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Turkey blasted the Russian jet out of the sky amidst growing calls for military action against Putin's forces in revenge for the bombing of ethnic Turkmen in Syria.

Last week the Turkish foreign ministry summoned the Russian ambassador to warn him there would be very "serious consequences" if the Russian air force did not stop the bombing of Turkmen villages in Bayir Bucak in Syria near the Turkish border, reports Al-Arabiya

And Russia’s foreign minister said the downing of one of its warplanes by Turkey was a “planned provocation”.

Sergei Lavrov said that he has serious doubts the "act was unintentional" and claimed Ankara failed to communicate with Russia over the incident.

However Mr Lavrov added that the country will not wage war on Turkey after it downed the jet, which killed one of the pilots, but said it will have to "seriously reconsider" its relations.

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(Image: Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

He told a press conference: “We have serious doubts that this act was unintentional. It looks very much like a preplanned provocation."

Around 1,500 members of Syria’s Turkmen minority fled to the Turkish border to escape fighting, a Turkish official said on Sunday.

Turkey fears the Russian air strikes are aimed at Syrian opposition fighters. Putin's forces are currently supporting the Syrian regime by targeting President Bashir al-Assad's opponents, including ISIS.

The Turkish government is anti-Assad, while Russia says its bombing is justified because Assad has asked for it.

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(Image: EPA)

"As of today, around 1,500 of our Turkmen brothers and sisters have come to our border region," the governor of Turkey’s Hatay region on the Syrian border Ercan Topaca was quoted as saying by Turkish news agencies.

"Of course we are ready to meet their every need, especially as winter conditions are starting."

Last month a Turkish jet blasted a drone that entered its airspace from Syria. The drone was reportedly a similar size and shape to those used for reconnaissance by Russian forces.

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Turkish military sources said it is likely that it belonged to the Russian military. However, Moscow said all its jets and drones had returned safely to base on the day of the reported shooting.

Turkey, a NATO member with the alliance’s second biggest army, scrambled two F-16 jets on Saturday October 3 after a Russian aircraft crossed into its airspace near its southern province of Hatay, the Turkish foreign ministry said at the time.

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Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said he had been told by Russia that the violation was a “mistake” that would not happen again.

“Turkey’s rules of engagement apply to all planes, be they Syrian, Russian or from elsewhere... Necessary steps would be taken against whoever violates Turkey’s borders, even if it’s a bird,” he said on HaberTurk TV.

“For Russia, which long opposed foreign intervention in Syria and blocked UN Security Council resolutions, to be actively involved in Syria is both a contradiction and a move that has escalated the crisis.”