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.
