them as they were getting too close,” another senior Turkish official told Reuters. “Our findings show clearly that Turkish air space was violated multiple times. And they violated it knowingly.”
The United States believes that the Russian jet shot down by Turkey on Tuesday was hit inside Syrian airspace after a brief incursion into Turkish airspace, a US official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.