The Turkish Defence Ministry announced that Turkish F-16s scrambled two Russian aircraft as part of the NATO mission. The ministry released video footage of the mission on social media accounts.
Turkish F-16s flying from Malbork, Poland, under NATO’s Air Policing mission intercepted Russian Su-24s. The ministry said on social media, “As part of the Enhanced Air Policing mission, the 161st Jet Fleet Command aircraft in Malbork/Poland took off upon NATO’s order. The Turkish aircraft safely performed the interception mission in the Baltic airspace with the guidance of the radar authorities by taking off within the specified time.”
Turkish F-16s to scramble Russian Su-24s means a critical approach on the sky. Turkey is the only NATO country that had shot down Russian aircraft. Even though Turkey and Russia have good bilateral relations, this incident is in the memories of pilots.
On November 24, 2015, a Turkish Air Force F-16 fighter jet shot down a Russian Sukhoi Su-24M attack plane near the Syria–Turkey border.
According to the Turkish Defence Ministry, the aircraft was fired because it violated the border after being warned to change its heading 10 times over a five-minute period before entering the airspace.
The Russian Defence Ministry denied that the plane ever left Syrian airspace, claiming that satellite data showed that the Sukhoi was about 1,000 metres (1,100 yards) inside Syrian airspace when it was shot down.
The US State Department stated that the aircraft"s flight path violated Turkish territory and that the Turks issued multiple warnings to the pilot, to which they received no response, and released audio recordings of the warnings they had broadcast.
