Nato has expressed "deep concern" about the Russian military build-up in Syria, warning Moscow to "immediately cease" its attacks on the Syrian opposition and civilians.
Following a special meeting of Nato ambassadors in Brussels on Monday, the alliance also strongly condemned the incursion of Russian military jets into Turkish airspace.
“The aircraft in question entered Turkish airspace despite Turkish authorities’ clear, timely and repeated warnings,” Nato said.
“Allies strongly protest these violations of Turkish sovereign airspace, and condemn these incursions into and violations of Nato airspace.”
Amid increasing alarm about the incursion of Russian warplanes into the airspace of a Nato member, Turkish foreign minister Feridun Sinirlioglu met Nato general secretary Jens Stoltenberg at Nato headquarters in Brussels. "Russia's actions are not contributing to the security and stability of the region," Mr Stoltenberg said after the meeting. "I call on Russia to fully respect Nato airspace and to avoid escalating tensions with the alliance."
Territorial integrity
While the meeting was prompted by Russia’s violation of Turkish airspace, the alliance did not invoke an “Article 4” meeting which is typically called to discuss a more serious threat to territorial integrity.
Turkey summoned the Russian ambassador to Ankara after a Russian jet entered Turkish airspace south of the Syrian border on Saturday, prompting Ankara to scramble two F-16 fighter jets to intercept it. The Kremlin described the action as "a mistake," according to Russian news agencies.
Russia’s entry into the Syrian conflict last Wednesday has unnerved Nato allies, including the US and Turkey.
The issue dominated a much-delayed trip by Turkey's president Tayyip Erdogan to Brussels on Monday, where he met with the heads of the European Commission, European Council and European Parliament. Speaking following the meetings, which had been expected to focus on the refugee and migrant crisis, the Turkish premier urged the European Union to consider imposing no-fly zones in Syria – an idea opposed by many.
"We have a border with Syria . . . with Iraq. So we are the country that is under threat here," Mr Erdogan said in a press conference with European Council president Donald Tusk. But Mr Tusk said that while the issue of a no-fly zone had been discussed in the context of discussions on the migration crisis, "Turkey needs to be equally ready to act".
“The situation where hundreds of thousands of people are fleeing to the EU via Turkey must be stopped. And we cannot do it on our own, we need the Turkish side. Strengthened co-operation will benefit both sides,” he said.
Turkey has emerged as the key transit country for Syrian refugees making their way from Syria to the European Union, prompting the EU to engage with Ankara on the issue, including offering up to €1 billion in aid to countries in the region.
Turkish election
Mr Erdogan, who is facing a general election next month, said that “the root cause of the refugee crisis today is the war in Syria”, as he criticised Europe for the number of refugees it has accepted, compared to the two million Syrians and Iraqis accepted by Turkey.
The visit by Mr Erdogan is significant. The Turkish president cancelled a planned trip to Brussels in 2011 amid lingering tensions between the EU and Ankara about the status of Turkey's accession to the EU. Accession talks officially commenced in 2005 but have stalled amid opposition from a number of member states, including Germany.
Unesco condemns IS destruction in Palmyra
Unesco, the United Nations cultural organisation, has condemned the latest destruction by Islamic State of ancient monuments in Syria’s 2,000-year-old Roman city of Palmyra, saying it showed they were terrified of history.
The perpetrators should be tried and punished as war criminals, it said.
Islamic State militants have blown up the Arch of Triumph, a jewel in the exquisite collection of ruins in the oasis city, Syria’s antiquities chief Maamoun Abdulkarim said.
The militants had earlier destroyed temples at the Roman-era Unesco World Heritage site, which it has controlled since capturing Palmyra from Syrian government forces in May, and mined other monuments and historic buildings. The group considers the buildings sacrilegious.
“It’s as though there is a curse that has befallen this city and I expect only news that will shock us. If the city remains in their hands the city is doomed,” Mr Abdulkarim said.
“It is now wanton destruction. Their acts of vengeance are no longer ideologically driven because they are now blowing up buildings with no religious meaning,“ he added.
Unesco said there would be no impunity for war criminals and it would make every effort, in co-operation with the International Criminal Court, to ensure the perpetrators were tried and punished. “This new destruction shows how terrified by history and culture the extremists are, because understanding the past undermines and delegitimises the pretexts they use to justify these crimes and exposes them as expressions of pure hatred and ignorance,” it said in a statement.
– (Reuters)
