Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned of serious consequences of the incident.
Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a strong response to the downing of Russia's SU-24 jet by Turkey on Tuesday. He says it is a 'tragic incident' that will bring 'serious consequences.'
"Today's loss for us was a stab in the back from terrorist accomplices. I can't qualify this in any other way. Our jet was shot down over the territory of Syria by the air-to-air missile from a Turkish F16 jet. It fell on the territory of Syria four kilometers from the Turkish border," Putin said.
The incident involving Russia's SU-24 jet is not an isolated case. Turkey has given Russia several warnings when back in early October Russian jets violated Turkish airspace at least on two occasions. Moscow apologized for them and tried to play it down.
But politics watchers say this case could cause serious damage to already strained international relations.
"This accident is a kind of serious testing for relations not only between Russia and Turkey, which are not in the best condition in the last month but as well Russia's relations with NATO. Because it's absolutely clear that some people in NATO will use this accident as one more argument that there's an existing threat from Russia to NATO members," said Andrey Fyodorov, political analyst.
Russia's Foreign Minister has cancelled a Wednesday trip to Turkey over the incident. And there is talk further retaliatory measures may include a suspension of air travel from Russia to Turkey - and possible evacuation of Russian tourists from Turkish resorts.
