Syria shoots down Turk fighter

[Dr Mordrid]

This can't be good.

http://www.bbc.co.uk...europe-18554246

Turkish F-4 warplane 'shot down' near Syrian border

Turkey has said it believes that one of its fighter jets has been shot down by Syrian security forces.

The F-4 Phantom disappeared over the Mediterranean, south-west of Hatay province, not far from Syria's coast.

PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan said initially that "the other side have expressed regret" but later was unable to confirm what had happened.

After an emergency security meeting, his office said it was understood that Syria had brought the plane down.

In a statement, it said a search for the two crew members was under way involving Turkish and Syrian coast guard ships. Once all the circumstances were established, it added that Turkey would respond decisively.

"Regarding our pilots, we do not have any information, but at the moment four of our gunboats and some Syrian gunboats are carrying out a joint search there," Mr Erdogan told reporters earlier on Friday evening.

Relations between Nato-member Turkey and Syria, once close allies, have deteriorated sharply since the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011.

Tens of thousands of Syrian refugees have fled the violence across the border into Turkey.
>

[KRSESQ]

That was probably a mistake...

(On EVERY level!)

[Dr Mordrid]

Even if it was intentional it was a mistake. I would not want to piss off the Turks.

And now the Turks have invoked Article 4 of the NATO charter -..

Article 4

The Parties will consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the Parties is threatened.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18568207

Turkey calls Nato meeting on warplane downed by Syria

Turkey has called a meeting of Nato member states to discuss its response to the shooting down of one of its warplanes by Syrian forces on Friday.

Ankara has invoked Article 4 of Nato's charter, under which consultations can be requested when an ally feels their security is threatened, officials say.

Earlier, Turkey's foreign minister said the F-4 Phantom was in international airspace when it was shot down.

Syria has insisted the jet was engaged while it was inside its airspace.

It has also said no act of hostility was intended, noting that as soon as the military discovered the "unidentified" aircraft was Turkish its navy joined efforts to rescue the two crew members.

But Turkey's Nato allies condemned Syria for the act.

"The United States condemns this brazen and unacceptable act in the strongest possible terms," said US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

"It is yet another reflection of the Syrian authorities' callous disregard for international norms, human life, and peace and security".

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said the Syrian military's actions were "outrageous" and underlined "how far beyond accepted behaviour the Syrian regime has put itself".
>

[UtwigMU]

Looks like NATO will become involved.

[Umfriend]

It seems almost too good to be true.

[Dr Mordrid]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/25/syria-shooting-second-turkish-plane-claim?newsfeed=true

Syria shot at second Turkish jet, Ankara claims

Turkey raises stakes over the downing of military jet claiming Syria also shot at one of its search and rescue planes

Turkey has sharply raised the stakes in a military standoff with Syria, claiming one of its search and rescue planes was shot at as it tried to find a Turkish jet shot down on Friday by Syrian gunners.

Bülent Annç, the deputy prime minister, said the rescue plane had been attacked as it flew over the Mediterranean searching for two pilots. The claim undermines Damascus's insistence that the first jet was attacked due to mistaken identity.

Nato is to hold consultations in Brussels on Tuesday morning over the incident, but the meeting will not lead to any form of military response, according to diplomats.

The downing of the Turkish military plane over what Ankara says were international waters was denounced by European Union foreign ministers. They called for full Syrian co-operation with an investigation and imposed a new round of sanctions on Bashar al-Assad's regime.

"The EU condemns the unacceptable shooting down by Syria of a Turkish military plane on 22 June. It offers its sympathies to the families of the airmen involved and commends Turkey's measured and responsible initial reaction," they said.

Turkey has called a meeting on Tuesday of the National Atlantic Council, Nato's political steering body made up of ambassadors from member states, under the article four of the North Atlantic treaty, which allows any member to consult its allies whenever it believes "the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the parties is threatened".

Turkey had said on Monday that it would push Nato to consider Syria's downing of the jet as an attack on the whole military alliance.

Despite deep frustration among many Nato countries over the conflict in Syria – where the opposition says Assad's crackdown on an increasingly armed popular uprising has killed 14,000 people – it is unlikely the military alliance will take armed action.
>

[Dr Mordrid]

Here we go; Turkey and Saudi Arabia on one side (the rebels etc.), the Syrians on the other - which could pull in the Iranians. Now add an unstable Egypt and the Israeli's being on an understandable hair trigger.



http://www.hindustan...le1-879113.aspx

Turkey: Syria 'a clear threat', vows to retaliate

Turkey branded its former ally Syria "a clear and imminent threat," on Tuesday as its Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan vented his fury over the downing of a Turkish fighter jet. In his most outspoken criticism of the Damascus regime, Erdogan vowed to retaliate against the "heinous act" and promised a change of military attitude to any Syrian officer approaching the common border.

"The rules of engagement of the Turkish Armed Forces have changed given this new development," Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told parliament following the shooting down of F-4 Phantom jet Friday. The two pilots are still missing.

Any risk posed by Syria on the Turkish border will be "considered a threat and treated as a military target," he said in a jam-packed room of lawmakers who frequently interrupted the address with applause.

Erdogan said his government would retaliate "with determination" and take what he called the "necessary steps by determining the time, place and method by itself".

The prime minister said Turkey's military jet violated the Syrian airspace for a short time and "by mistake" and repeated that it was unarmed, flying solo when it was shot down by Syria "without a single warning."

"We did not receive a single warning, note from Syria (regarding airspace violation)...They acted without warning. This is a hostile act," Erdogan said.

Erdogan said that Turkish airspace had been violated 114 times by military aircraft from different countries, including Syria, since January 1, 2012.

"Syrian helicopters violated our airspace five times. These were short-term violations," to which Turkey issued the necessary warnings, Erdogan noted.

"This latest development shows that the Assad regime has become a clear and imminent threat to the security of Turkey, as well as for its own people," he added.

Erdogan broke with former friend and ally Assad, whom he called "a bloody dictator," after unrest that erupted mid-March last year met a bloody response from Damascus, sending more than 33,000 refugees into Turkey.

"Turkey will support Syrian people in every way until they get rid of the bloody dictator and his gang," he said on Tuesday.

[UtwigMU]

And Iran can then pull China in and the whole World can begin a big party.

[Dr Mordrid]

Thing is if the s*** tarts the Turks could invoke Article 5 of the NATO Charter -

http://www.nato.int/...texts_17120.htm

Article 5

The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence recognised by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.

Any such armed attack and all measures taken as a result thereof shall immediately be reported to the Security Council. Such measures shall be terminated when the Security Council has taken the measures necessary to restore and maintain international peace and security

.

[Dr Mordrid]

I've also heard 2 reports that Turkey is moving troops and armor to the Syrian border.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/27/world/middleeast/turkey-seeks-nato-backing-in-syria-dispute.html?_r=1&hp

ISTANBUL — Buoyed by support from his country’s NATO allies, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Syrian forces on Tuesday to stay clear of their troubled border or face a Turkish military response to any perceived threat, following the disputed downing of a Turkish warplane.

The Turkish leader’s bellicose tone came as ambassadors from the NATO alliance, seeking to avoid a wider conflict, held emergency talks in Brussels at Turkey’s behest. After the meeting, the NATO secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said the alliance considered Syria’s actions in shooting down a Turkish warplane last Friday “unacceptable.”

In a unanimous statement, the NATO allies called the episode “another example of the Syrian authorities’ disregard for international norms, peace and security, and human life.” Turkey is a member of the alliance.

“I would certainly expect that such an incident won’t happen again,” Mr. Rasmussen said at a news conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels. He added that the alliance would closely follow developments and “if necessary, consult and discuss what else could be done.”

In Ankara, Mr. Erdogan said Turkey had revised its military rules of engagement toward Syria.

“Every military element that approaches the Turkish border from Syria in a manner that constitutes a security risk or danger would be considered as a threat and would be treated as a military target,” he said in a speech to lawmakers attended by Arab diplomats.

“From here, we warn the Syrian regime not to make any mistakes, not to test Turkey’s decisiveness and wisdom,” Mr. Erdogan said.

“If there is anyone who could not understand this up until today, we would and will prove in the most clear and determined way that Turkey cannot be challenged,” he said.

While Syria maintains that the plane was brought down well within its airspace, Turkey says the two-seat F-4 fighter plane was attacked over international waters after straying briefly into Syrian space.

“Our plane was targeted not by mistake but deliberately, entirely in an act of hostility,” Mr. Erdogan said. “At a time, place and method defined by itself, Turkey will make use of its rights that derive from international law and firmly take necessary steps against this injustice.” He did not elaborate on what those steps might be.
>