Russian Warplane Incursions In Turkey Are ‘Unacceptable,’ North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Chief Says

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter called on Moscow on Tuesday to urgently respond to proposed rules for air-to-air conduct over Syria, as he condemned Russia’s “seriously irresponsible and unprofessional” violation of Turkish air space.

Turkey has been a member of the alliance since 1952, and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation rules say that an attack on any of the 28 member states should be treated as an attack on them all.

Mr Stoltenberg in advance of tomorrow’s meeting of alliance defence ministers in Brussels, where Russia’s military involvement in Syria and Nato’s response will top the agenda.

Mr Stoltenberg said the reported incidents were “very serious”, adding: “It doesn’t look like an accident, and we’ve seen two of them over the weekend”.

Second, there could be a mid-air collision close to Turkey’s borders, as this is the first time since World War Two that Russian and American combat planes have been in the skies over Syria.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s military intervention overshadowed recent attempts to seek a solution to the four-year civil war, according to the New York Times.

Russian jets hit Islamic State targets in the Syrian city of Palmyra and the northern province of Aleppo, Syrian state television said on Tuesday, quoting a military source.

However, Carter did not say what the USA would do about Russia’s moves in Syria, and said the US would continue its own operations with allies there.

“Whether the Russian planes locked their fire control radars on the Turkish planes is something I can not comment on”, he told reporters.

It’s believed the Russians are positioning the weapons to support a Syrian ground offensive, officials said. Russian Federation has been building up its forces in Syria since the beginning of September.

Iran, Syria, Iraq and Russian Federation launched a new cooperation scheme last week to counter the Islamic State group and other armed extremist forces now operating in Syrian territory.

Russian officials immediately denied the claims, saying that they do not carry out strikes in populated areas.

“Russian warplanes killed 50 civilians in Homs”, opposition groups said in their statement, describing the bombings as a “war crime”.

Russian military space forces have also been reported to deliver strikes on positions of the terrorist organization “Islamic State” in Syria.

Assad said Sunday that the whole Middle East would be destroyed if Russia’s aerial bombardment of militants opposed to his government does not succeed.