Australia reacts to Turkey’s shooting of Russian jet

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop have shown their concern over the deteriorating relationship between Russia and Turkey after the latter shot down a Russian fighter jet on Tuesday.

Both have urged Turkey and Russia to remain calm until the matter is properly investigated.

“We call on all parties to exercise restraint of this incident,” Turnbull told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday. He also pointed to the memorandum of understanding between the coalition, which included Australia and the Russians so far as airstrike missions in Syria were concerned.

Turkish authorities have already admitted that they shot a Russian Su-24 jet plane with two of its F-16s after several warnings to the pilot relating to the airplane’s entrance into Turkish airspace.

One of two pilots was reportedly killed by the shot from the ground after being ejected out of the jet plane. A Russian soldier also lost his life during the search operation.

Bishop has also urged for restraint to avoid increasing the level of negativity between the two countries. “We are concerned about the incident where a Russian aircraft was shot down in the Syrian-Turkish border area, and we ask relevant parties to exercise restraint,” the foreign minister said in a statement. “It is important that this incident does not lead to an escalation of conflict in a highly charged regional situation.”

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten indicated the need for international talks to figure out a proper solution to the global matter. He said that the situation has brought into the limelight the complexity of the operation, which involved Australia, and that Australia’s attempt to bring everything to normal needs to be accompanied by efforts from other world leaders.

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