(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) NATO ambassadors strongly protested Monday after a Russian warplane, apparently operating inside Syria, violated Turkish airspace, the (dpa) reported.
Turkey is a member of the 28-country military alliance. NATO allies "condemn these incursions into and violations of NATO airspace," the ambassadors said in a joint statement, while noting the "extreme danger of such irresponsible behaviour." "Russia's actions are not contributing to the security and stability of the region," said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who had summoned the ambassadors to discuss the incursion.
Earlier, Turkey's Foreign Ministry said it had summoned the Russian ambassador and that Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlioglu was in contact with his counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
If there were any future violations, Moscow "will be responsible for any undesired incident that may occur," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The ministry said the Russian aircraft exited Turkish airspace into Syria after it was intercepted by two F-16s from the air force.
The Turkish military, meanwhile, said that on Sunday a MiG-29 fighter jet, of an unidentified nationality, locked radar for five minutes and fourty seconds and harassed two Turkish F-16 fighter jets that were patrolling the border with Syria.
Russia said last week it had begun airstrikes against Daesh in Syria. NATO allies expressed "deep concern" at the Russian military buildup in Syria, especially "the attacks by the Russian air force on Hama, Homs and Idlib which led to civilian casualties and did not target Daesh."
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.