Spillover of the Syrian Civil War

Syrian fighter jets and missile systems harassed Turkish F-16 warplanes near the Turkish-Syrian border on Oct. 10, the Turkish military said on Oct. 11, once again bringing the conflict to NATO's southeastern flank. 

Neither Turkey nor its NATO allies got the Russian message, conveyed through Syria, when a Turkish military reconnaissance aircraft was shot down, apparently in Syrian airspace over the Mediterranean in June 2012. 

Turkey?s border with Syria and its airspace has turned into a new stage for NATO and Russia to flex their muscles.

NATO?s chief accused Russia on Oct. 6 of deliberately violating Turkey?s airspace during bombing raids on Syria, amid fresh reports of confrontations in the region.

Turkey has warned that it will react if Russia again violates Turkey's border with Syria after Russian aircraft breached Turkish airspace over the weekend, with Moscow saying the incident was not intentional but due to a "navigational error."

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned Russia on Oct. 5 to avoid escalating tensions with the transatlantic alliance through "unacceptable" violations of Turkish airspace, while the U.S. also voiced its concern.

Stoltenberg convened an emergency meeting of NATO member countries after Turkey said its jets intercepted a Russian fighter plane near the Syrian border.

Russia has informed Turkey that the violation of Turkish airspace near the Syrian border on Oct. 3 was due to a ?navigation error,? according to Russian sources. 

Russia's recent moves near the Syrian port of Latakia indicate that Moscow is planning to build a military air base at that location, according to the Pentagon.

A lot of people and military equipment are already present at the site, said Pentagon spokesman Geoff Davis.

Two brothers, both of them Syrian nationals permanently residing in Bulgaria, were the attackers of a 22-year old Syrian migrant who was killed in Sofia on Sunday, BGNES reported.

According to prosecuting authorities, one of the brothers had stabbed the victim to death.

Turkish police have detained an individual linked to a Monday attack by two assailants against the US consular service in Istanbul, news websites say.

Apart from one of the assailants, a woman, no-one else has been injured in the attack on Monday morning.

US officials have said on Twitter they are "working with Turkish authorities to investigate".

Turkey has said its fighter jets have shot down a Syrian helicopter violating its airspace.

According to Syrian state TV, however, the aircraft that was shot down on Saturday in Turkey's Hatay province was a surveillance drone, Reuters reported.