A war plane crashes in flames in a mountainous area in northern Syria after it was shot down by Turkish fighter jets near the Turkish-Syrian border Nov. 24. (Photo: Reuters)
Sputnik: Passing the Buck: Turkish Government Shifts Su-24 Blame to Air Force Chief
Social media accounts operated by supporters of Turkey's ruling AKP party have begun to attack the head of Turkey's air force, the Turkish press has reported.
Accounts on Twitter belonging to supporters of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan have turned their ire on the Commander General of Turkey's Air Force, Abidin Unal, blaming him for the shooting down of Russia's Su-24 bomber last month.
On November 24 Turkey's armed forces announced its fighter jets had shot down Russia's Su-24 bomber and claimed that the aircraft had violated Turkish airspace for 17 seconds, a claim disproved by Russia's air force.
WNU Editor: Knowing that this report was from Russian media made me treat it with a certain amount of scepticism, but there are now reports in Turkish media defending Turkey's Air Force Chief and shifting blame to the government .... Air Forces: We followed government orders in downing Russian jet (Today's Zaman). What's my take .... both countries will need to repair the damage that this has caused, and it looks like the Turkish government is looking for a "fall-guy" to pin the blame for this incident.
