A Russian fighter jet on a bombing run in Syria violated Turkish airspace on Saturday, prompting the Turkish Air Force to scramble two F-16 jets to intercept it, the Foreign Ministry said on Monday.
A Turkish security official said, on the condition remaining unanimous, that the Turkish radar locked onto the Russian aircraft as it was en route to bombing in al Yamdiyyah, a Syrian village across the Turkish border.
Turkish security sources said the Russian aircraft had violated Turkish air space by five miles, a Turkey-maintained buffer zone inside Syria, and then Turkish jets had scrambled but the Russian jet had returned to Syrian airspace before they could respond.
Since June 2012, Turkey has revised its rules of engagement and maintained a buffer zone five miles inside war-torn Syria, after a Syrian air defense missile shot down a Turkish fighter plane killing two pilots.
Under the revised rule, the Turkish Air Force would evaluate any target coming within five miles of the Turkish border as an enemy and act accordingly.
Turkish Foreign Ministry summoned Moscow's ambassador to protest the violation. Turkey urged Russia to avoid repeating such a violation, or it would be held "responsible for any undesired incident that may occur."
Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlioğlu spoke with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, as well as key NATO partners, a foreign ministry statement said.
Russia launched air strikes last week against forces opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
