by Anthony Chianese, staff reporter
A Russian jet was shot down by Turkish forces, when the warplane violated Turkey’s airspace by the Syrian-Turkish border, and refused multiple warnings to leave. Moscow states that the plane stayed in Syrian airspace.
“I think this is crazy that Turkey would do this, we want Russia on our side, they would be a strong ally. We don’t want Russia to be against our NATO allies,” said junior Justin Raclaw
Russian President Vladimir Putin placed sanctions on Turkey a few days ago. They included multiple restrictions on Turkish imports, disbanded charter flights to Turkey, and restricted Turkish companies operating in Russia. Russia is Turkey’s second largest trading partner, and more than three million Russians visited Turkey last year. Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesman, said there are close to 90,000 Turks working in Russia.
“I think Putin might be overreacting a little bit,” junior Rocco Pascalli said
United States President Barack Obama urged Russia and our NATO allies to “discourage any escalation.”
Obama is saying that Moscow is at fault for the downing of the warplane, stating that it wouldn’t have happened if Russia focused more on the Islamic State, and less on the Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad’s, moderate opposition.
Putin regarded the downing of Russia’s warplane as a”stab in the back.”
