Turkey has reacted furiously to a picture showing a Russian serviceman allegedly holding up a rocket launcher in firing position as his ship passes through Turkish waters.
According to the Mirror, the picture which was published by the Hurriyet Daily News showed the man with the rocket launcher on his shoulder on the deck of the vessel of Caesar Kunikov as it passed through the Bosphorus strait.
“The showing off of a missile by a soldier on a Russian warship, or other things such as anti-aircraft weapons, is pure provocation,” the newspaper quoted the Turkey Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu as saying.
Russia and Turkey have been at loggerheads ever since a Russian fighter jet was downed by Ankara as it allegedly violated its airspace while flying over Syria.
One of the pilots, Lieutenant Colonel Oleg Peshkov, was killed and co-pilot Captain Konstantin Murakhtin managed to hide from Syrian rebels for 24 hours before being rescued. Marine Alexandr Pozynich was killed during the course of the rescue operation.
