Japan hopes that Russia and Turkey will remain calm following Turkey's downing of a Russian fighter jet, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Wednesday. "We are closely watching the situation. In any case, we expect all sides to rely on the objective truth and act calmly, and continue to show solidarity in face of terrorism," Suga said at a press conference. On Tuesday, a Russian Su-24 jet crashed in Syria. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the plane was downed by an air-to-air missile launched by a Turkish F-16 jet over Syrian territory, and fell 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from the Turkish border. Putin described the Turkish attack as a "stab in the back" carried out by "accomplices of terrorists." Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Ankara acted in line with its sovereign right to respond to threats, claiming that the Russian jet violated Turkish airspace.
