The surviving crew member of a Russian Su-24 attack aircraft which was shot down by Turkish F-16s Tuesday has been rescued by forces loyal to Syria’s Assad regime, Russia’s ambassador to France Alexandre Orlov told Europe 1 radio Wednesday morning. Russian President Vladimir Putin lashed out at Turkey over the incident, taking a break from his meeting Tuesday with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to call the shootdown a “stab in the back” by “the accomplices of terrorists.” He continued in this vein on Wednesday, telling reporters “The problem is not the tragedy we witnessed yesterday. The problem is much deeper. We observe … that the current Turkish leadership over a significant number of years has been pursuing a deliberate policy of supporting the ‘Islamization’ of their country.” Turkish officials have declared that they were entitled to defend their airspace against an illegal incursion and other NATO countries appeared to reluctantly agree, although several governments added that they hoped there would not be any more such incidents. Read More