Russian jets in Turkish airspace no accident, says Nato chief

Stoltenberg also has said he doubts Russia’s explanation that it was an accident.

‘The violations were for a long time compared to previous violations of airspace we have seen elsewhere in Europe’.

Turkey said on Monday that a Russian warplane violated its airspace on Saturday in the southern Yayladagi town of Hatay province near the Syrian border.

A USA official told Reuters the incursions had lasted more than a few seconds and described Moscow’s assertion that they were an accident as “far-fetched”.

Russia’s increased military presence in Syria has received mixed responses.

Syria’s antiquities chief Maamoun Abdulkarim said on Sunday Islamic State fighters blew up Palmyra’s Arch of Triumph, one of the most treasured monuments in the 2,000-year-old city. “We are a sort of a ‘B Channel, ‘ a silent postman who works reliably without knowing the content of the letters”, Kmonicek said.

Disagreement over the air space violations comes as Russian Federation and the west dispute the aims of Moscow’s air campaign.

“At least 3,000 militants from Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL), al-Nusra and Jaish al-Yarmouk have fled to Jordan”.

The skies in the area have seen incidents in the past.

Meanwhile, the Turkish military has said its fighter jets were harassed by a MIG-29 plane from an unidentified country close to Syria both on Sunday and Monday.

On Monday, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation condemned the incursions into Turkish airspace and noted the “extreme danger of such irresponsible behavior”.

The comments came a day after he warned Moscow about escalating tensions with the Western military alliance through “unacceptable” violations of the Turkish airspace. The Russians, who are not coordinating with the Americans, reportedly also have hit U.S.-supported rebel groups.

Turkey’s government has been enraged by these Russian incursions – and by Moscow’s military intervention in Syria as a whole. “The Russian side is checking the data,” he said.

NATO’s secretary general has said a “substantial” build-up of Russian forces in Syria includes ground troops. Russian Federation seems likely to send large numbers of ground troops into combat in Syria on behalf of Bashar al-Assad but isn’t going to call them that. “The aircraft in question entered Turkish airspace despite Turkish authorities’ clear, timely and repeated warnings”.

“Russian actions will be factored into those assessments”.

“We’re not trusting Russian Federation”, Trump insisted. It also has deployed temporary housing units, a portable air traffic control station and components for an air defence system.

“All reports by foreign media that Russian planes allegedly struck the city of Palmyra are an absolute lie”, Major-General Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman for the defence ministry, was quoted as saying.

The incident comes just a week after Russian jets began bombing Syrian rebel and Islamic State group targets near the central Syrian city of Homs.