NATO chief: Russian incursions into Turkish airspace no …

Published October 06, 2015

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg listens to questions from journalists during a media conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2015. NATO defense ministers will meet on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2015 to discuss, among other issues, the situation after a Russian fighter jet entered Turkish airspace from Syria over the weekend. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)(The Associated Press)

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks during a media conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2015. NATO defense ministers will meet on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2015 to discuss, among other issues, the situation after a Russian fighter jet entered Turkish airspace from Syria over the weekend. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)(The Associated Press)

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks during a media conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2015. NATO defense ministers will meet on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2015 to discuss, among other issues, the situation after a Russian fighter jet entered Turkish airspace from Syria over the weekend. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)(The Associated Press)

In this photo taken on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2015, Russian SU-24M jet fighter armed with laser guided bombs takes off from a runaway at Hmeimim airbase in Syria. The skies over Syria are increasingly crowded, and increasingly dangerous. The air forces of multiple countries are on the attack, often at cross purposes in Syrias civil war, sometimes without coordination and now, it seems, at risk of unintended conflict. The latest entry in the air war is Russia. It says it is bombing the Islamic State in line with U.S. priorities, but the U.S. says Russia is mainly striking anti-government rebels in support of its ally, President Bashar Assad. The Russians, who are not coordinating with the Americans, reportedly also have hit U.S.-supported rebel groups. (AP Photo/Alexander Kots, Komsomolskaya Pravda, Photo via AP)(The Associated Press)

In this photo taken on Monday, Oct. 5, 2015, a Russian pilot fixes an air-to-air missile at his Su-30 jet fighter before a take off at Hmeimim airbase in Syria. NATO also strongly criticized the Russian air campaign in Syria that began Wednesday. (AP Photo/Dmitry Steshin, Komsomolskaya Pravda, Photo via AP)(The Associated Press)

BRUSSELS NATO's secretary-general has rejected Moscow's claim that its military incursion into alliance airspace over Turkey wasn't intentional or important, saying there were two separate incidents and "the violation lasted for a long time."

Jens Stoltenberg, the NATO chief, told a news conference in Brussels on Tuesday the reported incidents were "very serious."

Stoltenberg added, "It doesn't look like an accident, and we've seen two of them over the weekend."

On Monday, NATO ambassadors met in special session and condemned what they termed Russia's "irresponsible behavior."

The ambassadors also called on Russia to cease such practices.

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