Turkey accuses Russian warplanes of violating its airspace

A Russian warplane violated Turkish airspace near the Syrian border, according to Turkey’s Foreign Ministry, which resulted in the scrambling of two Turkish F-16 jets.

Moscow’s ambassador to Turkey has been summoned for an urgent meeting after the incident, with Turkish officials ordering Russia to avoid any further airspace violations.

Russia faces being held “responsible for any undesired incident that may occur”, a statement from the Turkish Foreign Ministry stated.

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

Last week, Russian forces began launching air strikes against ISIL targets and “other terrorist groups” in Syria, as part of the international efforts against the terror group.

However, Western powers have accused Russia of targeted foreign-backed insurgents opposed to the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in an effort to keep him in power.

Russian fighters have carried out more than 60 sorties, hitting about 50 targets since joining the international efforts against ISIL.

Colonel General Andrei Kartapolov, a senior Russian General Staff official, last week announced that Russia had managed to destroy ISIL command posts, munitions warehouses, communication hubs, training camps and "mini-factories that made weapons for suicide bombers".