Leaked Ankara UN letter claims Su-24's ‘air space violation’ lasted 17 seconds

Even if two Russians jets did indeed violate Turkish airspace (which Moscow denies), the intrusion would have lasted for just 17 seconds before one of the Su-24s was shot down, a leaked Turkish letter to the UN revealed.

Russian warplane shot down at Syria-Turkey border LIVE UPDATES 

Two Su-24 planes approached Turkish airspace on Tuesday morning, a letter addressed to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the 15 members of the UN Security Council said.

The Russian planes are described in a document, published by WikiLeaks and Al Jazeera, as aircraft “the nationality of which is unknown.”

The letter allegedly from Turkish UN Ambassador Halit Cevik reiterates Ankara’s claim that the two planes were “warned 10 times during a period of five minutes via ‘emergency’ channels” to change direction.

“Disregarding these warnings, both planes, at an altitude of 19,000 feet, violated Turkish national airspace to a depth of 1.36 miles and 1.15 miles in length for 17 seconds from 9:24:05 local time,” the leaked document said. 

One of the planes then left the Turkish airspace, while “plane two was fired at while in Turkish airspace by Turkish F-16s,” Cevik allegedly wrote.

This provided ground for Turkish forces to attack the Russian warplanes in accordance with the new rules of military engagement adopted in 2012 over the deterioration of the situation in Syria.

“Following the violation, plane one left Turkish national airspace. Plane two was fired at while in Turkish airspace by Turkish F-16s performing air combat patrolling in that area,” the leaked letter said. “Plane two crashed onto the Syrian side of the Turkish-Syrian border.”

Russia denies these claims, saying its plane was downed in Syrian airspace, where Russia is conducting an air operation against Islamic State and other terrorists. 

Russia’s General Staff said that airfield radar at the Hmeymim base showed that it was the Turkish fighter jet that actually entered Syrian airspace as it attacked the Russian bomber.

Vladimir Putin called Ankara’s actions “a stab in the back delivered by accomplices of the terrorists,” adding that the incident will have “severe consequences” for relations between Russia and Turkey.

There are conflicting reports on the fate of the two pilots from the downed Su-24 warplane.

The Turkmen militia, fighting the Syrian government in the area, claimed to have killed both pilots as they were parachuting from their jet after it was hit.

The Free Syrian Army affiliate, the 10th Brigade in the Coast also said that it is in possession of the corpse of one of the Russian pilots and is searching for another one.

The General Staff said that, according to preliminary data, one of the Su-24 pilots died after being fired at from the ground, while a rescue operation for his partner is underway.

However, Reuters cited a Turkish government official, who said that both pilots are alive and Ankara is working to retrieve them from the rebels.

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