site.btaTurkish Ambassador in Sofia Hopes Russia, Turkey Can Overcome Effect of Russian Warplane's Downing

Turkish Ambassador in Sofia Hopes Russia, Turkey Can Overcome Effect of  Russian Warplane's Downing

Sofia, November 27 (BTA) - Turkish Ambassador Suleyman Gokce told a news conference here on Friday that Ankara regrets the November 24 tragic incident in which a warplane unidentified as of that moment was shot down at the Turkish-Syrian border. He described this as an "unwanted" incident and expressed the hope that Turkey and Russia, being friendly countries with longstanding relations, are strong enough to overcome the effect of that event.

The Turkish diplomat provided details of the incident because, in his words, the Bulgarian media ran numerous comments in its aftermath but they were not based on the actual situation.

Ambassador Gokce said that what happened did not target Russia and that his country did not intend to escalate the situation.

The Ambassador stressed that Turkey has rules of engagement, laid down in response to the threats at the Turkish-Syrian border in recent years. He said those rules had been explained to all parties concerned, including Russia.

"Turkey is not responsible for this tragic incident," Gokce said, adding that his country had responded to a violation of its air space in line with its rules of engagement. The Ambassador said the jet's nationality had been impossible to establish at the time it was shot down.

The diplomat said two warplanes violated Turkey's air space on the morning of November 24 and were given 10 warnings within five minutes to turn south. One of the planes complied, but the other did not and was shot down. The jet fell in Syria, but some debris fell in Turkey, injuring two Turkish citizens.

Stressing that Turkey's air space is also NATO air space, the Ambassador noted that the warplane's radar traces were confirmed by some of Turkey's NATO allies. He emphasized that NATO expressed strong solidarity with Turkey over the incident at an emergency meeting on the evening of November 24, and that NATO's information was identical to Turkey's data.

Ambassador Gokce recalled that back on October 5, the North Atlantic Council discussed the violations of Turkey's air space and made a statement warning Russia about them and reminding it that Turkey's air space is also NATO air space.

The Ambassador said Turkish and Russian officials held many meetings in October, at which Russia offered assurances that it would not violate Turkey's air space and apologized. Gokce also said Turkey had warned that it would respond to any further violation of its air space, of which Russia was very well aware.

Ambassador Gokce said that Bulgaria is Turkey's neighbour and friend, a NATO ally and a partner as an EU Member State, and that he expected Sofia to react to the November 24 incident along these lines.