QA-24, 7 October 2015

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey strongly protested the violations of the Turkish airspace by the Russian Federation on 3 and 4 October 2015 to the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Ankara, demanded that any such violation not be repeated, and affirmed that the Russian Federation would be responsible for the consequences in case of their recurrence.

In light of the statement issued following the security meeting chaired by Prime Minister H.E. Ahmet Davutoğlu on 5 October; these issues were reiterated to the Ambassador of the Russian Federation in Ankara yesterday (6 October), who was summoned to the Ministry. Furthermore, it has been stated that Turkish military authorities could hold meetings in Ankara with the military authorities of the Russian Federation, in order to hear their explanations as to the reasons of theairspace violations, as well as to be briefed on the measures they took to ensure that the recurrence of similar incidents is prevented. On the same occasion, the Ministry strongly emphasized to the Ambassador of the Russian Federation that the essence of the matter was to avoid the recurrence ofviolations of the Turkish airspace.

The issue of forming a working group was neither raised during the talks between the Turkish Foreign Ministry and the Russian authorities in Ankara, nor during the contacts between the military authorities of both countries.