Turkish airliner shot down by Syrian forces was flying in international airspace

Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu claims that the Turkish airliner that was shot down this Friday by the Syrian Army was conducting tests on a system of national radar and had no connection with the Syrian crisis

“The jet was on a solo flight and was not armed. It was not on a secret mission in relation to Syria,” said Ahmet Davutoglu.

According to Turkish authorities, the jet was in international airspace and was 13 nautical miles away from Syria when it was shot by Syrian forces. Furthermore, no warnings had been sent to the pilot before it was destroyed. Damascus previously claimed
that the aircraft was flying low over the country’s territorial waters.

Syrian and Turk forces have joined forces to look for the two lost pilots and do not seem to want to come to a military confrontation. While talking to the media, Turkish President, Abdullah Gul has promised that he is doing everything necessary to find
the two pilots.

Ankara has already asked Syria to formally apologise for its actions and to pay reparations for the destruction of the F-4 Phantom. According to Turkish press, Turkey intends to respond on the diplomatic front. Newspaper Milliyet says that the methods used
by the Syrian army against the jet were “completely contrary to the rules of military engagement.”

The event is likely to exacerbate tensions between Turkey and Syria which started last March when the revolt against Bashar Al-Assad’s regime began in 2011.

Since then, Turkey has strongly denounced the bloody suppression by the regime. Turkey is already hosting 32,500 refugees, rebel soldiers and the opposing politicians.

After the firing on Syrian forces in April, which reached a refugee camp located in Turkish territory, the Turkish government has warned Syria that it will not tolerate any such action as a violation of its security and that it would not hesitate to request
an intervention by its allies in NATO.

Iran, a country that supports Syrian regime has in turn asked Ankara and Damascus to show “restraint” in the incident of the Turkish F-4.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=26822

Posted by Taimoor Tariq on Jun 24 2012. Filed under Middle East. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry