A second Turkish plane has been shot at by Syria, Turkey’s deputy prime minister said, as it was searching for the wreckage of a fighter jet downed by Syria last week.
Bulent Arinc told a televised news conference Monday that Syrian forces opened fire on a CASA search and rescue plane following the downing of a RF-4E reconnaissance jet in international airspace on Friday. Arinc did not say whether the search and rescue plane was hit.
He says the Syrian side ceased fire after a warning from the Turkish military.
On Monday, foreign ministers from the 27 European Union countries condemned Syria’s downing Friday of the first Turkish jet, but said the bloc would not support military action in the troubled country.
“What happened is to be considered very seriously,” said Dutch Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal. Having gotten his denunciation out of the way, he let the other shoe drop: “We do not go for any interventions.”
Turkish officials have said the jet mistakenly strayed into Syrian airspace, but was warned to leave by Turkish authorities and was a mile inside international airspace when Syria shot it down. The Turkish pilots are still missing.
Syria has said it was unaware that the F-4 Phantom jet belonged to Turkey, and that it was protecting its air space against an unknown intruder. In the past, Israeli warplanes have penetrated Syrian airspace by flying over the Mediterranean coastline.
Syrian foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi said the downing was an accident, caused by the “automatic response” of an officer commanding an anti-aircraft gun. The man saw a jet coming at him at high speed and low altitide and opened fire, Makdissi said.
After the downing, Turkey immediately called a meeting of the North Atlantic Council, NATO’s governing body, on Tuesday to discuss the incident. Any NATO member can request such consultations if their territorial integrity has been threatened.
An alliance diplomat said ambassadors will discuss Turkey’s concerns — and would likely condemn the downing.
“But there won’t be anything more specific than that,” said the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of standing rules.
Turkey, too, appeared to be attempting to moderate the situation, trying to balance a response that would assuage domestic outrage over the shooting, while avoiding a conflict. Turkey has been one of the fiercest critics of Assad’s crackdown. But at this point, it has no wish to inflame already-heightened tensions.
A Turkish government official said the government was trying to ratchet up diplomatic pressure on Syria, where activists say more than 14,000 people have been killed in the 15-month uprising. He said the country was still working out what steps to take — though they would not include military intervention.
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