Obama, Turkey's Erdogan Confer on Downing of Russian Warplane
 Hours after the Turkish shootdown of a Russian warplane along the Syria-Turkey border, U.S. President Barack Obama and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed on the need to de-escalate tensions and prevent further incidents. The White House, in a statement late Tuesday, said the two leaders conferred by phone and voiced their commitment to developing a transitional political process for peace in Syria and international support for defeating Islamic State extremists. The statement also reiterated U.S. support for Turkey's right to defend its airspace. Earlier Tuesday, Obama, speaking in Washington, cited the downing of the Russian plane as evidence of an "ongoing problem" with Russia's military operations in Syria. Speaking alongside French President Francois Hollande at the White House, Obama said U.S. authorities were still collecting details of the shootdown, while noting that Russian military aircraft have been targeting moderate Syrian opposition groups very close to Turkey's borders. He urged the two sides to "take measures to discourage any kind of escalation" and said the incident showed a need to move quickly toward a diplomatic resolution of the Syrian conflict. Separately, Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose government insists the Russian jet never entered Turkish airspace, accused Ankara of "stabbing" Russia "in the back" with the shootdown, equating the Turkish action to supporting terrorism. |
