Obama Sides With Turkey, Says It Was Right to Defend Its Airspace

US President Barack Obama delivers his speech at the ‘Mission Innovation: Accelerating the Clean Energy Revolution’ meeting in Paris. (Photo: AP)

US President Barack Obama said, on Tuesday, that he supports Turkey’s right to defend itself following the downing of a Russian warplane. Turkey and Russia have been at loggerheads since Turkish jets downed a Russian plane along the Syrian border.

Obama was speaking after a meeting with Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan in Paris, where he has been attending the climate summit.

“The United States supports Turkey’s right to defend itself and its air space,” Obama said.

We discussed how Turkey and Russia can work together to de-escalate tensions and find a diplomatic path to resolve the issue.