Russian plane: Turkish radar, legal rights confirmed

In the downing of a Russian fighter jet on Tuesday, an independent expert says that the Turkish radar tracking provided is more accurate than similar material provided by Russia.

Legal experts also confirm that Turkey had a right to take action.

According to Turkish army on Tuesday, two Turkish F-16 fighter jets on an aerial patrol intercepted an unidentified warplane within engagement rules when it intruded into Turkish airspace on the Turkey-Syria border.

The intruding aircraft was warned about the violation 10 times within five minutes before it was shot down.

Professor David Stupples, an expert on radar with the City University of London, told Anadolu Agency on Thursday: “Turkish radar is world class. It is accurate to within a range of 2 miles. It is perfectly capable of producing an accurate account of what happened.”

Stupples also checked the Turkish account of the incident, which was backed by radar tracking, with his own calculations.

“Based on the speed of the fighter, and the placement of the Turkish radar which was not far from the area, I can conclude that the Turkish radar tracking proof is accurate,” Stupples said.

But the Russian radar is less accurate than that used by Turkey, he continued.

“The Russian radar used in their account of the incident is tactical, not strategic like that of Turkey. Furthermore, the Russian radar was placed near their airfield, relatively far from the area where the incident occurred. This casts doubt on the Russian version,” Stupples said.

NATO has also confirmed the accuracy of information shared by Turkey about the violation.

  International law

In an interview with Anadolu Agency on Thursday, Peter Haanappel, former professor of international law at McGill Universitry and former director of European Aeropolitical Affairs at the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in Geneva, confirmed that Turkey had acted within its rights.

“No country has the right to violate the airspace of another country without making a formal request first. This is true of both civilian and military aircraft.”

Haanapel explained that there is no formal international convention regarding military aircraft, but that there is clear precedent establishing rules regarding the conduct of military aircraft.

Pablo Mendes de Leon, a professor of international law at Leiden University in the Netherlands, shared this view.

“The law which applies to civil aviation in this area is the Article 3 of the 1944 Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation which Russia, Turkey, and Syria have all signed. Military aircraft is not supposed to enter foreign airspace without prior consent.”

De Leon also said that there is no formal convention specifically on military aircraft, but that the same rule applies based on international legal practice.

It would be up to the country that made the violation of the airspace to provide mitigating circumstances for having taken this course of action, de Leon added.

The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that its Russian SU-24 fighter jet had been shot down. 

It was not the first time Russian fighter jets had violated Turkish airspace. In early October, Russian warplanes breached Turkish airspace. Russian officials apologized and pledged that no such incident would be repeated. Turkey had also renewed its warning on engagement rules, including a military response against violations of Turkish airspace.