Turkey says its warplane shot down by Syria

Turkey has said it is now clear that Turkish fighter jet was shot down by Syrian security forces some 8 miles (13 kilometers) away from the Syrian town of Latakia over the Mediterranean Sea.


A statement released after the security summit headed by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, army generals and other ministers, bluntly said that it is now clear that the fighter jet was shot down by the Syrian side.

Erdoğan earlier said it is not clear if a Turkish warplane reported missing near Syria was shot down by Syrian forces.

"Four of our gunboats and some Syrian gunboats are carrying out a joint search there," he said.

News reports earlier in the day quoted Erdoğan as saying that Syria had apologized for downing the Turkish jet fighter but the prime minister, speaking at a news conference in Ankara, appeared to dismiss these reports, saying he had no information on such apology.

I don't know if Syria apologized and if they did, why, Erdoğan said, adding that a statement is to be made after a security meeting later in the day.

Erdoğan, citing lack of information, said he could not say why the Turkish plane was flying in that area.

A new crisis could erupt between two prickly Middle Eastern neighbors already at bitter odds over a 16-month-old revolt against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad after Turkeys statement that the jet was downed by Syria.

He categorically dismissed reports that pilots of the jet fighter were taken hostage by Syrian forces. We definitely have no such information, Erdoğan said.

NATO-member Turkey, which had drawn close to Syria before the uprising against Assad, turned against the Syrian leader when he responded violently to pro-democracy protests inspired by popular upheavals elsewhere in the Arab world.

Ankara has previously floated the possibility of setting up some kind of safe haven or humanitarian corridor inside Syria, which would entail military intervention, but has said it would undertake no such action without UN Security Council approval.

Turkey hosts about 32,000 Syrian refugees and allows the Syrian Free Army to operate from its territory.

The news that Syrian air defences downed the plane was first reported by Al-Mayadeen, a Lebanon-based television channel launched this month that hopes to counter the influence of Arabic-language satellite stations such as Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya, both funded by Sunni Gulf Arab countries that have backed the revolt against Assad.

Russia and China, Assad's strongest backers abroad, have fiercely opposed any outside interference in the Syrian crisis, saying envoy Kofi Annan's peace plan is the only way forward.

http://www.todayszaman.com/news-284405-.html

Syria made a big mistake.Although the government of Turkey was against Assad Many Turks were saying that this was not our business and Lots of turkish were defending Assad regime.Now,everyone is against Assad.
Syrian forces shot down RF-4 reconnaissance plane in a disputed area.They shot it down over the sea.The plane was not doing any spy operation.They were just doing their routine exercises.
If Syria is looking for a war ,let it be.

Syria is not a pice of cake. They´ve got there fukking scuds and russian AA:s. Turkey will need a larger airforce, more mech inf etc. Thats probably where NATO, the great yank airforce and those crazy marins comes into play. But its a harder one than Irak, Afghanistan (invasion) and Libya all put together..

how is it harder than Iraq?
at time Iraq had 4th largest army in the world while Syria is at civil war


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http://www.mehrnews.com/en/newsdetail.aspx?NewsID=1635185

A mullah approved artical from Syrias bestest buddy. The truth is optional.

Downed Turkish jet violated Syrian airspace, Damascus says
TEHRAN, June 25 (MNA) - Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdessi says that the recent downing of a Turkish military aircraft was a defensive act, the Syrian official news agency SANA reported.
In a press conference held on Monday, Makdessi said that the aircraft was in Syrian territory. He said this was confirmed by Turkish statements admitting a violation of Syrian sovereignty.

Makdessi dismissed the claims by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who said in an interview on Sunday that the plane was over international waters, a contradiction of other Turkish statements.

The Foreign Ministry spokesman stated out that the Syrian anti-aircraft defense used a land-based anti-aircraft machinegun with a maximum range of 2.5 kilometers.

Had the aircraft been over territorial waters, we would have used missiles, not a land-based anti-aircraft machinegun with a maximum range of 2.5 kilometers, he said.

He added that the aircraft was heading towards the beach at a speed of 700 to 800km/h, which triggered the rules of engagement employed in all sovereign countries, prompting Syrian anti-air defenses to engage it.

In response to Davutoglu's statement that the aircraft wasn't alerted, Makedessi said that the Syrian anti-air defenses operate automatically in such cases, and that even if the unidentified aircraft was Syrian, it would have been shot down.

Makdessi pointed out that Syria suggested to Turkey that the two countries form a joint military technical committee, but the Turks have not responded.

The Turkish foreign minister in particular and the Turkish government in general have been negative over the past 15 months regarding the crisis in Syria they seek to aggravate the situation in Syria, he said. The solution cannot be found through aggravating, mobilizing, and arming the movement in Syria.

Makdessi said, We might respond to every positive step from the Turkish side with positive steps on our side if the Turkish government still believes in good neighborly relations with Syria.

On the Turkish government's call for holding a NATO meeting, Makdessi said that NATO is supposed to be an organization whose aim is to maintain security and stability and if the meeting is convened with such good intentions, then Syria wishes them success.

We heard previous statements made by NATO that they have no intention of military intervention in Syria. If the aim of the meeting is aggressive in nature, I want to reassure everyone that the Syrian territories, waters and airspace are sacrosanct.

On the role of the European Union in the Syrian crisis, Makdessi said that the EU has played a negative role and that if it wants to help solve the crisis, it should come to Syria and inspect what is taking place on the ground, which is different than what is being depicted in the media.

RM/HG

END

WAFFer
(Login Azeri440)
The Conquerors (Turkey)
Re: Turkey says its warplane shot down by Syria June 24 2012, 7:47 PM

how is it harder than Iraq?
at time Iraq had 4th largest army in the world while Syria is at civil war


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Syria still has a pretty competent 300k strong army (maybe the best arabic one). Besides, with the amount of modern russian AA and lack of hightech bombers, it will rain scuds and other commie made cold war junk from the skys. Its not a walk in the park mate.

Iraq was "battle tested" in 91.... iran iraq war?

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0:42- "sh!t happens" look