Turkey shot down a Russian warplane. Why it would happen and why it matters, explained.

Turkey says it has shot down a Russian warplane that violated its airspace. Russian jets, in the area to bomb neighboring Syria, have violated Turkish airspace previously. Tensions between Russia and Turkey have been rising in recent weeks.

Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged the shoot-down but says the plane was in Syria, 4 kilometers from Turkey's border. He described Turkey as "backstabbing" Russia and accused it of financing ISIS.

Several videos have emerged that appear to show the body of the Russian pilot recovered from the plane.

Turkey is a member of NATO, making it a military ally of the US and most of Europe. NATO has called an emergency meeting over the incident. The risk of a major escalation between Russia and NATO is very low, but this may nonetheless have serious repercussions.

Why Russia might send a warplane into Turkey's airspace




It is certainly possible that if this Russian plane did cross into Turkish airspace, it was an accident; Russia has been bombing some targets along the Syria-Turkey border, after all. But Russian jets have committed enough such violations that it's also very possible this was deliberate.

Russian jets first crossed into Turkey's airspace in early October, just a few days after Russia began bombing targets in Syria. Both the US and NATO publicly warned Russia that this was extremely dangerous: Turkey is a member of NATO, meaning that the US and European powers are at least theoretically obligated to defend it from attack.