MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Turkey has been assisting terrorists in gaining access to the region where the Russian Su-24 bomber aircraft was downed by Turkish F-16 fighter jet, Salih Muslim, the co-chairman of the Syrian Democratic Union Party, told Sputnik on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, a Russian Su-24 jet crashed in Syria. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the plane was downed over Syrian territory, falling 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from the Turkish border.
"Turkey has been contributing to the inflow of jihadists to the region for the past two years, making every effort to make them feel comfortable here. Yesterday morning jihadists invaded this area again, using heavy weapons. Russian planes carried out strikes against militants who tried to regain control over the territories," Muslim said.
According to Muslim, there are no Turkmen mass settlements in this area.
Both the Russian General Staff and the Syrian Air Defense Command confirmed that the Su-24 never crossed into Turkish airspace and was downed on Syrian territory.
