Russians entered Turkish airspace, Ankara sent military planes after them: Do not let this happen again

Russian military aircraft entered Turkish airspace near the Syrian border on Saturday, forcing the Turkish Air Force to scramble two F-16 fighter jets to intercept the uninvited guests, the Turkish Foreign Ministry reported, Reuters reports, as carried by the Patria news agency.

The Foreign Ministry protested to the Russian ambassador over the unauthorized entry into Turkish airspace. They called on the Russians not to let such a thing happen again, or they would be responsible "for any unwanted incident that might occur."

Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlioglu spoke with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, as well as with NATO partners, the ministry's statement said.

Russia and Turkey have had tense relations for some time due to the situation in Syria. While Moscow, as is known, supports the regime of Bashar al-Assad, Ankara believes that his removal from power is the only solution to the Syrian crisis. Thus, a few days ago, Turkey condemned the Russian intervention in Syria, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Moscow that it was making a big mistake. 

The Russian attack began just a few days after the Turkish president met with Putin in Moscow, and it is still unknown whether Moscow informed the Turkish president at that time about the attacks they were planning. On Saturday, Erdogan called on Putin to reconsider the attacks on Syria once again, and on that occasion accused the Russian military of causing many civilian casualties in their attacks, AFP reports.

British Ambassador to Turkey Richard Moore said that the Russian entry into Turkish airspace was "reckless and concerning," and wrote on his Twitter profile that Great Britain and other NATO allies stand shoulder to shoulder with Turkey, Index reports.