Russia to conduct observation flight over Turkey.

Russian inspectors will perform an observation flight over Turkey in the framework of the Open Skies Treaty, Head of the Russian Defense Ministry’s National Nuclear Risk Reduction Center Sergey Ryzhkov said.

Tu-154M-LK-1 (Picture source: Marina Listyeva/TASS)

"The observation flight over the territory of Turkey will be performed on February 25-28, 2020 from the Open Skies airfield of Eskisehir. The maximum flight range will be 1,900 km," Ryzhkov said.

The flight will be carried out by the Russian surveillance plane Tu-154M-LK-1.

The aircraft will be strictly following the route earlier approved by Turkey and Turkish specialists onboard the plane will be controlling the use of the surveillance equipment and observation of the Treaty provisions, the military official stated.

Flights under the treaty are performed in order to ensure more transparency in military activity of the member-states and enhance security through confidence building measures," he noted.

The Open Skies Treaty was signed in 1992 and has 34 member states. It entered into force in 2002. Surveillance flights are conducted over Russia, the United States, Canada and European countries.

The key tasks of the treaty are to develop transparency, monitor the fulfillment of armament control agreements, and expand capabilities to prevent crises in the framework of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and other international organizations.

© Copyright 2020 TASS. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.