The Russian Defense Ministry has announced that it will be flying an Antonov An-30 aerial survey plane over Turkish territory. Tensions remain high between Moscow and Ankara amidst Russia's air campaign in Syria, which has resulted in repeated airspace violations and harassment of Turkish jets. Speaking to Russian press, the Defense Ministry's National Nuclear Risk Reduction Center Chairman Sergey Rijkov has announced that Russia will be flying an Antonov An-30 aerial survey plane over Turkey within the framework of the Treaty on Open Skies. Taking off from Diyarbakır between the dates of October 12th and 16th, the plane will have a group of Russian military experts on board. Turkish military officials will be accompanying the Russian military inspectors on the flight. They will be determining which equipment is being used and whether or not the survey is conducted in accordance with the agreement. The flight will not exceed 1,500 kilometers. The Treaty on Open Skies allows participating countries to engage in survey flights over each other's territories. 34 countries are signatories to the agreement, with Russia having joined on May 26th, 2001. The announcement comes at a time of escalating tension between Ankara and Moscow after Russia launched an air campaign in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad two weeks ago. Having lobbied for Assad's removal for years, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has harshly criticized the operations as well as the repeated airspace violations by Russian jets since airstrikes began.
