Turkey says Russian fighter was warned 10 times

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation has called an extraordinary meeting after a Russian SU 24 warplane was shot down over Turkey on Tuesday, AFP reports.

The report was confirmed by Interfax, which cited the Estonian mission to NATO.

According to Reuters, it was the first time that a NATO member's military had shot down a Russian or Soviet military aircraft since the 1950s.

A group of Syrian rebel fighters told AFP the two Russian pilots who ejected from their fighter jet had come under fire from members of his group, with one being described as dead upon landing.

Relations between the Russian Federation and Turkey have often been tricky given that for decades the latter shared the longest land border with Russia of any member in the Alliance.

Speaking in the afternoon, Russia´s Vladimir Putin would say that the consequences for Russian-Turkish relations of the shooting down of its aircraft would be serious.

“We understand that everyone has their own interests but we won’t allow such crimes to take place,” Putin said on the sidelines of a meeting in Sochi with Jordan´s King Abdullah.

“We received a stab in the back from accomplices of terrorism.”

Turkish F-16s reportedly issued 10 warnings

Last week, Turkey´s foreign ministry summoned the Russian ambassador to warn of "serious consequences" if his country´s Air Force did not stop bombing "civilian Turkmen villages" in the Bayir Bucak area, near to Tuesday's crash site, the BBC reported.

Turkey´s military said its jet had acted "in accordance with the rules of engagement", which had been modified after Syria shot down a Turkish plane in 2012.

Istanbul said two of its F-16 fighters had fired on an unidentified aircraft at 07:24 GMT having previously warned it 10 times over a period of five minutes that it was violating Turkish airspace over the town of Yayladagi, in Hatay province.