Recent Russian violations of NATO’s airspace have brought back memories since 2015, when Turkey in a rapid reaction rejected a Russian fighter that had crossed its southern borders.

Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovel Sakaliene, calling for a stronger action against Russia’s current “tests”, said in a post on the X platform that Turkey “set the example 10 years ago” for NATO.

In 2015, however, Turkey felt exposed as it thought NATO reacted lukewarm, but also from the financial consequences of the downfall of the Russian aircraft. This has ultimately led to the Ankara to seek closer ties with Moscow, even in the midst of the Russian war in Ukraine.

Serious blow to Turkey’s economy

On November 24, 2015, a Turkish F-16 broke a Russian Su-24 near the Syrian border. Plans showed the burning aircraft crashing on a forest slope, marking the first military involvement of this kind between NATO and Moscow’s member since the establishment of the Alliance in 1949.

Turkey, which has the second largest army in NATO, said it had issued repeated warnings before implementing the rules of involvement. Moscow denied any violation, frozen relations and imposed restrictions on trade and tourism with Ankara.

Within a few hours, NATO convened an extraordinary meeting and expressed solidarity on Turkey’s territorial integrity, but at the same time exerted pressure on calm. The next steps of the alliance, such as surveillance and timely warning flights, were aimed at degradation rather than the controversy.

However, officials said this made Turkey feel vulnerable to Russia, its neighbor in the Black Sea, with whom she was already in war in Syria, where Moscow supported then -President Bashar al -Assad and Ankara.

“Acts speak louder than words,” said former Turkish ambassador Timur Soilemez, experienced in relations with the US.

In the period before the incident, the US and other allies had withdrawn critical defensive systems from Turkey, letting it “defend itself … against persistent violations of airspace and the threat of rocket attacks by Syria,” he said. “This shaped the scene for the incident and its consequences.”

The Turkish economy suffered a serious blow to Russia’s trade restrictions, and later Ankara issued a statement that Moscow described.

Initially, Turkey turned to NATO allies to strengthen its defense, but decided not to buy US Patriot missiles for costs.

Later, pushed by the failed 2016 coup and an approach to Moscow, it purchased Russian S-400s, which caused US sanctions and exclusion of Turkey from the F-35 fighter-fighter-fighter program. The consequences are still burdened by Washington-AGYRA relations.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has developed friendly relations with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, refusing to participate in Western sanctions against Moscow and hosting talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations.

NATO reacts more strongly to new violations

The war in Ukraine, now in its fourth year, has transformed Europe’s security landscape and has threatened to extend to NATO member states in Eastern Europe in recent months.

Poland rejected Drones on September 10 over its territory, after what Prime Minister Donald Tusk described as a “large -scale challenge” from Russia. Estonia announced that three Russian military aircraft had violated its airspace for 12 minutes on September 19.

Russia denies any hostile intent towards NATO.

Last week, Denmark and Norway temporarily closed their airspace after repeated drones. Denmark “showed” Russia, which denied it was involved.

Violations have caused a strong and unified reaction from NATO and accelerated plans to strengthen European defense.

NATO member states are now taking off fighters in minutes and have convened political consultations under Article 4 of its founding treaty to mark the unity of allies.

However, NATO has avoided, at least so far, to follow Turkey’s example in 2015, when it shot down a Russian manned aircraft, a move that, as Putin has warned, could trigger a dangerous escalation.