The downing of a Turkish jet by Syrian forces should not be considered a provocation or allowed to further destabilize the situation in the region, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

An F-4 fighter jet of the Turkish Air Force was shot down by Syrian air defense last Friday, falling into the Mediterranean. Fate of both pilots remains unknown.Syrian authorities said the jet had invaded the country’s airspace while Turkish officials claimed it was attacked over international waters.

NATO Condemns Syria’s Shoot Down of Turkish Jet

NATO condemned Syria’s downing of a Turkish military jet, in a statement issued following an emergency meeting in Brussels on Tuesday, but did not invoke Article 5 of its charter which could possibly allow joint armed intervention against Syria.
“We consider this act to be unacceptable and condemn it in the strongest terms. It is another example of the Syrian authorities’ disregard for international norms, peace and security, and human life,” the alliance said.
Syrian shot down the RF-4E Phantom plane flying at low altitude over the Mediterranean Sea on June 22. Damascus said the jet had invaded Syria’s airspace, while Turkish officials insist the aircraft was attacked when it was one mile (1.58 km) inside international airspace.
Turkey called a NATO meeting under Article 4 of NATO’s founding treaty, which states that any member of the alliance can request such consultations if they feel their territorial integrity or security have been threatened.
“We continue to follow the situation closely and with great concern, and will remain seized of developments on the southeastern border of NATO,” the alliance said in its statement. “We stand together with Turkey in the spirit of strong solidarity.”
The alliance did not discuss invoking Article 5 of NATO’s founding treaty, which states that an attack against one NATO member shall be considered an attack against all members and would possibly allow for NATO military retaliation, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told journalists after the meeting.
In a letter sent to the United Nations on Monday, Ankara said the Syrian attack represents a “serious threat” to Turkey’s and regional security.

Turkey Says Syria’s Downing of Jet ‘Serious Threat’ to Peace

Turkey has warned the UN Security Council that Syria’s downing of a Turkish military jet represents a “serious threat” to regional security, the BBC reported on Tuesday.

In a sent letter to the United Nations Security Council on Monday, Ankara condemned the “hostile act by the Syrian authorities against Turkey’s national security,” the report said.
The statement came on the eve of Tuesday’s emergency meeting of NATO’s governing body in Brusels called by Turkey to discuss the June 22 incident.
Syrian authorities said the Turkish F-4 Phantom plane had invaded the country’s airspace while Turkish officials claimed it was attacked over international waters.
After a seven-hour Turkish cabinet meeting on Monday, in which an air force chief gave a detailed briefing on Friday’s incident, Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc told journalists Syria’s actions “would not go unpunished”, but made it clear Ankara was not seeking military action, media reports said.
“We will of course use all rights granted under international law … until the end [which] also includes retaliation many-fold,” the Guardian quoted him as saying. “This includes all sanctions that can be applied to the aggressor state under international law.”
He added, however, “We have no intention of going at war with anyone.”
Arinc said the Turkish government would consider halting electricity supplies to Syria over the incident.
Turkish Prime Minster Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated in a speech before the parliament on Tuesday that the plane was shot down over international waters, not in Syrian airspace, and accused official Damascus of doctoring the facts in its version of the incident.
Ankara has called a meeting of NATO member states under Article 4 of the alliance’s founding treaty, which states that any ally can request such consultations if they feel their territorial integrity or security have been threatened.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said on Monday Turkey’s request of a NATO meeting was a “very alarming signal” that there is a possibility of “escalation around Syria.”
He expressed hope that NATO would not take any action that would undermine international diplomatic efforts to settle the 16-month-old crisis there.
Meanwhile, Turkey claimed on Monday that Syrian forces had fired at another jet looking for the wreckage of the first plane. The attack ceased after a warning from the Turkish side, and the second plane was not brought down, The Telegraph quoted Arinc as saying.
Syrian authorities have not commented on the statement as of early Tuesday.

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