Turkey Vows to Take Action in Downing of Jet by Syria
begin quote from above word button news article:
Turkey Vows to Take Action After Downing of Jet by Syria
By LIAM STACK
Published: June 23, 2012
CAIRO — Turkey’s
president said Saturday that his country would do “whatever is
necessary” in response to the downing of a Turkish military jet by Syria,
adding a new complication to the tense relationship between the former
allies split by Turkey’s support for Syrian rebels trying to overthrow
the government.
Related
-
Syria Shoots Down Turkish Warplane, Fraying Ties Further (June 23, 2012)
“It is not possible to cover over a thing like this,” said President Abdullah Gul of Turkey, according to the Anatolia news agency. “Whatever is necessary will no doubt be done.”
Syria said Friday that its military forces had shot down a Turkish jet
that had entered its airspace just off the Syrian coast. But Mr. Gul
said Saturday that while the exact route of the plane had not yet been
confirmed, it was routine for military jets flying at high speeds to
briefly cross into another country’s airspace, and that the jet’s
presence over Syrian territory was not intended as a hostile act.
The plane went down over the Mediterranean off the coast of the Syrian
province of Latakia and south of the Turkish province of Hatay. On
Saturday, Turkish officials confirmed that parts of the jet had been
recovered.
Mr. Gul said the two governments were communicating at a high level
despite the absence of a Turkish ambassador in Syria since Turkey closed
its embassy in March. Syria’s state news agency, SANA, reported that
the Syrian and Turkish Navies had established contact and were searching
for the missing pilots.
Syria appeared eager to try to defuse the crisis. “We have no hostile
intentions against Turkey,” Jihad Makdessi, a spokesman for the Syrian
Foreign Ministry, told the Lebanese broadcaster LBC.
But Mr. Gul’s promise to respond — he did not specify whether he meant
diplomatic or military measures — signaled Turkey’s resolve. Faruk
Celik, Turkey’s labor and social security minister, said that even if
Syria’s airspace had been violated, the Syrian response was
unacceptable, according to The Associated Press. “Turkey cannot endure
it in silence,” Mr. Celik said.
Other Turkish officials urged restraint. Deputy Prime Minister Bulent
Arinc said Turkey was awaiting an explanation from Syria about the
downing of the plane, which he said was an unarmed surveillance craft.
He called for calm while the details were sorted out, saying, “We should
not give any credit to provocative acts and statements.”
The episode was another blow to relations between the neighbors, who were close before President Bashar al-Assad
of Syria began his crackdown on Arab Spring protests 16 months ago,
setting off a revolt by political and militia groups now supported by
Turkey.
Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has been one of the most
strident critics of Mr. Assad’s government and its long crackdown, which
has killed thousands since it began in March 2011.
Since then, Turkey has allowed more than 32,000 refugees to seek shelter
in a string of camps across its 550-mile border with Syria. It has also
provided crucial support to dissident groups and the Free Syrian Army,
an anti-Assad militia whose leaders live under the protection of Turkish
security forces in a fortified camp near the Syrian border.
On Friday, opposition activists reported that as many as 25 men had been
shot dead in the village of Daret Azzeh, in northern Aleppo Province,
in what the activists described as a battle between the Free Syrian Army
and members of a pro-Assad paramilitary group.
On Saturday, Al Dunya television, a channel close to the Syrian
government, dismissed those claims, saying those killed by the rebels
were civilians and not armed fighters.
Opposition activists said the bloodshed continued on Saturday in cities
and towns across Syria, with at least eight people killed. Shelling
continued in the central city of Homs, where activists said at least one
person was shot to death in the Khaldiyeh neighborhood and two others
were killed in the rural suburb of Qusair.
An activist from the Revolutionary Council in Homs estimated that the
shelling had wounded 400 people in the city, many of them seriously. He
said that essential services had been cut off in the city. Syria’s
restrictions on journalists make it impossible to confirm such reports.
Abou Bilal al-Homssi, an opposition activist in Homs, said that shelling
had deterred the Red Cross from entering the area. “This is our second
week under siege; the humanitarian situation is extremely dangerous,” he
said.
In Deir al-Zour, near the border with Iraq, at least 28 people were
killed on Saturday as Syria’s army battled rebels and shelled
neighborhoods there, opposition activists told Reuters. The victims
included women and children, according to hospital officials.
In the Tareeq Halab neighborhood of Hama on Saturday, security forces
arrested young men and shelled the area, damaging the mosque of Fatima
al-Zahraa, a local landmark, said activists with the Local Coordination
Committees. The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an
opposition group with contacts in Syria, said that government forces
killed at least two people in Hama on Saturday.
The Syrian Observatory also reported that the Syrian Army on Saturday
raided the southern town of Dara’a, where the uprising against Mr. Assad
was born, with tanks, killing one person. On Saturday, Mr. Assad
announced the formation of a new cabinet, led by a longtime insider,
Riad al-Hijab, according to state news media. But the move fell short of
a pledge he made last month for a more inclusive government, as crucial
ministers kept their positions, including Defense Minister Dawood
Rajiha, Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim al-Shaar and Foreign Minister
Walid al-Moallem.
No comments:
Post a Comment