Turkey's right to protect its borders should be respected: Turkish president

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday that everyone must respect Turkey's right to protect its borders. "Turkey holds no grudges toward its neighboring countries. Undoubtedly, we did our best to prevent the recent incident," said Erdogan at a reception in Ankara. He explained that Turkish F-16 jets "intercepted an unidentified warplane according to globally acknowledged rules of engagement." Despite 10 warnings, the aircraft "continued to violate" Turkish airspace, forcing the Turkish F-16 jets to down one of the two warplanes, stated Erdogan, without identifying the aircraft as Russian. The president did not directly address the ongoing Russian air strikes against Syria, targeting Turkmen groups located there, yet he said that Moscow has been attacking groups of "Bayirbucak Turkmen." "We condemn the attacks on our brethren Bayirbuck Turkmen," he said. The Turkish government previously warned Russia to halt its regional operations, as, according to Ankara, the air strikes targeted the Turkmen. The Turkish Foreign Ministry Friday summoned the Russian envoy in Ankara, displeased by the airstrikes against Turkmen villages in northern Syria. The Ministry additionally summoned the Russian Charge D'affairs in Ankara Tuesday over the downed jet incident. On the other hand, Russia's Defense Ministry, in its latest released statement, said that the Russian Su-24 plane was shot down by a Turkish F-16 jet on its way back to Syria's Hmeimim airbase, the location of a Russian anti-terrorism-strikes air force group. However, insisting that readout data-analysis clearly revealed no violation of Turkish airspace, the Ministry summoned Turkey's military attache in Russia.