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U.S. ‘greatly concerned’ by Russia incursion of Turkey airspace

Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday the United States was \"greatly concerned\" about the incursion by a Russian plane into Turkish airspace over the weekend and he had intensified discussions with Moscow.
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October 5, 2015

Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday the United States was “greatly concerned” about the incursion by a Russian plane into Turkish airspace over the weekend and he had intensified discussions with Moscow.

He said his Turkish counterpart called him about the incident on Saturday, which Kerry discussed with Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Susan Rice, the White House national security adviser.

“We are greatly concerned about it because it is precisely the kind of thing that, had Turkey responded … it could have resulted in a shootdown, and it is precisely the kind of thing we warned against,” Kerry said during a visit to Chile.

He said he had since intensified diplomatic discussions to ensure that there was no accidental conflict between Russian and coalition aircrafts over Syria.

“Those conversations are even more intense now and we will see very quickly if this can be defused,” Kerry said, adding that Russia had a fundamental responsibility to act in accordance with international standards.

Kerry also said it was now clear after the weekend incident that Russia's motives were broader than just fighting Islamic State militants in Syria.

He said Russia should communicate directly to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad what is expected of him under a political transition in Syria.

“I would say to Russia that their 'client' who was in great trouble needs to know more directly what Russia has communicated to us and what is required of him in order to live up to international expectations here,” Kerry said.

He added: “If he doesn't do that, then we will be continuing to move in a direction that would almost certainly guarantee much more terrorism, much more conflict, and possibly the complete destruction of the state of Syria.”

Turkey, which has the second-largest army in NATO, scrambled two F-16 jets on Saturday after a Russian aircraft crossed into its airspace near its southern province of Hatay, the Turkish foreign ministry said.

Moscow's unexpected move last week to launch air strikes in Syria has brought the greatest threat of an accidental clash between Russian and Western forces since the Cold War.

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