Turkey Demands Russian Delegation To Clarify İntrusion

Turkish Foreign Ministry has made the demand for Russian officials to visit Turkey and brief Turkish officials here about Russia's recent air space violation over the Turkish-Syrian border.



"Our demand is that Russian officials come here and inform us about the violation," Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic said at a weekly press conference in the Turkish capital Ankara Friday.



Turkey told Russian authorities that it expected a delegation that would explain the issue, Bilgic said, adding that so far no Russian delegation had arrived.



"The Russian side informed us that the first violation happened due to a navigational error," he said, adding he did not receive any information about the second violation.



A Russian jet violated Turkish air space on its border with Syria Saturday; Moscow indicated Monday that its fighter jet violated Turkish air space due to "bad weather conditions".



Bilgic reiterated Turkey's position that it would respond to such violations. "Turkey's borders are inviolable; harassment and violation will be responded within engagement rules," he said.



The spokesman also said that Turkey was concerned about a possible migration wave from Syria due to the Russian air campaign against "opposition groups".



Russian jets began striking Syrian opposition targets inside Syria on Sept. 30.



Syria has been gripped by bitter fighting since the Assad regime cracked down on anti-government protests -- which began in early 2011 as part of the "Arab Spring" uprisings -- with unexpected ferocity.



According to the UN, more than 250,000 people have since been killed in the conflict, which continues to pit several heavily-armed factions against one another. - Ankara