Turkey bans all Syrian planes from its air space

All Syrian planes have been banned from Turkish air space, Turkey’s foreign ministry has announced.

The ban follows similar restrictions imposed by Syria, after a Syrian plane alleged to be carrying Russian munitions was intercepted by Turkey.

Turkey’s ban came in on Saturday night and was communicated to Syria, but was only made public on Sunday.

It applies to civilian aircraft, as military aircraft were already de facto banned, a ministry official said.

The Syrian move followed Turkey’s interception on Wednesday of a Syrian jet, which Turkish warplanes forced to land in Ankara.

Turkish officials confiscated what they described as munitions bound for Syria’s defence ministry – an allegation disputed by Damascus.

At the time, Turkey warned its own civilian airlines to avoid Syrian air space as a precaution.

Tensions have been recently rising between the two countries after a series of cross-border incidents.

Last week, there were several days of firing across the border after five Turkish civilians were killed by Syrian shelling.

Turkey’s government has backed the Syrian opposition and called for the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad.

While Turkey may not be at war with Syria, it is now increasingly involved in its neighbor’s conflict.

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