"The situation along NATO’s south-eastern border remains highly unstable. We reiterate that the security of the Alliance is indivisible and that Allies stand in strong solidarity with Turkey, which is facing multiple challenges from the south including terrorist threats," the statement released on Tuesday reads.
The NATO ministers added that they "remain determined, in a spirit of 28 for 28, to continue developing additional NATO assurance measures" as long-standing NATO plans for the defense of Turkey being further strengthened "in view of the general volatility in the region."
Although the statement does not mention recent incident with a Russian bomber on the Syria-Turkey border, it points out that the Alliance has been augmenting Turkey’s air defense on the basis of December 2012 decision.
Tensions mounted between Russia and Turkey after a Turkish F-16 fighter jet shot down a Russian Su-24 bomber over Syrian territory on November 24. Ankara claimed that it downed the jet because it had violated Turkish airspace. Both the Russian General Staff and the Syrian Air Defense Command confirmed that the Russian jet never crossed into Turkish airspace.
