Turkey said its military shot down an unmanned drone near the Syrian border on Friday as interim Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlioglu warned that Russian air operations in Syria may lead to accidents.

The nationality of the drone, which flew three kilometers (1.9 miles) inside Turkey’s border, can’t be determined yet, Sinirlioglu told reporters in Ankara. The aircraft was shot down after three warnings went unheeded, the military said in a statement.

All planes in Russia’s air group in Syria returned to base after their missions, while “unmanned aircraft conducting monitoring of the situation in Syria and conducting aerial reconnaissance are functioning normally,” Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Friday, according to the RIA Novosti news service.

Russia began air strikes in Syria on Sept. 30 to support the regime of Bashar al-Assad, whom Turkey wants to see deposed. The Turkish chief of staff reported Thursday that General Sergei Dronov, deputy head of the Russian air force, had visited to explain recent airspace violations by Russian jets. North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called the intrusions unacceptable last week and said NATO has “a duty to reinforce” its member state.

Russia is “making a mistake” in its policy on Syria by supporting Assad, Sinirlioglu said.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Oct. 14 that both the Russian and the U.S. ambassadors to Turkey were recently called in and warned against arming Kurdish rebels fighting Islamic State who might allow those munitions to be used against Turkey. Russia’s support of Assad “will inflame and prolong the Syrian civil war,” U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said in Washington on Wednesday.

David Fuller's view

If that drone was operated by the US, it needs to tighten up its command. 

However, it is much more likely to have been a Russian drone inside Turkey’s border.  Russia’s Putin is an old Cold War operator who understands or is interested in little else.  Consequently, he remains reckless, knowing that global tensions can provide a short-term lift to his failing economy by raising the price of crude oil which remains his main export. 

(See also: Putin Allies Said to Be Behind Scrutinized Deutsche Bank Trades, also from Bloomberg)