Obama: ‘Turkey ... Has a Right to Defend Its Territory and Its Airspace’

"Well, first of all, we are still getting the details of what happened, and I expect to be in communications potentially directly with President Erdogan at some time over the next several days. Turkey like every country has a right to defend its territory and air space. I think it is very important for us to right now make sure that both the Russians, and the Turks are talking to each other and find out exactly what happened, and take measures to discourage any kind of escalation."