Erdogan, Obama agree on need to reduce tensions after Russian plane downed

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US President Barack Obama on Tuesday agreed on the need to reduce tensions and prevent a repeat of similar incidents after Turkish forces shot down a Russian plane on the Syrian border for allegedly violating Turkish air space, the presidency said.

"They were in accord on the importance of de-escalating tensions and making arrangements to prevent a repeat of such incidents," the Turkish presidency said in a statement following telephone talks between the two leaders.

The statement said that Obama had emphasised in the telephone talks that Turkey's right to defend its sovereignty was "supported by the United States and NATO".

They also expressed their commitment to a bringing about a transitional political process for peace in Syria and joint determination to continue the fight against Islamic State (IS) jihadists, the statement added.