SyriaTurkey shoots down Syrian military jet
Turkish fighter jets on Sunday shot down a Syrian warplane after it violated Turkey’s airspace. The Syrian military confirmed the incident, saying the plane was downed in Syrian airspace while strafing rebel positions. Syrian state TV described the incident as a “blatant aggression,” and said the pilot safely ejected from the aircraft. In 2012 Turkey changed its rules of engagement after Syria shot down a Turkish military plane, saying that any Syrian military plane approaching the Turkish border would be treated as a legitimate target.
Turkish F-16s shot down a Syrian military aircraft // Source: commons.wikimedia.org
Turkish fighter jets on Sunday shot down a Syrian warplane after it violated Turkey’s airspace.
The Syrian military confirmed the incident, saying the plane was downed in Syrian airspace while strafing rebel positions. Syrian state TV described the incident as a “blatant aggression,” and said the pilot safely ejected from the aircraft. “A Syrian plane violated our airspace,” Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told an election rally of his supporters in northwest Turkey. “Our F-16s took off and hit this plane. Why? Because if you violate my airspace, our slap after this will be hard.”
Turkey has been at odds with the Assad regime for more than two decades because of the support Syria had provided to the Kurds in Turkey who, from the early 1980s until 2005, had been fighting the Turkish state in order to gain Kurdish independence. In the late 1990s, the Turkish military threatened to invade Syria unless Syria turned over the leader of the Kurdih rebellion (he is no in Turkish jail).
The Guardian reports that over the past three years Turkey has emerged as one of the main supporters of Syrian opposition trying to remove President Bashar al-Assad from power.
Erdogan, speaking at a rally in north-western Turkey before the 30 March local elections, congratulated the Turkish military for protecting the border. “If you violate our border, our slap will be hard,” he said.
Turkey said the Syrian jet was shot down in a buffer zone along the border near the town of Kasab, an area where fighting has escalated in recent days.
The Turkish military has shot down a Syrian aircraft before. Last September, a Turkish fighter jet shot down a Syrian military helicopter after it entered Turkish airspace. The helicopter strayed more than a mile into Turkish airspace, but crashed inside Syria after being hit by missiles fired from the jet.
In 2012 Turkey changed its rules of engagement after Syria shot down a Turkish military plane, saying that any Syrian military plane approaching the Turkish border would be treated as a legitimate target.
