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French MEP Calls Turkey's Plane-Downing 'Very Dirty Game'

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Jean-Luc Melechon, a European Parliament member from France, condemned Turkey's downing of a Russian plane, calling it 'sabotage' and 'backstabbing'.

Turkey's downing of a Russian Su-24 jet was a provocation, intended by the country's government to sabotage the formation of a grand anti-ISIL coalition, according to French European Parliament Member Jean-Luc Melechon.

Turkey shot down the Russian plane on Tuesday, claiming that it violated the country's airspace. Melechon is a Left Party delegate in the European Parliament, who is also a former Minister in Jaques Chirac's government.

"The Turkish government is playing a very dirty game. On Friday and Saturday, Turkish bombings against the [Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK)] of Kurdistan resumed. Now, a Russian plane has been shot down," Melechon wrote on his Facebook page.

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According to Melechon, the Turkish actions constitute a provocation against the forming anti-ISIL coalition.

"What was this Russian plane doing? It was hitting our Daesh (ISIL) enemies! What threat did this plane present for Turkey? None. So it is a provocation of the Turkish government in order to break the coalition as it forms. The Turkish government is a very keen backstabber," Melechon added.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier that Russia would consider French President Francois Hollande's proposal to close the Turkish-Syrian border to prevent the traffic of arms, fighters and funding to regions of Syria controlled by ISIL and other terrorist forces.

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