Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has criticized Russia's recent violation of Turkey's airspace and said that the country will have to face consequences if the violations continue.
Speaking to reporters at Istanbul's Atatürk Airport before his departure for Chile, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that the violation of Turkish airspace, which he also described as NATO airspace, was a result of Russian attempts to escalate existing tension in the region.
Erdoğan said the Turkish Foreign Ministry had made contact with Russia to arrange a meeting with President Vladimir Putin to discuss the incident, but added that Ankara had yet to receive a response.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg urged Russia on Saturday to "take all necessary measures" to ensure NATO airspace was not violated again, after Turkey said a Russian warplane had entered its airspace on Friday despite radar warnings.
"A Russian combat aircraft violated Turkish airspace yesterday, despite repeated warnings by the Turkish authorities. Previous incidents have shown how dangerous such behaviour is," Stoltenberg said in a statement.
"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."
Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry has claimed that their fighter jet did not violate Turkish airspace.
Ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov dismissed Ankara's statement as "propaganda", arguing that Russian and Syrian air radar units did not detect any violations and that there has long been no radio contact between Turkish and Russian air forces.
An official statement released on Saturday said that the Russian craft -- a SU-34 fighter-bomber -- was repeatedly warned by Turkish air radar units in Russian and English.
"A Russian SU-34 fighter jet violated Turkish airspace yesterday (Jan. 29, 2016) at 11.46 a.m. local time in Turkey [0946 GMT]," the statement read.
The Turkish Air Force has declared an 'orange alert' in key bases around the country, military sources have said.
In late November, two Turkish F-16 fighter jets on an aerial patrol intercepted a Russian military plane within the rules of engagement when it intruded into Turkish airspace on the Turkey-Syria border.
The intruding jet was warned about the violation 10 times within five minutes before it was shot down.
After the incident Russia imposed a range of unilateral economic sanctions against Turkey including a ban on food imports.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in a joint press conference with Jens Stoltenberg on Nov. 30 that Turkey should not be asked to apologize for doing its duty in protecting its borders and airspace.
Moscow had demanded an apology for the shooting down of the SU-24 over southern Turkey.
