The Times of Israel
March 23 2014
Turkey downs Syrian fighter jet
Damascus lambastes Ankara’s `blatant aggression’ after warplane shot
down after straying into Turkish airspace while bombing rebels
By Gavriel Fiske
urkey fired on and downed a Syrian jet fighter operating along the
Turkey-Syrian border on Sunday afternoon.
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Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an confirmed that the Syrian
plane was shot down by a Turkish Air Force F-16, Hurriyet Daily News
reported.
Syria also confirmed its plane was shot down by Turkey, calling the
act `blatant aggression that proves ErdoÄ?an government’s involvement
in supporting terrorist groups,’ state media quoted a military source
saying. The pilot of the downed plane ejected successfully, state TV
said.
A second Syrian plane was fired on by Turkish anti-aircraft
installations but escaped, the paper said. The planes were bombing
rebels attempting to gain control of the Kasab border crossing, AFP
reported.
According to the NGO Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, ‘Turkish air
defenses targeted a Syrian fighter bomber as it struck areas of the
northern province of Latakia. The plane caught fire and crashed in
Syrian territory.’
`I congratulate our chief of general staff and our pilots,’ ErdoÄ?an
was quoted saying.
The battle for Kasab, a town with a large Armenian community near the
Turkish border, has been raging for three days, and has involved an
increasing number of both government and rebel troops, including
forces affiliated with al-Qaeda, the Syrian Observatory for Human
Rights said.
Rebels have been on the offensive since Friday. Syrian state
television quoted an unnamed military official as saying that
government forces inflicted `heavy losses’ among rebels. State TV said
the rebels entered Syria from Turkey.
The Observatory also reported heavy fighting in the contested northern
city of Aleppo, which is divided between rebel and government forces.
The Turkish-Syrian border has seen several instances of cross-border
fire and altercations since the beginning of the Syrian Civil War.
Ankara has maintained support for the opposition, kept its border open
and allowed hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees into Turkish
territory. It is widely believed that several Syrian opposition groups
maintain bases of operation in the Turkish border region.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.