Ankara Summons Russian Ambassador Over Protests Near Diplomatic Missions

Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov has been summoned by the Turkish Foreign Ministry over the rallies held near the Turkish diplomatic missions in Russia, the ministry said in a statement Thursday.

ANKARA (Sputnik) — Several hundred people assembled on Wednesday in front of the Turkish Embassy in Moscow to protest Ankara's downing of a Russian warplane.

"Immediately after the start of this action, our diplomatic missions in Russia, addressing the relevant Russian authorities, demanded to immediately put in place additional security measures. We find the current situation unacceptable, and this position was announced to the Russian ambassador, who was summoned to the Foreign Ministry," the statement read.

Russian-Turkish relations are experiencing tensions amid the crash of the Russian Su-24 military aircraft on November 24. The bomber was downed by an air-to-air missile launched by a Turkish F-16 jet over Syrian territory and fell 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from the Turkish border. Ankara claimed it downed the Russian plane because it violated Turkish airspace.

Both the Russian General Staff and the Syrian Air Defense Command confirmed that the Su-24 never crossed into Turkish airspace, in accordance with precise objective control data.