NATO rejects Russian explanation on jets in Turkish air space

A warplane. — (Image credit: Twitter.com.France24)

Russia says that its warplanes accidentally violated Turkey's air space over the weekend due to weather conditions, but NATO said Tuesday it rejected the explanation.

The Russian Defense Ministry claims an SU-30 warplane entered Turkish air space along the border with Syria "for a few seconds" on Saturday due to bad weather. NATO said a plane also entered Turkish air space Sunday, an incident that Russia said it is looking into. U.S. officials told Reuters the planes were in Turkish air space for much longer than a few seconds, and it was "far-fetched" to say it was accidental. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said he would not speculate on Russia's motives, "but this does not look like an accident and we have two of them." He also said there are reports of a substantial increase in the number of Russian ships in the eastern Mediterranean and ground troops in Syria.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.