NATO supports Turkey in dispute with Russia over downed fighter jet

UPDATE: After an emergency meeting, NATO member states rallied to show support for Turkey in its dispute with Russia over a downed fighter plane. U.S. and NATO officials confirmed Turkey's assertion that the Russian jet entered Turkish airspace before it was shot down. Russia insists the plane was still in Syrian airspace.

During today's meeting of NATO's North Atlantic Council, Turkish representatives reportedly played recordings of the 21 warnings issued to the Russian jet before Turkish planes opened fire. Turkish officials also maintain this is not the first time a Russian plane has violated Turkish airspace since the country joined the Syrian civil war.

In response to the incident, Russia gave Turkey's military attache in Moscow a statement calling the affair an "unfriendly action." Both NATO and UN officials appealed for a calm and measured response that would de-escalate tension.

But Russia now claims one of the two pilots was shot as he parachuted from the damaged plane. It also claims rebel forces in Syria fired on a military helicopter sent to search for the missing pilots. One airman aboard the helicopter reportedly died.

OUR EARLIER REPORT (9:35 a.m. EDT): NATO called an emergency meeting today to respond to the shooting down of a Russian airplane by Turkey. The Turkish government says the plane, which was conducting airstrikes in Syria, crossed into its airspace and ignored multiple warnings. Russian President Vladimir Putin denied the plane crossed the border and called Turkey’s actions a “stab in the back” that would have “significant consequences.”

The incident is the first time a member of NATO has shot down a Russian or Soviet plane since the 1950s. NATO formed for the mutual defense of Europe, the United States, and Canada after World War II and worked to hold the Soviet Union at bay during the Cold War. The 28 member countries consider an attack against one of them as an attack against them all.

But the dispute between Turkey and Russia comes at a time when Russia and NATO members are working toward a common goal of destroying Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) in Syria and Iraq. Though cooperation between the two groups has been minimal, Russia and the West have so far coexisted peacefully in their mutual opposition of ISIS, even though they support opposing sides in the Syrian civil war that helped give rise to the Islamic terror group.

The pilots of the Russian aircraft ejected and came under fire from Syrian rebel groups who are fighting the government of Russian-backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. One of the pilots was killed. The Free Syrian Army boasted it had his body and was looking for the other pilot.

Putin was incredulous, warning NATO against aligning with opposition groups that Russia considers terrorists. “Do they want to have NATO serve ISIS? I understand that every state has regional interests, and we respect that, but we would never tolerate crime like today’s,” he told journalists on state television.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.