Turkey has every right to protect its airspace, President Grybauskaitė’s advisor says

According to the presidential advisor, publicly available information suggests that the pilot of the Russian bomber had been warned numerous times not to fly into the Turkish territory. Furthermore, even before the incident occurred, the Russian ambassador in Turkey had been summoned and informed about the consequences in case Turkey’s airspace was violated.

“Any security depends on good deterrence. We understand Turkey’s actions in this case, we understand the need to protect the airspace,” the chief foreign policy advisor to President Dalia Grybauskaitė told the radio Žinių Radijas on Tuesday.

Relations between Turkey and Russia deteriorated when, on 24 November, Turkey shot down a Russian military jet Su-24 which had been bombing targets in Syria near the Turkish border. Ankara says the bomber violated its airspace, while Russia has denied this and demanded an apology. Turkey’s position was supported by NATO. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree imposing sanctions on Turkey.