Turkey sees red over Russian jet

Ankara – Turkey said yesterday its F-16 jets had at the weekend intercepted a Russian fighter plane which violated Turkish air space near the Syrian border, forcing the aircraft to turn back.

Turkey summoned the Russian ambassador in Ankara to the foreign ministry and “strongly protested” the violation, the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement.

It demanded that “any such violation not be repeated,” otherwise Russia “will be responsible for any undesired incident that may occur”.

The Russian jet infringed Turkish airspace at 12.08pm on Saturday south of the Yayladagi region in Turkey’s southern Hatay province, according to the foreign ministry.

“The Russian aircraft exited Turkish airspace into Syria after it was intercepted by two F-16s from the Turkish Air Force, which were conducting patrols in the region,” it added.

Turkish Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlioglu called his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, to convey Ankara’s unease, the statement said.

He also made a number of telephone calls to various counterparts from Nato allies, as well as Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg, the ministry said.

Russia and Turkey have long been at odds over the crisis in Syria, with Moscow emerging as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s key international backer and Ankara urging his ousting.