TURKEY AIRSPACE VIOLATION AN “ERROR,” RUSSIA CLAIMS
The violation of the Turkish airspace by a Russian warplane over the weekend was a “navigation error,” Moscow has told Ankara, according to Turkish military sources quoted by Hürriyet. Two Turkish F-16 jets intercepted a Russian SU-30 hundreds of meters into Turkey’s airspace, near the Syrian border, for about two minutes Saturday. This prompted Ankara to summon the Russian ambassador Andrey Karlov in protest and urged Moscow against any repeat, warning it would be held “responsible for any undesired incident that may occur.”
- Russia launched an airstrike campaign last week to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime against ISIS.
- Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has strongly criticized this move, calling it a “grave mistake,” Reuters reports. He also accused Assad of committing “state terrorism.”
- Meanwhile, Assad said Sunday the Russian air campaign was vital for the whole Middle East: “It must succeed otherwise we face the destruction of the entire region, not only one or two states.”
- Isis fighters have destroyed the iconic Arch of Triumph in the ancient Syria city of Palmyra, in northern Syria, the country’s Directorate General for Antiquities and Museums reports. The monument, believed to have been built about 2,000 years ago, was blown up Sunday. According to sources on site quoted by the AFP, the terrorist group destroyed the monument because of ornaments on its columns considered idolatrous. In August, the organization destroyed the historic Temple of Bel and the Temple of Baalshamin.
