‘Strikes hurting drive against Islamic State’

ISTANBUL: Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said yesterday that Russian airstrikes in Syria were weakening the fight against Islamic State and warned that Turkey would not compromise on border security after Russian warplanes violated its airspace.

Russian aircraft twice entered Turkish airspace at the weekend, and Turkey says an unidentified MIG-29 harassed its jets on Monday, prompting the Foreign Ministry to summon the Russian ambassador three times.

Nato on Tuesday rejected Moscow’s explanation that its warplanes had violated alliance member Turkey’s airspace by mistake and said Russia was sending more ground troops to Syria and building up its naval presence.

“The crisis in Syria is not a Turkish-Russian crisis and must not be… We don’t want this to turn into a Russia-Nato crisis,” Davutoglu said. – Reuters