Türkei und Russland: Erneut Streit um Luftraumverletzung

Su-34_Latakia_Syria_oct2015A

An der Südostflanke der NATO droht erneut ein Streit um eine mögliche Luftraumverletzung durch Russland zu eskalieren: Die Türkei warf Russland am (heutigen) Samstag vor, ein Jagdbomber vom Typ Su-34 sei am Freitag in den türkischen Luftraum eingedrungen. Das Verteidigungsministerium in Moskau wies den Vorwurf zurück; die NATO verurteilte das russische Vorgehen. Im November vergangenen Jahres hatte die Türkei ein russisches Kampfflugzeug abgeschossen, das nach Angaben aus Ankara ebenfalls türkischen Luftraum verletzt haben soll.

Die Folgen dieses Zwischenfalls sind noch unklar; zur Dokumentation die Stellungnahmen im Original:

Pressemitteilung des türkischen Außenministeriums:

30 January 2016, Press Release Regarding the Violation of Turkish airspace on 29 January 2016 by a RF aircraft
Yesterday (29 January 2016) at 11.46 hours local time, a SU-34 type Russian aircraft violated Turkish airspace.
Before the violation actually took place, Russian plane was warned numerous times by Turkish air radar units, (through appropriate channels) both in English and Russian languages.
Despite several previous explicit staments of warnings by both Turkey and NATO, this new violation is yet another concrete example of Russian escalatory behavior.
We once again explicitly call on Russia, to act responsibly and not to violate Turkish Airspace, which is NATO airspace. We underline that such actions could lead to serious consequences, the responsibility of which will totally rest with the Russian Federation.
Russian Ambassador to Ankara has been summoned to the MFA yesterday evening. At the meeting we strongly protested and condemned this violation and reiterated, once again, aforementioned concerns as to the gravity of such violations.

Die Entgegnung des russischen Verteidigungsministeriums auf seiner Facebook-Seite:

Aircraft of the Russian air group in Syria have not breached the air space of Turkey
Russian Ministry of Defence comments on the declarations concerning alleged breach of the Turkish air space by the aircraft of the Russian air group in Syria.
“There have not been any violation of the air space of Turkey by the aircraft of the Russian air group in the Syrian Arab Republic.
Declarations of the Turkish party concerning the alleged fact of such breaching of the air space by a Russian Su-34 aircraft – is propaganda unsupported by evidence.
Even the Turkish air defence specialists know that radar stations, which control the air space, can register only altitude, heading and speed of an object in the air.
No one of such radars can define the type and the state affiliation of an air object to Russia or the so-called “anti-ISIS coalition” led by the USA”.
That is possible only by means of visual contact from another aircraft which was abcent.
It is flatly stated that neither Russian air defence means in Syria, nor the Syrian air traffic control radars have not registered breaching of the Syrian-Turkish border.”

Das Statement von NATO-Generalsekretär Jens Stoltenberg:

Statement by the NATO Secretary General on Russian air space violationA Russian combat aircraft violated Turkish airspace yesterday, despite repeated warnings by the Turkish authorities. Previous incidents have shown how dangerous such behaviour is.
I call on Russia to act responsibly and to fully respect NATO airspace. Russia must take all necessary measures to ensure that such violations do not happen again.
I welcome the direct contacts between Ankara and Moscow, and I call for calm and de-escalation.
NATO stands in solidarity with Turkey and supports the territorial integrity of our Ally, Turkey.
Allies agreed in December to increase the presence of AWACS early warning aircraft over Turkey, as we continue to augment Turkey’s air defences. This decision precedes yesterday’s incident.

Erst am Freitag hatten die USA und Russland erneut Gespräche über technische Maßnahmen geführt, die Zwischenfälle über Syrien bei der Luftraumnutzung durch Flugzeuge der russischen Streitkräfte und der US-geführten Anti-ISIS-Koalition Operation Inherent Resolve vermeiden sollen.

(Archivbild: Russische Su-34 auf dem syrischen Flugplatz Latakia – Russisches Verteidigungsministerium via Wikimedia Commons)