Incident in the Aegean latest “provocation” over operations in Syria, Russian military says.
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A Russian destroyer fired warning shots at a Turkish vessel in the Aegean on Sunday to avoid a collision and summoned the Turkish military attache over the incident.
The guided missile destroyer Smetlivy was unable to establish radio contact with the approaching Turkish ship, which also failed to respond to visual signals, the ministry said.
“As part of the implementation of the worldwide Open Skies Treaty, a Russian group of inspectors plan to conduct a surveillance flight on board a Russian An-30B aircraft over the territory of the Turkish Republic”, TASS Russian News Agency reported RussianNuclear Risk Reduction Center head Sergey Ryzhkov as saying.
Moscow has imposed economic sanctions on Turkey, and Putin, clearly referring to Turkish forces, ordered his own armed forces last Friday to “shoot down immediately any target” which threatens Russian troops or infrastructure in Syria. “We are not in favor of tensions”.
“Earlier this month, Turkey complained to Russia after a Russian sailor was allegedly photographed holding a rocket launcher as his ship passed through Istanbul”.
Relations between Ankara and Moscow have been tense since a Russian fighter jet which violated Turkish airspace was shot down by Turkish forces after repeated warnings, on November 24. “I order you to act in the toughest way”, he told senior military commanders in Moscow last week.
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Of course, this news comes during a time when relations between the two country are strained over Turkey’s downing of a Russian war plane.
