The German government has expressed its concern after the Turkish air force shot down a Russian military jet. Chancellor Angela Merkel warned against any further escalation of the conflict in Syria. The aim must be to form a broad alliance and consistently fight the terrorism of the so-called Islamic State.
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In a speech during the budget debate ion the German Bundestag, Chancellor Angela Merkel also addressed the situation along the Turkish-Syrian border. On Tuesday, the Turkish army shot down a Russian military jet. Any escalation of the situation must be avoided, said the Chancellor.
NATO met on Tuesday evening with an extraordinary session of the North Atlantic Council at which Turkey briefed members on the incident.
After the meeting NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stressed that Turkey, like every other country, is entitled to protect the integrity of its own airspace and to defend it if necessary.
NATO’s detailed analysis of the incident has not yet been completed. A great many individual details must be painstakingly put together before the incident can be finally evaluated.
"The German government sees the top priority as calling on Ankara and Moscow to do everything possible to avoid any further escalation," said federal government spokesperson Steffen Seibert on Wednesday at the government press conference. "It is crucial that both governments remain in direct contact and that any repetition of an incident of this sort is avoided." The overarching goal must be to form as broad a global alliance as possible, ideally with Russia, in order to consistently fight the so-called IS in Syria and Iraq.
In an initial response, Federal Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier stressed that the incident must not be allowed to torpedo the recently launched Vienna talks which are aiming to end the civil war in Syria. The first important steps achieved with the International Syria Support Group in Vienna must not be jeopardised, and negotiations to resolve the Syrian conflict must forge ahead.
The importance of Turkey, also as a NATO member state, was underlined by Martin Schäfer, spokesperson of the Federal Foreign Office. "Turkey is a really important actor in the Middle East on a large number of issues."
The conflict in Syria will also be on the agenda of the EU-Turkey summit this Sunday. During the summit there will also be time for a number of bilateral meetings. Martin Schäfer continued, "There can be no doubt. Turkey is a key country, also in efforts to resolve the refugee crisis."