13 December – A Russian warship fires “warning shots” at a Turkish fishing vessel that it says was approaching it in the Aegean Sea.
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Turkey’s version of events is comparable, with Hurriyet reporting that “a Russian warship had to fire warning shots at a Turkish vessel in the Aegean Sea to avoid collision”.
A patrol boat of the Russian FSB security service’s border guard and a missile boat of the Russian Black Fleet forced the Turkish vessel to change course before the convoy continued its journey, the energy company said. “The Turkish vessel’s captain did not contact the [Russian] ships by radio, nor did he respond to calls”, the gas company said in a statement.
“The Turkish military diplomat was given a tough explanation about the potentially fatal results from Ankara’s risky actions towards Russia’s military contingent fighting against worldwide terrorism in Syria”, the Defence Ministry said in a statement.
“We are not on the side of escalating tension, we are on the side of de-escalating tense situations through dialogue”, Cavusoglu said, according to the DHA news agency. We didn’t even know it was a Russian ship. “Earlier this month, Turkey complained to Russia after a Russian sailor was allegedly photographed holding a rocket launcher as his ship passed through Istanbul”.
Russian and Turkish relations have deteriorated since Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet.
A Russian pilot was killed as he parachuted to the ground following the attack last month, while a rescuer also died during an operation to save the other pilot. Russian military vessels are involved in Russia’s intervention against rebels in Syria.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Turkey of shooting down the plane to protect a secret oil trade with the terrorist group ISIS.
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Russian efforts to fight terrorism in Syria have been hampered by “attempts to use [terrorists] for some selfish goals”, and “criminal, bloody business with terrorists”, Putin said, before going on to announce that Russia would cancel discussions with Ankara over joint involvement in a large pipeline project.
