Russian warship fires warning shots at Turkish ship in Aegean Sea

Moscow: The Russian Defence Ministry has confirmed one of its warships, the destroyer Smetlivy, fired warning shots at a Turkish vessel in the Aegean Sea to avoid a collision.

It said in a statement that the Turkish fishing vessel, which it did not name, had failed to respond to earlier warnings, but had sharply changed course after shots were fired, before passing within just over 500 metres of the warship.

Russia has summoned the Turkish military attache over the incident, which occurred on Sunday morning and is likely to heighten tensions between two nations already at odds after Turkey shot down a Russian military jet last month.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who called the downing of the plane a "stab in the back", has since imposed economic sanctions on Turkey as a retaliatory measure.

Earlier this month, Turkey complained to Russia over an incident in which a Russian sailor was pictured brandishing a rocket launcher on the deck of a naval ship passing through Istanbul.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/russian-warship-fires-warning-shots-at-turkish-ship-in-aegean-sea-20151213-glml25.html#ixzz3uHjMIcRW Follow us: @smh on Twitter | sydneymorningherald