Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 6
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
Violation of Turkey's airspace by the Russian air forces led to a sharp criticism from a number of countries and organizations. NATO was among those to voice concern over the matter.
Despite that Moscow admitted that the incident was a navigation mistake, Ankara is more than sure that this act is purposeful and is the first step to spoil relations with Turkey.
Earlier, a source in the presidential administration of Turkey said that Russia is artificially exacerbating its relations with Turkey.
The violation of airspace on Oct. 3, as the source said, is one of the first steps in this direction.
The source also said there should be no doubt that in case of a repeated violation of the airspace, Ankara's response will be very tough.
"Turkey hopes to keep warm relations with Russia, but at the moment everything depends on Russia," the source added.
It is worth noting that while Turkey made only one statement after the incident, the NATO, the EU and the US came with several statements.
Greek air forces violate Turkey's airspace nearly every month. But for some reason NATO and the EU do not react to that.
Naturally, violation of any country's airspace is unacceptable, so Turkey's reaction is quite sensible.
Some political circles hold an opinion that although Turkey makes harsh statements on Russia's actions in Syria, it can't counter Moscow's activities, since this country has no a lever of pressure on Russia.
There is no doubt about that. Taking this into account, we can say that the statement made by Turkey's prime minister on Oct.5 that in case if Turkey's airspace is repeatedly violated by Russia, the issue can be reviewed by NATO, is nothing but an attempt to scare Russia with NATO.
It is not ruled out that the violation of Turkey's airspace by Russian air forces will repeat again. But it doesn't mean that Turkey will carry out drastic activities against Russian air forces.
Edited by SI
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Rufiz Hafizoglu is the head of Trend Agency's Arabic news service, follow him on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
