Russian warship fires ‘warning shots’ at Turkish vessel in Aegean Sea clash

A Russian patrol ship has fired warning shots at a Turkish fishing vessel to avert a collision in the northern Aegean Sea, the Defence Ministry in Moscow said on Sunday.

Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov informed Turkish Rear Adm. Ahmet Gunes of “the possible harmful consequences of the reckless actions of Ankara in regard to the Russian military contingent fighting global terrorism in Syria”, the ministry said in a statement.

Two Turkish F-16s downed the Russian Su-24 near the border with Syria, claiming that it had violated Turkish airspace. Immediately after that, the Turkish vessel changed the heading and continued movement at the distance of 540 meters without contacting the Russian crew. “Small arms were fired in the direction of the Turkish vessel from a range that is not lethal” to prevent a collision.

They said in a statement that the Turkish boat had approached to 600m.

Of the two pilots aboard the warplane, one was rescued with the help of the Syrian army, but the other was wounded by militant fire while he was parachuting down and was killed on the ground.

The Interfax news agency said the Turkish vessel, which the ministry did not name, had failed to respond to earlier warnings. The country’s leadership also called on Russians not to visit Turkey in retaliation for the incident.

Turkey’s Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, has said the matter is being investigated – but stressed his country wants to “solve the tension” with Russian Federation through dialogue.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Turkey of shooting down the plane to protect a secret oil trade with the terrorist group ISIS.