No: 33, 30 January 2016

Yesterday (29 January 2016) at 11.46 hours local time, a SU-34 type Russian aircraft violated Turkish airspace.

Before the violation actually took place, Russian plane was warned numerous times by Turkish air radar units, (through appropriate channels) both in English and Russian languages.

Despite several previous explicit staments of warnings by both Turkey and NATO, this new violation is yet another concrete example of Russian escalatory behavior.

We once again explicitly call on Russia, to act responsibly and not to violate Turkish Airspace, which is NATO airspace. We underline that such actions could lead to serious consequences, the responsibility of which will totally rest with the Russian Federation.

Russian Ambassador to Ankara has been summoned to the MFA yesterday evening. At the meeting we strongly protested and condemned this violation and reiterated, once again, aforementioned concerns as to the gravity of such violations.