Russian Su-24 Downing in Syria to Spoil Ankara-Damascus Relations

The downing of the Russian Su-24 Fencer bomber jet over Syria by Turkish forces will negatively affect bilateral relations of Damascus and Ankara, Mehmet Gunal, member of Planning and Budgetary Committee of the Turkish parliament, told Sputnik Tuesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik), Svetlana Alexandrova —  Earlier in the day, a Su-24M bomber was downed by an air-to-air missile shot from a Turkish F-16 fighter jet in Syria near the Turkish border. Ankara requested NATO’s principal decision-making body, the North Atlantic Council, to hold an extraordinary meeting over the incident.

"This incident will also impact Turkish-Syrian relations, economic ties in particularly, in terms of energy relations, so all the governments need to sit together and try to solve the problem," Gunal, a member of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), said.

The lawmaker added that Turkey holding consultation with NATO on the incident was a standard procedure, as any member of the organization has to notify the alliance if its borders were breached.

Syrian-Turkish relations have long been strained due to a number of factors, including Damascus' support of the Kurdistan Worker's Party, a militant group banned in Turkey. Ankara was also put under pressure to receive over a million of refugees fleeing violence and poverty in Syria during the ongoing civil war.

Ankara claims Turkish F-16s shot down the plane because it violated the country's airspace. Contrary to Ankara’s accusations, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the aircraft was 0.6 miles from Turkey when it was hit.