Ankara: Turkey said on Sunday Syria had shot down its military aircraft in international airspace on Friday without warning and declared it would formally consult its Nato allies on a reaction.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, speaking some 48 hours after the jet was shot down near both countries’ sea borders, told state broadcaster TRT the plane had been clearly marked as Turkish and dismissed Syria’s earlier statement it had not known the plane belonged to Turkey.
He said the downed jet was unarmed and had been on a solo mission to test domestic radar systems and that the flight had no connection to the crisis in neighbouring Syria.
“Our plane was shot at a distance of 13 sea miles from Syria’s border in international airspace,” Davutoglu said.
“According to the radar images, our plane lost contact with headquarters after it was hit and because the pilot lost control, it crashed into Syrian waters after making abnormal movements,” he said.
“Throughout this entire period no warning was made to our plane.”
The shooting down of the aircraft has added a further serious international dimension to the 16-month-old uprising against President Bashar Al Assad, that Turkey, along with other Western and Arab countries, has supported on the world diplomatic stage.
Davutoglu said he would formally report the incident to the Nato military alliance this week under article four of its founding treaty, as well as to the UN Security Council.
“I have made instructions for a notification to be made within the framework of Article 4 at the NATO Council meeting in the upcoming week,” Davutoglu said.
“In addition, a notification will be made to the UN Security Council in light of the information we have regarding the background to this aggressive attitude,” he said.
A Nato spokeswoman said envoys from member states would meet on Tuesday following Turkey’s request for consultations.
Syria has said the plane was flying fast and low, just one kilometre off the Syrian coast when it was shot down. It had been tracked at first as an unidentified aircraft and its Turkish origin established later.
Davutoglu dismissed Syria’s explanation, saying the plane’s identity was clear for all to see and said Damascus was transmitting “disinformation” to the Turkish public.
He said the downed jet had briefly crossed into Syrian airspace 15 minutes before it was shot down but had then also received no warning from Syria. He said such flights often cross into other countries’ airspace.
Davutoglu said the search for the missing pilots was continuing in coordination with the Syrian authorities, but said it could not be described as a joint operation.
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan would make a statement at his ruling party’s meeting in parliament on Tuesday, the foreign minister added. He said Ankara had begun to implement its response to the incident, but gave no details of the plan.
British Foreign Minister William Hague condemned Syria’s downing of the Turkish jet, calling it an “outrageous act”.
