DHAKA: Russia says one of its warships fired warning shots at a Turkish fishing boat in the Aegean Sea to avoid a collision.

A Russian defense ministry statement said the Turkish vessel approached to 600m (1,800ft) before turning away in response to Russian small arms fire.

The captain of the Turkish boat said he was unaware that his vessel had been shot at.

The Turkish military attache in Moscow has been summoned to the foreign ministry over the incident.

Relations remain tense between the two countries since Turkey’s shooting down of a Russian warplane.

‘We are not in favor of tension,’ Turkey’s foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was quoted as saying after the incident.

‘We have always been in favor of overcoming tensions through dialogue rather than conflict.’

The captain of the Turkish vessel told Dogan news agency he did not realize his boat had been shot at, reports the BBC.

BDST: 1421 HRS, DEC 14, 2015
RR