The Russian Defense Ministry, commenting on the statement of a NATO representative regarding the ‘classified images’ of the so-called violation of the Syrian-Turkish border by a Russian jet, said that such allegations were expected from NATO as they are trying to withhold information from the public and media.
Earlier, a NATO spokesman said that all images of Russians jet violating the Syrian-Turkish border were secret.
“There’s nothing else that we expected. It is no coincidence that the Turkish side after their high-profile attacks on Russia so strongly tries to draw NATO into this murky story. It is obvious that this information is secret not from us but from the public and the media, especially the western countries and the US, whom the Turkish partners have clearly used,” the Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov said.
The alleged incident involving a Russian Su-34 fighter bomber took place on Friday, according to the Turkish Foreign Ministry, which also said the plane was warned by Turkish air radar units.
“Once again I would like to remind our colleagues from NATO and the Pentagon: before demonstrating solidarity and making loud statements, it would be nice to first examine the issue in question,” he added.“For example, we have published today, the heavy artillery firing of a foreign state by a NATO country, which is Turkey.”
Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry denied the claim and said no such violation had actually happened. Ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov dismissed Ankara’s statement as “naked propaganda.”
“We thoroughly studied in the past 24 hours all objective control data on flights over northern Syria. No violations of the Syrian-Turkish border by Russian warplanes have been registered. And that’s a fact,” the ministry’s spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov told reporters.
On November 24, a Turkish F-16 fighter shot down a Russian Su-24 bomber with two pilots on board over Syria. Ankara claimed it had downed the Russian warplane as it had allegedly violated Turkish airspace. Both the Russian General Staff and the Syrian Air Defense Command have confirmed that the Russian jet never crossed into Turkish airspace.In response to Ankara’s “stab in the back,” as the incident has been described by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Moscow imposed a number of economic measures on Turkey.
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