Russian plane flies over Turkish airspace, NATO ambassadors summoned (update)
(B2) A meeting of NATO Ambassadors (NAC) is specially convened this Monday afternoon to discuss the violation of Turkish airspace by Russian planes. This was announced earlier by the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, after a meeting with le Minister of Foreign Affairs you know, Feridun Sinirlioglu, passing through Brussels.
All of this « violations de turkish airspace by planes of fight Russian (are) unacceptable » said Jens Stoltenber. « The russia stocks do not contribute to security and regional stability. I ask Russia to fully respect airspace of NATO et to avoid escalation tension with Alliance ". And to add: I urge to Russia to take the necessary measures to harmonize its efforts with those of the international community in the fight against HEAT ».
In fact there were two violations during the weekend carried out by Russian planes Sukhoi-30 and Sukhoi-24. One occurred on Saturday (October 3), when a Russian plane was intercepted by two F-16s of the Turkish Armed Forces, on patrol in the area. He would have hooked up the Turkish planes in his radar. On Sunday (October 4), another plane that had violated Turkish airspace by a few hundred meters in the southern district of Yayladağı, around noon on Sunday, returned to Syrian airspace after a warning, these Turkish military sources specify, according to the Turkish daily Hurriyet, who are " A browsing error pleaded the Russians. (*)
Comments: one can notice NATO's promptness of reaction. The regular violations of Greek airspace by Turkish planes do not arouse such enthusiasm. More recently, the bloody bombardment of an MSF hospital in Afghanistan did not elicit such strong comments. On the military level, we can consider that this Russian overflow is not a simple "navigation error" but more a free warning to the Turkish authorities to let them know that the Syrian border is now well monitored and ... to be respected.
(Updated) NATO Allies issued a statement after their meeting with two key points. First, the allies strongly protest " and " condemn these incursions into Turkey's sovereign airspace. They also note "the extreme danger of such irresponsible behavior" and call on the Russian Federation "to immediately cease these violations" and of " take all necessary measures to ensure that such violations do not take place in the future”. Second, the Allies also call on the Russian Federation to immediately cease its attacks against the Syrian opposition and civilians, to focus its efforts on the fight against ISIL (Daesh), and to promote a solution to the conflict through a political transition”. Download the Declaration (English)
(*) § updated on 6.10.2015
