The Russian jet left Turkish airspace and returned to Syria after it was intercepted by two F-16s from the Turkish air force, which were conducting patrols in the region, the foreign ministry statement said.
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In a written statement issued on Monday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry claims that a Russian fighter aircraft violated its airspace in the southern district of Yayladagi in the province of Hatay on Saturday. The same message was also relayed to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov by his Turkish counterpart Feridun Sinirlioglu in a telephone conversation.
Turkey summoned the Russian ambassador to protest the violation of its airspace by a Russian warplane near the border with Syria over the weekend, and demanded that Moscow avoid future infringements, the Foreign Ministry said Monday.
Russian Federation and Turkey have always been at odds over the crisis in Syria, with Moscow emerging as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s key worldwide backer and Ankara urging his ouster as the only solution to the conflict. “UK, and its other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Allies, stand shoulder to shoulder with Turkey”, British Ambassador Richard Moore said on Twitter.
Rebels control almost all of Idlib, with just a few villages remaining under the control of the government.
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Western nations and Turkey have largely called for al-Assad to step down, though there are a few signs of a shift among certain North Atlantic Treaty Organisation members towards accepting the president as part of a transition. Since then, more than 240,000 people are estimated to have died.
