An alleged Russian violation of Turkish airspace has reignited concerns over a military confrontation between the two powers, unsettling investors and further straining already frayed ties.
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The Kremlin proceeds from statements of the Russian Defense Ministry, which has refuted Ankara’s claims of the alleged violation of the Turkish airspace by a Russian plane. Gen. Igor Konashenkov rejected the Turkish allegation as “pure propaganda”.
Turkish Foreign Ministry released an online statement saying that a Russian SU-34 aircraft violated Turkish airspace at 11:46 local time (0946 GMT) on Friday, and summoned Russian Ambassador to Ankara.
Mr Erdogan said that he had attempted to reach Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the issue but the Russian leader had not responded. “I am convinced that even specialists of the Turkish air defence know that radar stations controlling airspace can only register the altitude, course, and speed of the object in the air”.
The Turkish Air Force declared an “orange alert” in key bases around the country, military sources said on Saturday. Stoltenberg urged Russian Federation to take all necessary measures to not violate NATO’s airspace again.
The new incident comes two months after Turkey shot down a Russian jet for infringing its border, touching off a crisis between the two countries.
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Turkey’s previous downing of a Russian SU-24 bomber led to Moscow imposing serious economic sanctions and siting state-of-the-art S-400 air defences across Syria. “If Russia continues the violations of Turkey’s sovereign rights, it will be forced to endure the consequences”. “Russia will face the consequences if these violations continue”, Erdogan told journalists at Istanbul airport. “It’s not possible to hide such an incident if it did happen, or to make up a violation if it didn’t happen”, said Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu at a press conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Sunday.
