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Turkey Tries To Deny Its Fighter Violated Syria Airspace Intentionally

As reported in today's briefing, Turkey is taking Syria's shooting down its F-4 to NATO under Article 4 as a "discussion" which will take place June 26, and will also take it to the United Nations Security Council.


Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in an interview with Turkish media claimed that the F-4 that was shot down was not in Syrian airspace, although he admitted that 10 minutes prior to being shot down it had "briefly" violated Syrian airspace. He said "It is either amateurish behavior or ill intention to describe the Turkish plan as a threat." He claimed a warning should have been given.


According {Hürriyet Daily News}, the government sources claim that according to radar traces provided by the Chief of General Staff, the Turkish F-4 was downed 13 nautical miles off the Syrian coast, in international waters, but crashed in Syrian territorial waters. Nonetheless the same traces reveal that the Turkish jet unintentionally violated Syrian airspace at 11:42 for five minutes, only 16 minutes before, contact was lost with the jet. They claim that Turkish radars had informed the jet that it had entered into Syrian airspace and told it to leave as soon as possible.


{Hürriyet} reports that government sources claim that the order to down the jet was given by the Bashar al-Assad administration, according to radio intercepts, while a ranking Turkish source said the Syrian regime "should pay" for the attack.


Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi said during a press conference today, that the Turkish jet's intrusion into Syrian airspace was "clear breach of Syrian sovereignty." He added, "Even if the plane was Syrian, we would have shot it down," underlining the urgency with which the air defense crew had to react to the fighter, flying at an altitude of 100 meters. He said that the jet was shot down with by anti-aircraft gun and not radar-guided missiles. Makdissi said that Syria was committed to a "neighborly relationship" with Turkey, and will match any positive moves from Turkey.


Davutoglu said, "We are walking on a very thin line. It's a very hard process. We will take definitive steps but will not be acting impulsively. Our acts will be within the boundaries of international law." He added that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan would introduce Turkey's final position on Syria in a speech June 26 at a meeting of his party faction in parliament.