NATO says backs Turkey over Russian plane

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg offered support for Ankara on Tuesday after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border and rejected any suggestion that the incident happened outside of Turkey's borders. Asked if there was any possibility that the plane was actually shot down inside Syria, Stoltenberg said: "The allied assessments that we have are consistent with the information we have from Turkey," he told a news conference. "We stand in solidarity with Turkey and support the territorial integrity of our NATO ally," Stoltenberg said. (Reporting by Robin Emmott; Editing by Alastair Macdonald)