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Title: Syrian military says it downed Turkish fighter jet
Source:
BBC
URL Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18561219
Published: Jun 22, 2012
Author: BBC
Post Date: 2012-06-22 21:08:10 by A K A Stone
Keywords: None
Views: 2037
Comments: 7
The Syrian military statement appeared on the state news agency
The Syrian military has said it shot down a Turkish plane "flying in airspace over Syrian waters", according to state-run news agency Sana.
"[The jet] was dealt with in accordance with the laws that govern such situations," a military spokesman said.
Turkey had earlier said it believed that one of its F-4 fighter jets had been shot down by Syrian forces.
A search for the two crew members is under way, involving Turkish and Syrian coast guard ships.
The F-4 Phantom disappeared over the Mediterranean, south-west of Turkey's Hatay province, near the Syrian coast.
The Turkish military said it lost radio contact with the F-4 while it was flying over Hatay, about 90 minutes after it took off from Erhac airbase in the province of Malatya, to the north-west.
A Syrian military spokesman told Sana that an "unidentified target" had broached Syrian airspace from a westerly direction at 11:40 local time (08:40 GMT) on Friday.
The target was flying at high speed and at low altitude, the spokesman said.
Anti-aircraft defences had hit the plane with artillery, bringing it down in the sea off the coast of Latakia province, 10km (six miles) from the village of Um al-Tuyour, he added.
"It later became clear the target was a Turkish military plane which had entered our airspace," he continued. 'Decisive response'
Earlier on Friday evening, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a two-hour emergency meeting with his interior, defence and foreign ministers and the Chief of the General Staff, Gen Necdet Ozel.
Mr Erdogan's office said that Turkey would respond decisively once all the circumstances were established. Map
Given the breakdown in relations between the two countries over the Syrian conflict, this incident has the potential to provoke a serious crisis, the BBC's Jonathan Head in Istanbul reports.
Much will depend on whether or not the Turkish pilots have survived, our correspondent says.
If not, public anger might push the government into some kind of punitive action against Syria, he adds.
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.
Tens of thousands of Syrian refugees have fled the violence across the border into Turkey. Aleppo violence
Inside Syria, the violence continued on Thursday with state media reporting that "armed terrorist groups" had abducted and massacred 25 villagers in Aleppo province.
Activists said that rebels had shot dead 26 government supporters who were believed to be militiamen.
In Aleppo city, activists said a number of people died when security forces opened fire on a demonstration after Friday prayers.
Meanwhile, international envoy Kofi Annan has said it is time for the world to exert greater pressure to help bring the violence in Syria to an end.
Mr Annan called for Iran to be involved in attempts to end the violence, a proposal put forward by Russia but rejected by the US.
In a separate development, the BBC has learned that UK government officials have decided to prevent the head of the Syrian Olympic Committee, Gen Mowaffak Joumaa, from travelling to London for the Games.
The visa ban is believed to be linked to his relationship to President Bashar al-Assad's government.
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#1. To: A K A Stone (#0)
You like that BS NATO stuff, don't you Stone? Anything to drag American military into the ME. Oh, yeah ... to SAVE Israel!
Not really. But you know that. Why do lie so much?
Lie? You mean you violated your own ethics by voting for McCain because he he had an Alaskan TWAT on-board to SAVE ISRAEL? Oh, and now you BEG to punch a chad for Mitt to continue this BS? Hey, pal, enough is enough. I am tired of paying for American governance FAILURES.
The problem, A K, is that over a time period of Truth replaced by Silence on ANY particular subject, and then....out of the blue...this posting.. which comes from the same org that admitted O SO QUIETLY that HOULA massacre was done by the CIA's thugs..... shows Exactly where you're coming from.
But bring it... The USSA like all other empires never knows when to stop. And uses the same methods on it's domestics. The Empire's financial System now disintegrates per 062112. War/Violence the last refuge of those who have run out of arguements. Bring it...the Bottom 99% are ready.....;} Jesus loves me this I know...cause the bible tells me so.....8D
By Jonathon Burch ANKARA | Sat Jun 23, 2012 6:03am EDT (Reuters) - Turkish President Abdullah Gul said on Saturday it was not possible to ignore the fact that Syria had shot down a Turkish fighter jet and said everything that needed to be done following the incident would be done, Turkish media reported. "It is not possible to cover over a thing like this, whatever is necessary will no doubt be done," Gul told reporters from the central Anatolian city of Kayseri. The Turkish military said it had lost contact with one of its F-4 fighter jets off the southern Turkish coast near Syria on Friday morning and Damascus later acknowledged it had shot the plane down. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who had been returning from a summit in Brazil when the news broke, called an emergency security meeting on his arrival in Ankara and in a statement his office said Ankara would act "decisively" once all the details had emerged. Syria has said the Turkish aircraft was flying low and well inside Syrian territorial waters when it was shot down. Gul said it was normal for jets to briefly cross into foreign airspace and said a probe into the incident would look at whether in fact it was downed while in Turkish airspace. "When we think of the speed of these jet planes while flying above the sea, crossing over borders for a short distance and then back again is a little bit routine," said Gul. He said because of the serious nature of the incident it was not possible at this stage to give any more detailed statement. Asked whether Turkey was in contact with Syria over the incident, Gul said telephone contact had been made and said: "Because there is no security there, we withdrew our representatives from Syria. This does not mean there is no contact." Gul said Turkish and Syrian forces were still working together to search for the two missing crew of the aircraft. Ankara, which had drawn close to Syria before the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, turned against the Syrian leader when he responded violently to pro-democracy protests inspired by popular upheavals elsewhere in the Arab world. Turkey now gives refuge to the rebel Free Syrian Army on its frontier with Syria and is sheltering more than 30,000 Syrian refugees. 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 U.N. Security Council approval. Turkey has said, however, that Assad must step down
ANKARA | Sat Jun 23, 2012 6:03am EDT Turkey has said, however, that Assad must step down That's all you had to post...;} The 1921 Cairo Conference. Where Winston decides the Jewish Homeland and the Shah is put on the puppet throne of iranbp oil. And the pipeline from Iraq is put thru to Haifa. And the rest is history......;}
#2. To: buckeroo (#1)
#3. To: A K A Stone (#2)
#4. To: buckeroo, A K A Stone, All (#3)
#5. To: All (#4)
(Edited)
#6. To: mcgowanjm (#5)
#7. To: A K A Stone (#6)
(Edited)
By Jonathon Burch
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