Saturday, January 30, 2016

Turkey summons Russia envoy over 'new airspace breach'


Russian SU-34 jet has violated Turkish airspace despite radar warnings, Turkey's foreign ministry said, and the Russian ambassador was summoned over the incident.
The ministry said in a statement on Saturday that the violation, which occurred on Friday, was a clear sign that Russia wanted issues between the two countries to escalate.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Russia of "consequences" if it continued to violate Turkish airspace. 
"The airspace that is violated is not only Turkish airspace but NATO's as well," Erdogan said.
"So NATO is closely watching the situation. NATO even detected this violation before we did. If Russia continues to violate Turkey's sovereignty, has to put up with the consequences. I suggested talking with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin but he didn't come back to me by phone..."
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg urged Russia to "take all necessary measures" to ensure the bloc's airspace was not violated again.
"A Russian combat aircraft violated Turkish airspace yesterday, despite repeated warnings by the Turkish authorities. Previous incidents have shown how dangerous such behaviour is," Stoltenberg said in a statement.
"I call on Russia to act responsibly and to fully respect NATO airspace."

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