Russia to conduct observational flight over Turkey

A group of Russian inspectors will conduct an observational flight over Turkish territory from Monday to Friday under the Open Skies Treaty, a Russian official said Monday.

The flight will be carried out by a Russian aircraft An-30B, said Sergey Ryzhkov, head of the Russian Defense Ministry's Nuclear Risk Reduction Center.

Ryzhkov said that the inspectors will perform the flight on an agreed route, and Turkish experts aboard the plane will monitor compliances with the provisions of the treaty and the surveillance equipment's application procedure.

The flight is part of the confidence-building measures in Europe after the Cold War under the Open Skies Treaty, which establishes a program of unarmed aerial surveillance flights over the entire territory of its 34 state parties, including Russia and most members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

The treaty was signed in 1992 and took effect in 2002. Endi