Turkey, Russia conduct joint air military exercise

Turkey and Russia are conducting a two-day joint air military drill under the NATO-Russian Cooperative Airspace Initiative, the Turkish army announced today. "The joint exercise is being held to test, evaluate, and develop both the equipment and personnel of the new Ankara Area Control Center's ability to oppose the use of civilian aircraft in terror attacks while cooperating with Russia under the aegis of the NATO-Russia Cooperative Airspace Initiative," the Chief of General Staff said in a written statement. Both nations will be enacting the drill in the skies above Samsun, Sivas and Trabzon and international airspace over the eastern Black Sea region. The exercise will utilize two F-16 jet-fighters from the Turkish Air Command, Unified Air Operations Center-2 (Diyarbakir) personnel, as well as one TU-154 and four SU-27 jetfighters from Russian Federation Air Command.