Russia delays planned observation flight over Turkey on Ankara request

MOSCOW/ANKARA

Russia has delayed a planned observation flight over Turkey upon a received request from Turkish authorities, Interfax reported on Oct. 12, citing the Russian Defense Ministry. 

Diplomatic sources, speaking with Hürriyet Daily News, confirmed the postponement, saying the Turkish side asked for a change of “timing” of the planned flight, which would take place within the framework of the 1992 Treaty on Open Skies of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Having established a regime of unarmed observation flights over the territories of state parties, the treaty specifies, inter alia, quotas for observation flights, the notification of points of entry, the technical details and inspection for sensors.

The flight was to be performed by an An-30B aircraft that would have used air bases in the Diyarbakır and Eskişehir provinces, the same sources speaking on the condition of anonymity, said.

In early October, Turkey reported two incursions by Russian fighter jets into its air space and said a MIG-29 fighter and Syria-based missile systems also “interfered” with its air force patrols, in developments described by NATO as “extremely dangerous” and “unacceptable.”