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Turkey gave no proof of alleged violation of its airspace by Russian warplane — general

the Russian Defense Ministry has been keeping a close eye on the development of the situation around Turkey’s accusation and on the reaction from NATO and the United States officials
Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov Anton Novoderezhkin/TASS
Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov
© Anton Novoderezhkin/TASS

MOSCOW, February 1. /TASS/. Turkey has provided no actual data on the incident with the alleged violation of the Turkish-Syrian border by a Russian Su-34 fighter jet, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Monday.

According to him, the Russian Defense Ministry has been keeping a close eye on the development of the situation around Turkey’s accusation and on the reaction from NATO and the United States officials to the alleged violation of Turkey airspace by the Russian warplane. "I would like to draw your attention to the rapidity and the scheme of dissemination of statements in support of Ankara on that matter," Konashenkov said. "It cannot but be surprising that the situation has been clear for the NATO and Pentagon officials from the very beginning although Ankara had provided no actual data - neither the area of the incident, nor the altitude, nor the velocity of the flying object."

He said all objective information about this alleged incident was just a fantasy of the inventors of this hoax. "But in some mysterious way Turkey’s radars managed to identify the plane as a Su-34," the Russian Defense Ministry spokesman said.

He reminded that air defense systems of the Syrian army and a Russian S-400 system were monitoring the air situation in Syria’s northern provinces in a round-the-clock regime. "In the past 24 hours, we thoroughly analyzed all data of objective monitoring of flights in Syria’s northern provinces. And, I would like to stress, not only by our warplanes. Not a single violation of the Syrian-Turkish border by Russian warplanes was registered and there are exhausting data of objective control to prove it. And this is a fact," he stressed. "Moreover, despite numerous statements by Turkish officials, no actual data have been referred either through diplomatic or any other channels."

"And the hysteria unleashed by the Turkish side is not just an ‘unsubstantiated propaganda,’ but has obvious indications to a deliberate provocation," Konashenkov said.

On January 30, Turkey’s foreign ministry claimed that a Russian Su-34 fighter jet had violated the country’s airspace on January 29. Russia dismissed Turkey’s claims as "unsubstantiated propaganda." Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on January 31 all data on the alleged violation had been handed over to Russia.