Nato has urged Russia to end air
strikes "on the Syrian opposition and civilians", days after Moscow
began raids to support Syria's government.
Moscow says it is
targeting Islamic State and other Islamist positions, but US-led allies
and Turkey say government opponents are targeted.
Turkish F-16 fighter jets were scrambled after a Russian plane entered Turkey's air space on Saturday.
Russia said the violation was for just a few seconds and due to poor weather.
Saturday's
interception took place near Yayladagi in the southern Hatay region,
Turkey says. The foreign ministry in Ankara said it had summoned the
Russian ambassador to issue a "strong protest".
Turkish jets patrolling the border were also "harassed" by an unidentified plane on Sunday, Turkey said.
A statement by Nato's 28 members, that include Turkey, warned of "the extreme danger of such irresponsible behaviour" and urged Russia "to cease and desist".
US Secretary of State John Kerry said Turkey would have been within its rights to shoot the jets down.
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"The
Turkish Armed Forces are clearly instructed," Turkish Prime Minister
Ahmet Davutoglu told Turkish TV. "Even if it is a flying bird, it will
be intercepted."
But he played down the possibility of a "Turkey-Russia crisis", saying that channels between the two countries remained open.
The
Russian air campaign began on Wednesday, with Moscow saying it was
targeting IS positions and those of other Islamist groups. Syria said on
Monday that the air strikes had been planned for months.
The country's Defence Ministry said 10 targets had been hit during the course of 15 strikes on Monday. It said 20 tanks that had been seized from the Syrian army by militants were destroyed.
Mr Putin has denied that civilians were killed, but evidence on the ground has indicated otherwise.
Turkey
and other members of the US-led coalition in Syria say the principal
target is in fact the Syrian opposition groups fighting President Assad.
Nato said Russian air strikes did not target IS positions, but said it should "focus its efforts" on doing so.
Analysis - Jonathan Marcus, BBC Defence & Diplomatic Correspondent
The
Russian incursion into Turkish air space has set alarm bells ringing in
Nato with Alliance ambassadors describing it as "irresponsible
behaviour".
The US Secretary of State John Kerry has also
expressed his concern, noting that this is "precisely the kind of thing"
Washington warned about in pressing Russia for talks to avoid mid-air
incidents.
Turkish jets shot down a Syrian Mig-fighter in March of
last year. Another Syrian aircraft, possibly a helicopter, was shot
down last May.
Nato has called on Russia to "take all necessary
measures" to ensure that such violations do not take place in the
future. American sources claim that, far from being an accident, the
Russian pilots knew exactly what they were doing.
As the Russian air campaign moves into a higher gear, this episode illustrates some of the wider dangers involved.
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