Syria Shoots Down Turkish Fighter Jet

Turkey's President, Abdullah Gul, has said the Turkish fighter jet shot down by Syria's air defence forces on Friday may have violated Syrian airspace.

Mr Gul said it was routine for warplanes flying at high speed to cross borders for short distances.

Syria has said it engaged the aircraft in its airspace "according to the laws that govern such situations", and that it crashed into the Mediterranean Sea.

The Turkish and Syrian navies are searching for the two crew members.

Relations between Nato-member Turkey and Syria, once close allies, have deteriorated sharply since the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011. More than 30,000 Syrian refugees have fled the violence across the border into Turkey.

After a cross-border shooting by Syrian security forces in April that left two refugees dead at a camp near the town of Kilis, Turkey said it would not tolerate any action that it deemed violating its security.

On Saturday, President Gul said the Turkish government could not ignore the fact that Syria had shot down a Turkish aircraft.

"It is not possible to cover over a thing like this, whatever is necessary will be done," he was quoted as saying by state news agency, Anatolia.

"It is routine for jet fighters to sometimes fly in and out over [national] borders... when you consider their speed over the sea," he added.

"These are not ill-intentioned things but happen beyond control due to the jets' speed."

Mr Gul said an investigation would look at whether the plane had been shot down in Turkish airspace, and also revealed that Ankara had been in contact with Damascus despite both countries declaring each other's diplomats unwelcome earlier this year.

"We withdrew our envoy from Syria for security reasons. This does not mean that we have no contacts," he explained.

Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc later said the jet had been on a reconnaissance mission, state television reported.

Despite public anger over the suffering of civilians in Syria, Ankara has been very reluctant to consider military intervention, our correspondent says.

It will not rush into a military response to this incident either, he adds.

Diplomatic relations between Turkey and Syria have been downgraded to their lowest possible level without completely breaking them.

But the speed with which the coastguards of the two countries organized a joint search-and-rescue operation for the two missing crew members from the plane suggests there are still avenues of communication between their military forces, our correspondent adds.

'Unidentified target'

The Turkish military said it lost radio contact with the F-4 Phantom at 11:58 (08:58 GMT) on Friday while it was flying over Hatay province, about 90 minutes after it took off from Erhac airbase in the province of Malatya, to the north-west.

Alleged flightpath of downed Turkish F-4 Phantom

1. F-4 Phantom takes off from Erhac airbase, Turkey, at approximately 10:28 local time (07:28 GMT), on 22 June

2. Syria says the jet enters its airspace at 11:40 (08:40 GMT)

3. Turkish military loses contact with the plane at 11:58 (08:58 GMT), while it is over Hatay province

4. Syria says its air defences engaged aircraft about 1km (0.6 miles) from the coast and that it crashed into the sea 10km (6 miles) west of Om al-Tuyour

Later, the Syrian military said an "unidentified air target" had penetrated Syrian airspace from the west at 11:40 local time (08:40 GMT), travelling at very low altitude and at high speed.

It said that in line with the laws prevailing in such cases, Syrian air defences engaged the craft, and scored a direct hit about 1km (0.6 miles) from its coastline.

It burst into flames, and crashed into the sea at a point 10km (6 miles) from the village of Om al-Tuyour, off the coast of Latakia province, well within Syrian territorial waters, the statement added.

Syrian television showed a map charting the aircraft's movements, coming in from over the sea near northern Cyprus.

The military statement said that after it "became clear the target was a Turkish military plane which had entered our airspace", the naval commands of the two countries were in touch, and a joint operation was going on to find the missing crew members.

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The shooting of a Turkish warplane threatened, on Saturday, to escalate the Syrian conflict at a time when a proposal to include Iran in a fresh round of diplomacy was encountering stiff resistance among regional countries who seemed more inclined to pursue a military option to resolve the crisis.



On Saturday, Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul acknowledged that a two-seater F-4 Phantom jet might have strayed into Syrian air space and was subsequently shot down. But he stressed that the fighter-jet was not on a mission to breach Syrian airspace — a comment that steered clear of jingoism and seemed to signal that Ankara wished to avoid a flare-up over the incident.



“It is routine for jet fighters to sometimes fly in and out over [national] borders... when you consider their speed over the sea,” Mr. Gul observed. “These are not ill-intentioned things but happen beyond control due to the jets’ speed.” A statement on Friday from the office of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: “Turkey, after the incident, is fully enlightened, will lay forward its attitude and take necessary steps.”



The measured response could be attributed to the likelihood of a full-scale conflict involving regional and extra-regional players. Analysts pointed out that Turkey is a NATO member and its engagement in war with Syria could drag the entire western military alliance into an armed conflict.



Hoshyar Zebari, Foreign Minister of Iraq, Turkey’s neighbour, sounded the alarm when he said on Saturday that downing of the Turkish plane marked “ a serious escalation and [is an] indication that the conflict would have [a] far bigger impact than [on] Syria itself.”. Unsurprisingly, U.N. Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon counselled both sides to exercise restraint.



The timing of the shooting seemed particularly inopportune as diplomacy over Syria appeared to be floundering. The U.N. and Arab League envoy, Kofi Annan’s recent move to involve Iran for defusing the crisis is encountering a stiff resistance from the West and its Gulf allies.



In Geneva, Mr. Annan said, during a press conference with Robert Mood (head of the U.N.’s monitoring mission in Syria) Iran’s inclusion in talks would be necessary if a peaceful solution was to be found. Mr. Annan said he wished to convene a meeting of the Syria “contact group” in Geneva on June 30.



“I have made it quite clear that I believe Iran should be part of the solution,” he said. He warned, “If we continue the way we are going and competing with each other, it could lead to destructive competition and everyone will pay the price.”



Mr. Annan said it was “time for countries of influence to raise the level of pressure on the parties on the ground.”



Syria is Iran’s key regional ally and a “regime change” will greatly undermine Tehran’s influence in the Levant.



Despite Mr. Annan’s advocacy for a diplomatic offensive, some Arab Gulf countries, backed by the West, seemed more inclined to focus on the military track. The Guardian reported that Saudi Arabia had agreed to pay salaries to members of the opposition Free Syria Army, to encourage defections and increase pressure on the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad. The daily added that senior officials from the U.S. and Arab world have discussed this move with Riyadh.

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SampanViking said:

This has been very interesting.

Clearly the F4 was somewhere it should not have been and presumably therefore doing something it should not have been doing.

I have been looking at this from the perspective of it being a NATO warplane, meaning a aircraft configured to at least the minimum NATO operating standard.

We also have the changing of the story from the Turkish side since Friday from the Plane flying routine patrol to flying a reconnaissance mission, which is a fairly substantial difference. Recon after all, is something you do on other peoples territory, "to gain information about the enemy", a phrase which in this day and age has a significant range of meanings.

If I had to make a guess, I would say that the F4 was testing ECM/Suppression on Syrian Air Defences and given that we would be talking NATO stand ECM, that the detection and downing of the aircraft will have come as a very nasty surprise across the alliance.

One question I keep asking though and to which there appears no mention of, let alone an answer is; what happened to the other plane?

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Turkish jet 'downed by Syria in international airspace'

Turkey's foreign minister has said the fighter jet shot down by Syrian air defence forces on Friday was in international airspace when it was hit.

Ahmet Davutoglu said the unarmed plane was not on a secret mission related to Syria, but had mistakenly entered Syrian airspace before the incident.

Syria maintains that it engaged the aircraft in its airspace "according to the laws that govern such situations".

The Turkish and Syrian navies are still searching for the two crew members.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is meeting the leaders of the three other parties in parliament to discuss how to respond.

Turkey had also called a meeting of Nato member states on Tuesday.

"Turkey has requested consultations under article 4 of Nato's founding Washington Treaty. Under article 4, any ally can request consultations whenever, in the opinion of any of them, their territorial integrity, political independence or security is threatened," Nato spokeswoman Oana Lungescu told the Reuters news agency.

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said Syria's actions were "outrageous" and underlined "how far beyond accepted behaviour the Syrian regime has put itself".

"It will be held to account for its behaviour. The UK stands ready to pursue robust action at the United Nations Security Council."

'Training flight'

In an interview with TRT television on Sunday, Mr Davutoglu asserted that the unarmed F-4 Phantom had "momentarily" entered Syrian airspace by mistake on Friday but had left when it was shot down 15 minutes later.

"According to our conclusions, our plane was shot down in international airspace, 13 nautical miles (24km) from Syria," he said.

According to international law, a country's airspace extends 12 nautical miles (22.2km) from its coastline, corresponding with its territorial waters.

Mr Davutoglu also insisted that the jet had not been on a "covert mission related to Syria" but had instead been carrying out a training flight to test Turkey's radar capabilities.

He said the plane had not "shown any hostility", been clearly marked as Turkish, and that he did not agree with the Syrian military's statement that it had not known to whom it belonged.

Privately, senior members of the governing AK Party have accused Syria of violating international law, says the BBC's Jonathan Head in Istanbul.

Earlier, Mr Davutoglu spoke by telephone to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who has urged restraint by both sides, and the foreign ministers of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.

Turkey wants to be sure of the strongest backing once it decides its official response, our correspondent adds.

The government has promised that it will be strong, decisive and legitimate, and that it will share all the information it has with the public.

'Unidentified target'

The Turkish military said it lost radio contact with the F-4 Phantom at 11:58 (08:58 GMT) on Friday while it was flying over Hatay province, about 90 minutes after it took off from Erhac airbase in the province of Malatya, to the north-west.

Later, the Syrian military said an "unidentified air target" had penetrated Syrian airspace from the west at 11:40 local time (08:40 GMT), travelling at very low altitude and at high speed.

It said that in line with the laws prevailing in such cases, Syrian air defences engaged the craft, and scored a direct hit about 1km (0.5 nautical miles) from its coastline.

It burst into flames, and crashed into the sea at a point 10km (5 nautical miles) from the village of Om al-Tuyour, off the coast of Latakia province, well within Syrian territorial waters, the statement added.

Syrian television showed a map charting the aircraft's movements, coming in from over the sea near northern Cyprus.

The Syrian military statement said that after it "became clear the target was a Turkish military plane which had entered our airspace", the naval commands of the two countries were in touch, and a joint operation was going on to find the missing crew members.

Relations between Nato-member Turkey and Syria, once close allies, have deteriorated sharply since the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011. More than 30,000 Syrian refugees have fled the violence across the border into Turkey.

After a cross-border shooting by Syrian security forces in April that left two refugees dead at a camp near the town of Kilis, Turkey said it would not tolerate any action that it deemed violating its security.

Click to expand...

SampanViking said:

This has been very interesting.

Clearly the F4 was somewhere it should not have been and presumably therefore doing something it should not have been doing.

I have been looking at this from the perspective of it being a NATO warplane, meaning a aircraft configured to at least the minimum NATO operating standard.

We also have the changing of the story from the Turkish side since Friday from the Plane flying routine patrol to flying a reconnaissance mission, which is a fairly substantial difference. Recon after all, is something you do on other peoples territory, "to gain information about the enemy", a phrase which in this day and age has a significant range of meanings.

If I had to make a guess, I would say that the F4 was testing ECM/Suppression on Syrian Air Defences and given that we would be talking NATO stand ECM, that the detection and downing of the aircraft will have come as a very nasty surprise across the alliance.

One question I keep asking though and to which there appears no mention of, let alone an answer is; what happened to the other plane?

Click to expand...