Russian warship fires warning shot at Turkish vessel

(Vatican Radio)  Russia says one of its warships has fired warning shots at a Turkish vessel in the Aegean Sea amid escalating tensions with Turkey after it shot down a Russian war plane last month.

Listen to Stefan Bos' report:

Sunday’s reported shooting followed controversial remarks by Russia’s prime minister who suggested that Turkey’s actions gave grounds for war.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said Sunday that the Russian destroyer Smetlivy had been forced to fire warning shots at a Turkish fishing ship in the Aegean Sea to avoid a collision. Moscow also said it had summoned the Turkish military attache over the incident.

Refused warnings

The Russian Defence Ministy claimed that the Turkish vessel, which it did not name, had failed to respond to earlier warnings. Instead it allegedly only changed course after shots were fired before passing within just over 500 meters of the warship.

The incident, which occurred on Sunday morning, was likely to heighten tensions between Turkey and Russia. The two nations are seriously at odds over Russia’s military actions in Syria and the Turkish shooting down of a Russian military jet last month.

Violating Turkish airspace

Turkey said that plane violated its airspace, charges Moscow denied. And in controversial remarks Russia’s Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has said that Turkey’s downing of the Russian Su-24 gave the country a justification for war, but added that Russia chose not to respond.

Speaking on the Russian televised program “Talk to the Prime Minister,” he said: "How did states in the twentieth century react in similar circumstances? War started because this is regarded as a direct attack by a foreign state.”

And he added that “war is the worst thing that can happen." That is why, he explained,  "it was decided by Russia's authorities and the president not to answer what Turkey did symmetrically" though in his words "there was cause for military actio

Stab in the back

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who called the downing of the plane a "stab in the back", has since imposed economic sanctions on Turkey as a retaliatory measure.

However Turkey says Russia has been fuelling tensions as well. Earlier this month, Turkey complained to Russia over an incident in which a Russian sailor was pictured brandishing a rocket launcher on the deck of a naval ship passing through Istanbul.

The tensions between Russia and Turkey have complicated efforts to built a more effective international coalition to fight the so-called Islamic State group in Syria.