Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told Turkey’s TRT television that at the time it was shot down, their plane was in international airspace, 13 nautical miles from Syria. Syria had given no warning before opening fire, he added. The fighter had been on an unarmed training mission to carry out a radar system test, and both pilots are still missing.
“The Syrians knew full well that it was a Turkish military plane and the nature of its mission,” said Davutoglu. “Nobody should dare put Turkey’s (military) capabilities to the test,” he warned.
“We will bring this affair before public opinion and international law in the name of Turkey’s honour.”
Syria has acknowledged shooting down the F-4 phantom jet after it violated its airspace, but insists it only identified it as a Turkish fighter after the fact.
“What happened was an accident and not an assault as some like to say,” Syrian foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi told the Al-Watan pro-government daily on Sunday. But UN Security Council member Britain warned that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime “should not make the mistake of believing that it can act with impunity.”
“It will be held to account for its behaviour,” Foreign Secretary William Hague said. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned a “brazen and unacceptable act” and promised US assistance in investigating the incident.