MOSCOW (Sputnik) – According to the ministry, a Russian television crew was detained by "unknown persons in civilian clothing" on December 7, heading from Turkey's Hatay province to neighboring Gaziantep.
The group was then taken to a police station and informed that they would be deported for allegedly violating rules for foreign journalists in Turkey.
"We strongly condemn the illegal actions of Turkish authorities. Such an attitude toward representatives of the media is unacceptable," the ministry said in a statement, questioning Turkey's motives.
"It appears that Ankara is afraid that the Rossiya-1 correspondents would uncover facts inconvenient for the government, regarding illegal activities on the Turkish-Syrian border," the statement reads.