Special to WorldTribune.com

Turkey has warned Russia about violations of its air space after two incidents over the weekend.

On Oct. 3, Turkey’s foreign ministry said Ankara scrambled two of its F-16s after a Russian jet crossed into Turkish air space in Hatay province near the Syrian border.

On Oct. 4, the foreign ministry said a MiG-29, which are used by both Russian and Syrian forces, harassed two Turkish F-16s by locking radar on them as the Turkish jets patrolled the border.

Turkey summoned Russia’s ambassador to Ankara over the incidents.

“What we have received from Russia is that this was a mistake and that they respect Turkey’s borders and this will not happen again,” Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told HaberTurk TV, adding that Turkey would respond if provoked.

“Turkey’s rules of engagement apply to all planes, be they Syrian, Russian or from elsewhere. Turkey’s armed forces are very clearly instructed. Necessary steps would be taken against whoever violates Turkey’s borders, even if it’s a bird,” he said.

Davutoglu echoed President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s previous statements that Russia’s intervention in Syria was a “grave mistake.”

“For Russia, which long opposed foreign intervention in Syria and blocked UN Security Council resolutions, to be actively involved in Syria is both a contradiction and a move that has escalated the crisis.”

“(Syrian President Bashar) Assad has committed state terrorism, and unfortunately you find Russia and Iran defending (him),” Erdogan said, according to the Hurriyet newspaper. “Those countries that collaborate with the regime will account for it in history.”

U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said that Russia was tying itself to a sinking ship with its all-out effort to prop up Assad.

“By taking military action in Syria against moderate groups targets, Russia has escalated the civil war,” Carter said in a speech in Madrid on Oct. 4.

  Turkey calls out Russia on Syria incursion, violations of air space, WorldTribune.com