Nato chief doubts Russia's violations of Turkish airspace were accidental

Nato chief doubts Russia's violations of Turkish airspace were accidental

Jens Stoltenberg says US-led Nato alliance, of which Turkey is a member, has not received ‘any real explanation’ from Moscow about incursions

 Jens Stoltenberg said Nato had discussed the possibility of using its military lines of communication with Russia over its Syria air campaign.

 Jens Stoltenberg said Nato had discussed the possibility of using its military lines of communication with Russia over its Syria air campaign.

Russian incursions into Turkish airspace over the weekend “don’t look like an accident”, the Nato secretary general has said.

Jens Stoltenberg said he doubted Russia’s explanation that its airspace violations were a mistake because they happened twice and both lasted longer than just a few seconds.

Stoltenberg said the US-led Nato alliance, of which Turkey is a member, had not received any real explanation of what happened. He had not had any direct contact with Moscow, he said, but Nato has discussed the possibility of using its military lines of communication with Russia.

Turkey summoned the Russian ambassador to Ankara for a second time after a new violation of its airspace on Sunday. The Russian envoy was warned that similar incidents should not happen again otherwise “Russia would be held responsible”, an official told AFP.

The violation on Sunday appears to have been the second in as many days after Turkey said its fighter jets intercepted a Russian warplane close to the Syrian border on Saturday, forcing it to turn back. The Russian ambassador was first summoned after Saturday’s incident.

Turkey’s prime minister, Ahmet Davutoğlu, said on Monday that Ankara would activate military “rules of engagement” irrespective of who violates its airspace.

“Even if it is a flying bird it will be intercepted,” Davutoğlu said in an interview with Turkish television.

Russia’s defence ministry said an SU-30 fighter aircraft had entered Turkish airspace “for a few seconds” on Saturday because of bad weather, adding that measures had been taken to prevent a repeat of such incidents. The Russian embassy in Ankara said Moscow was looking into the allegation of a second violation on Sunday.

Russian warplanes have been flying over Syrian territory since Wednesday, conducting airstrikes on what Moscow says are targets belonging to Islamic State jihadis and other “terrorist” groups in the country’s northern and central provinces.

The west has accused Moscow of using the raids as cover to strike moderate opponents of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad.

Turkey opposes Russian intervention in Syria. The government of the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has insisted on Assad’s departure as a prelude to resolving the crisis, and has backed a range of rebel groups fighting to overthrow him.

Last week, Turkey issued a joint statement with its allies involved in the US-backed campaign against Isis that asked Moscow to cease attacks on the Syrian opposition and to focus on fighting Isis.

Agence France-Presse and Reuters contributed to this report

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/06/nato-chief-jens-stoltenberg-russia-turkish-airspace-violations-syria

"Nato Chief Doubts Russia's Violations of Turkish Airspace Were Accidental." The Guardian. The Guardian, 6 Oct. 2016. Web. 6 Oct. 2016

Response

This article talks about Russia violating Turkish airspace. NATO had concluded that it doesn't seem to be an accident. The author of this article seems to be in more doubt. He seems to be more in side of Turkey than Russia. Although there are some doubts that it was just an accident, I want to think it as an accident. I don't think Russian government would want any trouble with Turkey and especially US. Since US will make an action to help out Turkey.