THE HEAD OF THE SYRIAN DIPLOMACY, WALID AL-MUALLEM: "Russia's air strikes in Syria - planned months in advance"

Russia's air strikes in Syria were planned months in advance and will be successful because of their coordination with the Syrian army, Walid al-Muallem, the head of the Syrian diplomacy said yesterday, quoted by official press agency Sana, Reuters reports.

"Russia will undoubtedly win this race", said Walid al-Muallem in an interview granted to Lebanese channel al-Mayadeen, quoted by Sana, and he went on to say: "I have absolutely no doubt about it and the reason behind that fact is practical and simple, is because Russia is coordinating with the Arab Syrian Army, which is the only force in Syria that fights against terrorism".

The Syrian official said that Russia has established a center in Iraq, with the involvement of Syria and Iran, to coordinate its actions and to exchange information.

NATO's secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, yesterday denounced "the violations of Turkey's airspace by Russian fighter aircraft", actions which he called "unacceptable". The statement of the NATO official came after several incidents between Russian and Turkish aircraft on the Syrian and Turkish border.

"Russia's actions" in Syria, where Moscow is conducting air strikes against the Jihadists, and, according to the Western countries, against the rebel factions that are fighting against the regime of president Bashar al-Assad, "does not contribute to the security and stability of the region", said Stoltenberg in a press release quoted by AFP, according to Agerpres.

He said that he has summoned the 28 allied countries for an emergency reunion of the North Atlantic Council which was going to be held last night, to discuss the situation in Syria.

The diplomacy of Turkey, a NATO member country, had announced earlier, in a communiqué, that Turkish F-16 fighter jets had intercepted on Saturday a fighter aircraft of the Russian air forces on the border with Syria, which they forced to withdraw.

In a separate document, the Turkish army reported that two Turkish fighter aircraft were "harassed" on Sunday, during a patrol mission on the border with Syria, by an unidentified MIG-29.

According to RIA Novosti, Moscow admitted that a Russian fighter jet violated Turkey's airspace on Saturday, "by mistake", and assured Ankara that such incidents will not happen again.

• Russian aviation hit nine positions of the Islamic State in 25 raids

Russian aviation conducted 25 air strikes over the last 24 hours in Syria, and the targets that were destroyed include a communications node of Jihadist faction the Islamic State in the Homs province and a command center near the town of Al-Rastan, in the Hama province, Igor Konashenkov, spokesperson of the Russian Ministry of Defense said yesterday, quoted by TASS.

According to AFP, nine positions of the Islamic State faction were hit following these raids conducted by Su-34, Su-24M and Su-25 fighter jets, as a part of the ongoing Russian military intervention in Syria, which began on September 30.

Dmitri Peskov, spokesperson of president Vladimir Putin, said, as quoted by TASS and Reuters, that the Russian air strikes in Syria is intended to support the Syrian army and it targets "terrorists" and "extremists".