Russian warplane flew near Turkey

McClatchy Newspapers (TNS)

ISTANBUL

A Russian warplane on a bombing run in Syria flew within 5 miles of the Turkish border and may have crossed into Turkey’s airspace, Turkish and U.S. officials said Sunday.

The incident raises new concerns that Russia’s armed intervention in Syria could spill over to neighboring countries, lead to an unintended military confrontation and trigger an even bigger regional conflict.

A Turkish security official said Turkish radar locked onto the Russian aircraft as it was bombing early Friday in al Yamdiyyah, a Syrian village directly on the Turkish border. He said Turkish fighter jets would have attacked had it crossed into Turkish airspace.

But a U.S. military official suggested the incident had come close to sparking an armed confrontation. Reading from a report, he said the Russian aircraft had violated Turkish airspace by five miles and that Turkish jets had scrambled, but that the Russian aircraft had returned to Syrian airspace before they could respond.

The Turkish security official said he could not confirm that account. Both officials insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the news media.

A NATO spokesman referred all questions to the Turkish government, which had no immediate comment. The U.S. Central command, which oversees military operations in Syria, said it was working on a response to questions from McClatchy.

Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stepped up his rhetoric. In his strongest comment to date, he called Russia’s intervention unacceptable and a “grave mistake” that would isolate Moscow. Russia’s intervention and its bombing campaign in Syria “have no acceptable side,” he told reporters on the eve of a state visit to Belgium.