Turkish deputy PM says downed jet not a warplane

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu.

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said today a jet that was shot down by Syria a day earlier was not a warplane but a reconnaissance aircraft, state television TRT reported.

It was not immediately clear where Arinc, who is one of four deputy prime ministers and also the government's spokesman, was speaking. Turkish media reported the downed jet was an F-4 Phantom, a supersonic jet fighter which can also carry out reconnaissance operations.

Turkish FM in talks with military after jet downed

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu held a meeting with commanders from Turkey's military and the head of the intelligence service to discuss what steps Turkey would take after Syria shot down one of its military aircraft, media reported.

The meeting lasted two hours and was attended by the military's deputy chief of staff, senior military commanders and the head of the National Intelligence Agency, who also discussed the search operation for the missing pilots, media reported citing the Foreign Ministry.

They gave no further details.

Syria's downing of Turkish jet an 'escalation': Iraq

Iraqi Foreign Affairs Minister Hoshyar Zebar.

Syria's downing of a Turkish plane marks a serious escalation of the Syrian conflict, Iraq's foreign minister said on Saturday, saying he feared a spillover of the crisis into neighbouring countries.

Syria shot down a Turkish jet over the Mediterranean yesterday and Ankara has said it will do whatever is necessary after the incident that threatened to open a new dimension in the 16-month revolt against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

"Our main concern is the spillover of the crisis into neighbouring countries," Hoshiyar Zebari told a news conference with his Swedish, Bulgarian and Polish counterparts in Baghdad.

"No country is immune from this spillover because of the composition of the societies, the extensions, the connections, the sectarian, ethnic dimensions," he said.

If the conflict were to slide into an all-out sectarian or civil war, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey would all be affected, he said. "This is not an excuse to do nothing about Syria, no. But there will be an impact."

He said the crisis had intensified in recent days with the shelling of civilian residential areas, increase in the number of demonstrators killed and the defection of a Syrian pilot who flew his plane to Jordan.

"The shooting down yesterday of a Turkish aircraft over Syrian territorial waters - this is a serious escalation and indication that the conflict would have (a) far bigger impact than (on) Syria itself," Zebari said.

Zebari was speaking after a meeting with the three other foreign ministers who are on an EU-backed mission to help seek solutions to the Syria crisis. Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt and his Bulgarian and Polish counterparts were in Lebanon on Friday.

Turkey confirms that Syria shot down warplane

Turkey has officially announced that one of its jets was shot down yesterday by Syria while vowing to take the necessary steps once the incident is fully clarified.

"In the light of the information gathered, it's been understood that our aircraft was shot down by Syria," said a government statement issue following a high-level security meeting late yesterday.

Search and rescue efforts to locate the plane’s two missing pilots are continuing, it said, adding that the efforts were being assisted by Syrian vessels.

"Turkey will take all necesary steps and will take its final position after the full [explanation] of the incident," the statement said.

A Turkish source had said yesterday that Syria expressed sorrow after the incident, in which a Turkish jet went down in Syrian territorial waters just before noon yesterday.

“We’ve seen the reports you’ve seen. We have obviously been in contact with our Turkish ally. But with regard to the specifics of the case, I think we’re going to let the Turks speak to it rather than speak to it ourselves. I think we’ll let the Turks speak to it. To my knowledge, they haven’t raised this at NATO at this point.”, US State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said.