Obama says that Turkey has the right to defend airspace

The US President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that Turkey has the right to defend its airspace, a reaction to the killing of a Russian fighter-bomber forces of Ankara.


Turkey announced that two of its F-16 fighter-bombers shot down a Russian SU-24 which violated Turkish airspace ten times in five minutes along the border with Syria, ignoring all warnings.


"Turkey, like all countries, has the right to defend its territory and its airspace," Obama said during a joint press conference with his French counterpart Francois Hollande at the White House in Washington.

Both Obama and Hollande warned against a possible escalation of tensions after this incident with the Russian fighter, expressing concern about the implications that such a volatile region.

Next to Obama, the French head of state acknowledged that the killing of hunting Russian by Turkey is a "serious incident" and called for greater "coordination" of the attacks against the extremist group Islamic State (EI) in Syria in order to "prevent any escalation."

"It is a serious incident, we regret (...). We must prevent any escalation, seeing what the risks are. We should coordinate them," said Hollande.

The French president added that "Turkey should investigate and see if indeed [the plane] violated the border."