The shooting down by Turkish forces of a Russian Su-24 warplane
follows rising tension between the two countries over a continuing
Russian bombing campaign against ethnic Turkmen villages in
north-western Syria, close to Turkey’s border.
It also marks the first direct clash between a Nato member country and Russia’s armed forces since President Vladimir Putin launched his unilateral military intervention in Syria last month.
Nato had already warned Russia over previous border infractions, and the US took “deconfliction” steps to minimise the risk of accidental conflict.
Now the Nato alliance and the US-led coalition in Iraq and Syria find themselves facing exactly the kind of unplanned but inflammatory confrontation with Moscow they had been urgently striving to avoid.
Turkey has repeatedly expressed concern over the attacks on the Turkmens, a Sunni Muslim minority who many Turks regard as their kith and kin. Like the Ankara government, the Turkmens oppose the regime of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad.
Fighting in the Latakia governorate, in western Syria on the border with Turkey, has intensified following last month’s Russian military intervention. Russian warplanes are backing an offensive by Syrian government forces, Lebanese Hezbollah and Iranian Shia Muslim units, Turkmen fighters say.
Turkey summoned Russia’s ambassador at the weekend to protest over the “intensive” bombing of the villages. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Turkey’s prime minister, said Ankara had demanded an immediate end to Russian military operations along the border.
“It was stressed that the Russian side’s actions were not a fight against terror, but they bombed civilian Turkmen villages and this could lead to serious consequences,” Turkey’s foreign ministry said.
The ministry said Turkmen villages had also been subjected to “heavy bombardment” by Russian planes in the Bayır-Bucak area of north-west Syria, close to Turkey’s Yayladağı border crossing in Hatay province.
It also marks the first direct clash between a Nato member country and Russia’s armed forces since President Vladimir Putin launched his unilateral military intervention in Syria last month.
Nato had already warned Russia over previous border infractions, and the US took “deconfliction” steps to minimise the risk of accidental conflict.
Now the Nato alliance and the US-led coalition in Iraq and Syria find themselves facing exactly the kind of unplanned but inflammatory confrontation with Moscow they had been urgently striving to avoid.
Turkey has repeatedly expressed concern over the attacks on the Turkmens, a Sunni Muslim minority who many Turks regard as their kith and kin. Like the Ankara government, the Turkmens oppose the regime of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad.
Fighting in the Latakia governorate, in western Syria on the border with Turkey, has intensified following last month’s Russian military intervention. Russian warplanes are backing an offensive by Syrian government forces, Lebanese Hezbollah and Iranian Shia Muslim units, Turkmen fighters say.
Turkey summoned Russia’s ambassador at the weekend to protest over the “intensive” bombing of the villages. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Turkey’s prime minister, said Ankara had demanded an immediate end to Russian military operations along the border.
“It was stressed that the Russian side’s actions were not a fight against terror, but they bombed civilian Turkmen villages and this could lead to serious consequences,” Turkey’s foreign ministry said.
The ministry said Turkmen villages had also been subjected to “heavy bombardment” by Russian planes in the Bayır-Bucak area of north-west Syria, close to Turkey’s Yayladağı border crossing in Hatay province.
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