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Turkish fighter jet downed by Syria in international airspace

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said the fighter jet shot down by Syrian air defense forces on Friday was in international airspace when it was hit

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said the fighter jet shot down by Syrian air defense forces on Friday was in international airspace when it was hit.

Ahmet Davutoglu said the unarmed plane was not on a secret mission related to Syria, but had mistakenly entered Syrian airspace before the incident.

Syria maintains that it engaged the aircraft in its airspace “according to the laws that govern such situations”.

The Turkish and Syrian navies are still searching for the two crew members.

Ankara has promised its response will be strong, decisive and legitimate once it has ascertained all the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said the fighter jet shot down by Syrian air defense forces on Friday was in international airspace when it was hit

1. F-4 Phantom takes off from Erhac airbase, Turkey, at approximately 10:28 local time (07:28 GMT), on 22 June

2. Syria says the jet enters its airspace at 11:40 (08:40 GMT)

3. Turkish military loses contact with the plane at 11:58 (08:58 GMT), while it is over Hatay province

4. Syria says its air defenses engaged aircraft about 1 km (0.6 miles) from the coast and that it crashed into the sea 10 km (6 miles) west of Om al-Tuyour

Roy Siemens

Roy likes politics. Knowledge is power, Roy constantly says, so he spends nearly all day gathering information and writing articles about the latest events around the globe. He likes history and studying about war techniques, this is why he finds writing his articles a piece of cake. Another hobby of his is horse – riding.