SU-34 attack plane Russia
© Dmitriy Vinogradov / RIA Novosti SU-34 attack plane taking off from the Hmeimim aerodrome in Syria.
Russia has admitted making a mistake after its warplanes violated Turkey's airspace. Ankara has accepted the matter, saying there is no ill feeling between the two countries. But NATO called a meeting on Monday to discuss the "latest developments."


Comment: Notice that Russia took responsibility for the error, communicating with Turkish authorities immediately after the notification. Not the behavior we see with the U.S. or NATO.


The incident, which occurred on Saturday, saw Turkey scramble two F-16 jets after a Russian military aircraft crossed into Turkish airspace near the Syrian border.

Ankara also claimed that a MiG-29 fighter jet, which is used by both Russia and Syria, harassed two of its F-16's on Sunday by locking radar on to them, as they patrolled the Turkish-Syrian border.

"Our position is very clear, we'll warn any country that violates our borders in a friendly way. Russia is our friend and neighbor. There is no tension between Turkey and Russia in this sense. The issue of Syria is not a Turkish-Russian crisis," Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told HaberTurk TV, as cited by the Hurriyet Daily, following diplomatic communications between Ankara and Moscow.

"What we have received from Russia this morning is that this was a mistake and that they respect Turkey's borders and this will not happen again," Davutoglu added.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the Russian ambassador had been summoned, telling reporters that "some facts were mentioned there which are to be checked." There was no emergency meeting planned between Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Peskov said.

However, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called a meeting of the bloc members on Monday to discuss the situation, which he described as "unacceptable violations of Turkish air space."


"Russia's actions are not contributing to the security and stability of the region. I call on Russia to fully respect NATO airspace and to avoid escalating tensions with the alliance," he said.

Russia started to carry out airstrikes against Islamic State on September 30, following a request from the Syrian government.

However, US President Barack Obama has been critical of Moscow, saying that its actions are "only strengthening ISIL."