ANKARA (Sputnik) – Tanju Bilgic told journalists:
“Talks are continuing with NATO on strengthening the defense of our country, including with Patriot [missile] systems.”
The Russian Defense Ministry later confirmed that on October 3 an Su-30 Flanker multirole fighter briefly entered Turkish airspace for a few seconds due to poor weather conditions. Moscow officially apologized for what it said was a "misunderstanding" and vowed not to let it happen again.
Following the incident, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called for an urgent meeting to discuss the violation of a member state’s airspace.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu stated on Monday that the trespass by a Russian jet into Turkish airspace near Syria would not sour relations between the two countries.
Russia began airstrikes against IS targets in Syria last week, at the request of Syrian President Bashar Assad.