Russian envoy summoned to Turkish Foreign Ministry once again


Turkish Foreign Ministry (MFA) said in a written statement on Wednesday that the Russian ambassador was summoned to the Ministry once again, and was told that Turkish and Russian officials can hold a meeting in Ankara to prevent further airspace violations from happening in the future."It has been strongly emphasized to the Russian embassador that what is essential is that violations into Turkish airspace do not repeat themselves," the Foreign Ministry's statement said. The Russian ambassador was also reportedly summoned on Saturday and Monday over the incidents.The Kremlin said Tuesday it hopes the violation of Turkish airspace by Russian fighter jets does not affect the countries' relationship."We hope the incident does not affect the development of our cooperation," spokesman Dmitriy Peskov said at a news conference in Moscow."Russia-Turkey relations are various and have deep roots."Peskov was responding to a question about whether the incidents over the weekend would threaten the planned Turkish Stream gas pipeline from Russia.Moscow has claimed the violations were due to bad weather while NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the incursions were not accidental.NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, said on Tuesday that Russia has not offered the alliance "any real explanation" over its violations of Turkish airspace, adding, "For NATO, the violation of Turkish airspace by Russia does not look like an accident.""This is not an accident this is a serious violation," Stoltenberg told a news press in Brussels. "The violation lasted for a long time compared to previous violations of airspace we have seen elsewhere in Europe."Stoltenberg said the U.S.-led NATO alliance, of which Turkey is a member, had not received "any real explanation" of what happened. He said he had not had any direct contact with Moscow but NATO has discussed the possibility of using its military lines of communication with Russia.