Russia has informed Turkey that the violation of Turkish airspace near the Syrian border on Oct. 3 was due to a “navigation error,” according to Turkish military sources.
They said a Russian SU-30 breached Turkish airspace for hundreds of meters in the southern district of Yayladağı in Hatay province for two minutes at 12:10 p.m., but returned to Syrian airspace after one warning.
The Russian authorities informed the Turkish military attaché in Moscow about the error, Russian Embassy officials in Ankara told Hürriyet Daily News.
“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,” a written statement by the Turkish Foreign Ministry said Oct. 5.
The Turkish air forces initially worked to understand if the aircraft was Russian SU-29 or SU-24, which are also included in the Syrian air forces, until they determined that the plane was SU-30 model used only by Russia, sources said.
The ministry summoned Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov and strongly protested the violation, read the Foreign Ministry statement.
It told Karlov that any such violation must not be repeated and if it was then Russia would be responsible for any undesired incident.
Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlioğlu has called his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, to lodge a protest.
Sinirlioğlu also spoke on the phone with his U.S., French, Italian and British counterparts to evaluate the situation. He also plans to consult NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and the German foreign minister.
The NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will meet the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, Mr. Feridun Sinirlioğlu, on Monday 5 October 2015.
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