Turkish F-16 fighter jets were scrambled after a Russian warplane violated Turkey’s air space on Saturday, the foreign ministry said.
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In this photo made from the footage taken from Russian Defense Ministry official website on Sunday, October 4, 2015, an aerial view of a bomb explosion in Syria. But a senior US official said the Obama administration does not believe the incursion was an accident, and officials are in urgent talks with allies about what to do.
“Minister al-Zoubi said the U.S-led coalition is not serious and all of its raids on ISIS brought no tangible results because the real objective was not destroying ISIS but on the contrary preserving it for as long as possible with the aim of achieving certain goals”, the agency said.
But Davutoglu warned that Turkey would enforce its rules of engagement in case of intrusions, which call for treating anyone approaching its border from Syria as an enemy. “Even it is a flying bird it will be intercepted”, he added. “Turkey’s rules of engagement apply to all planes, be they Syrian, Russian or from elsewhere…”
Two Turkish Air Force F-16s intercepted a Russian fighter aircraft after it violated Turkey’s airspace near Syria, further escalating tensions over Moscow’s involvement in the Syrian civil war. Russian officers will visit Israel on Tuesday to discuss how those countries can avoid accidentally clashing while operating in Syria, an Israeli military officer said. In a brief statement, the military said the incident occurred while 10 F-16s were patrolling the Turkish-Syrian border. He said his country has taught Europe and the world a lesson on humanity by hosting 2 million refugees from Syria and Iraq.
Turkey, a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member, mentioned only one Russian intrusion over the weekend, but the military alliance said a second Russian jet also violated Turkish airspace Sunday.
The same message was also relayed to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov by his Turkish counterpart in a telephone conversation, the statement said.
“(…) Unfortunately, Russian Federation is making a grave mistake”, he said.
“They said they are respectful of Turkey’s borders and that it would not happen again”, he told Haber Turk television.
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The US and France say at least a few of the strikes appear to have hit Western-backed rebel factions fighting government troops, with the real goal of protecting Syrian President Bashar Assad.
