Tinderbox: Syria warns NATO over action against Turkish plane- Turkey promises ‘decisive’ response

June 25, 2012 – MIDDLE EAST – Syria described its shooting down of a Turkish warplane as an act of self-defense and warned Turkey and its NATO allies against any retaliatory measures. In shell-shattered districts of Homs, heart of a 16-month-old revolt against President Bashar al-Assad, rebels battled troops as aide workers tried to evacuate civilians. Turkish television reported the desertion of a Syrian general and other officers across the border. Syria’s account of Friday’s shooting down, though tempered with commitment to a “neighborly relationship,” seemed likely to further anger Ankara, which has summoned a NATO meeting on Tuesday over what it calls an unprovoked attack in international air space. “NATO is supposed to be there to strengthen countries,” Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi told a Damascus news conference. “If their meeting is for hostile reasons (they should know that) Syrian land and waters are sacred.” Turkey says the wreckage of the aircraft, shot down close to the Mediterranean maritime borders of both states, is lying in deep water. Makdissi said some flotsam had been found and turned over to Turkey. There was no word on the two airmen. “The plane disappeared and then reappeared in Syrian airspace, flying at 100 meters altitude and about 1-2kms (0.6-1.2 miles) from the Syrian coast,” he said. “We had to react immediately, even if the plane was Syrian we would have shot it down. The Syrian response was an act of defense of our sovereignty carried out by anti-aircraft machinegun which has a maximum range of 2.5 km.” In Ankara, Turkish air force chiefs briefed both President Abdullah Gul, the commander of the armed forces, and the cabinet on what Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said would be a “decisive” response. Turkey also said it would take the matter to the United Nations Security Council. –Reuters

The Exodus: Dozens of members of Syria’s military defected to Turkey overnight with their families, a Turkish official said Monday, at a time of heightened tensions between the two countries over Syria’s downing of a Turkish military plane. The state-run Anadolu news agency said 33 soldiers crossed into Turkey overnight and the group — 224 people in all — included a general and two colonels. A government official, however, said the group included three colonels and there was no general among them. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government rules, did not know the overall number of defectors and the two accounts could not immediately be reconciled. The defections come three days after Syria shot down a Turkish aircraft it said had violated its air space, further fraying relations between the two countries that were once allies. Nato-member Turkey said the plane had unintentionally strayed into Syria’s air space, but was inside international airspace when it was brought down. It has insisted the jet was on a training flight to test Turkey’s radar capabilities and was not spying on Syria. Turkey has summoned a Nato meeting Tuesday to discuss the incident, revoking article 4 of Nato’s founding treaty which allows an ally to request consultations whenever it feels its security is threatened. Anadolu said the group of defectors was placed in a refugee camp in Hatay, a province bordering Syria but there was no further information. Turkey is hosting some 33,000 Syrians who have crossed into Turkey to find refuge from the 15-months old violence. –Gulf News