Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul has said the downing of a Turkish fighter jet by Syrian forces is impossible to ignore. However, he also admitted that the jet may have unintentionally violated Syrian airspace.
“It is routine for jet fighters to sometimes fly in and out over (national) borders … when you consider their speed over the sea. These are not ill-intentioned things but happen beyond control due to the jets’ speed,” Gul told the Anatolia state news agency.
However, Gul also echoed the strong words of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, saying “it is not possible to cover over a thing like this; whatever is necessary will be done."
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has met with the country’s chief of general staff and his deputy on Saturday to discuss the incident further.
Syrian state television SANA confirmed that an “unidentified aerial target” was detected flying at a low altitude and at a high speed when it entered Syrian airspace on Friday.
“The Syrian anti-air defenses counteracted with anti-aircraft artillery, hitting it directly. The target turned out to be a Turkish military plane that entered Syrian airspace and was dealt with according to laws observed in such cases,” SANA said.
The office of the Turkish Prime Minister issued a statement on Friday saying that it was “understood” that Syrian forces were responsible for the downed fighter jet. Ankara vowed to “determinedly take necessary steps” in response, without precisely identifying what those steps would be.
The Syrian and Turkish navies have initiated a joint search for the missing pilots amid rising tensions between the two countries. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has consistently called for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s removal, and Turkey has played host to the Syrian opposition group “Friends of Syria” in Istanbul.
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