Article Posted on : - Oct 24, 2013

An unrelated file photo.

ANKARA (AFP): Turkish fighter jets intercepted a Russian military aircraft in international airspace over the Black Sea, the military said on Wednesday, without giving a reason.

"Two F-16 jets were scrambled to prevent a potential violation of (Turkish airspace)" after the Ilyushin II-20 aircraft was detected flying in parallel to Turkish coast, the general staff said in a statement about Tuesday's incident.

Turkish jets intercepted the plane off the port city of Ordu on the Black Sea coast and monitored its flight from the Georgian border in the east through to the Bulgarian border, it added.

It was not immediately clear why the Russian aircraft approached Turkish airspace. Such air incidents between the two countries are rare.