- Map locates Latakia, Syria, near …
- FILE - In this April 29, 2010 file …
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Syria
said Saturday it shot down a Turkish reconnaissance plane because the
plane entered its airspace, insisting it was "not an attack" as both
sides desperately tried to de-escalate the episode before it exploded
into a regional conflagration.
Turkey threatened to retaliate but did not say what action it would take as it searched for the aircraft's two missing pilots.
The
downed plane heightened tensions between two countries that had been
allies before Syria's 15-month violent uprising, and signaled that the
violence gripping Syria is increasingly bleeding outside its borders.
Germany and Iraq were among the countries urging restraint in the
region.
Syria and neighboring
Turkey had cultivated close ties before the Syrian revolt began in March
2011, but since then Turkey has become one of the strongest critics of
Syria's regime. Turkey hosts civilian and military Syrian opposition
groups, including hundreds of army defectors who are affiliated with the
Free Syrian Army and collect food and other supplies to deliver to
comrades on smuggling routes.
Turkish authorities
also suspect Damascus, which was collaborating with Turkey in its fight
against autonomy-seeking Kurdish rebels, is now turning a blind eye to
Syria-based Kurdish fighters who belong to the Kurdistan Workers' Party,
or PKK, considered a terrorist organization in the U.S. and Europe.
The
plane, an unarmed F-4, went down in the Mediterranean Sea about eight
miles (13 kilometers) from the Syrian town of Latakia, Turkey said.
Syria claimed the jet violated its air space over territorial waters,
penetrating about 1 kilometer (0.62 mile). It said Syrian forces only
realized it was a Turkish jet after firing at it.
In
a telephone interview with Turkish TV news channel A Haber on Saturday,
Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi said the downing was
"not an attack."
"An
unidentified object entered our air space and unfortunately as a result
it was brought down. It was understood only later that it was a Turkish
plane," A Haber quoted Makdissi in a translation of the interview.
"There was no hostile act against Turkey whatsoever. It was just an act
of defense for our sovereignty."
Turkish
President Abdullah Gul conceded the plane may have unintentionally
crossed into Syrian airspace, but said such an act was "routine" for
jets to unintentionally cross borders for short periods. The government
has not described the plane's specific mission.
Gul said his
government was still investigating what happened, but "no one should
have any doubt that whatever (action) is necessary will be taken."It was not clear if that action would involve military retaliation, increased sanctions or other steps, including demands for compensation or an apology.
Faruk Celik, the Turkish Labor and Social Security Minister, said his nation would retaliate "either in the diplomatic field or give other types of response."
"Even if we assume that there was a violation of Syria's airspace — though the situation is still not clear — the Syrian response cannot be to bring down the plane," Celik told reporters. "The incident is unacceptable. Turkey cannot endure it in silence."
Germany and Iraq urged the countries to remain calm and not let the unrest in Syria become a wider conflict, "Our main concern is the spillover of the crisis into neighborhood countries. No country is immune from this spillover," said Iraq Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari.
Turkey
has joined the United States and other nations in saying that Syrian
President Bashar Assad should step down because of the uprising in his
country that has killed thousands of people. Turkey also has set up
refugee camps on its border for more than 32,000 Syrians who have fled
the fighting.
Turkey said after an April border shooting incident —
in which two people in a Turkish refugee camp died— that it would call
on its NATO allies to intervene if it felt its security was being
threatened.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu
met with military officials Saturday to assess what steps to take and
to coordinate the search and rescue operation for the two missing pilots
and the plane's wreckage, the ministry said. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
was expected to discuss the incident with Turkish opposition party
leaders on Sunday, and the foreign minister would make a statement on
the same day, an aide said.
A
Turkish official familiar with the meeting said Turkey was examining the
plane's radar route and other flight data to ascertain whether the
aircraft was flying over Syrian territory when it was shot down. The
official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because
he was not authorized to brief journalists and would provide no further
details.
Turkey, which is
uneasy about Greek Cypriot gas exploration efforts around the island, is
believed to have increased patrols recently over the eastern
Mediterranean. Some analysts have speculated that the plane may have
been spying on possible PKK rebels near Turkey's border. U.S. Secretary
of State Hillary Rodham Clinton earlier this month warned about a
massing of Syrian forces near Aleppo, saying such a deployment could be a
"red line" for Turkey "in terms of their strategic and national
interests."
In Baghdad, Zebari
said Saturday that the recent defection of a Syrian pilot to Jordan and
the downing of the Turkish jet showed that the Syrian conflict could
have far-reaching repercussions.
"If this conflict were to turn
into all-out sectarian or civil war, Iraq would be affected, Lebanon
would be affected, Jordan would not be immune, (and) Turkey could be
(affected)."
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle
said he was "greatly worried" by the incident, urged a thorough
investigation and welcomed Turkey's cool-headed reaction in the
immediate aftermath.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was
following the situation closely and hoped the incident would be "handled
with restraint by both sides through diplomatic channels," a spokesman
said.
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc
and other government ministers urged restraint. "We must remain calm
and collected," he said. "We must not give premium to any provocative
speeches and acts."
The leader
of Turkey's main opposition party, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, said the downing
of the plane was unacceptable, but he also urged calm.
"All diplomatic channels must be kept open. We are expecting a coolheaded assessment of the incident," he said.
__
Associated
Press writers Elizabeth Kennedy in Beirut, Lara Jakes and Kay Johnson
in Baghdad, and Juergen Baetz in Berlin contributed to this report.
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