Russia to Conduct Observation Flight Over Turkey on February 25-28 - Defence Ministry

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia will conduct a surveillance flight over the Turkish territory under the Open Skies Treaty from February 25-28, the Russian Defence Ministry said in a statement on Monday.

"According to the head of Russia's National Nuclear Risk Reduction Center, Sergei Ryzhkov, the Russian Federation plans to carry out an observation flight on Russia's TU-154M-LK-1 observation plane over the territory of the Republic of Turkey under the Open Skies Treaty," the statement said.

According to Ryzhkov, the flight will be carried out from February 25-28 from Eskisehir Open Skies airfield, while a flight range will be up to 1,900 kilometres (1,181 miles).

The 1992 Treaty on Open Skies allows its participants to carry out aerial surveillance as part of a program of scheduled observation flights, with the aim of gathering information about military forces.

More than 30 countries are participating in the program created to boost the transparency of military activities.