Turkish PM Erdogan calls Wall Street Journal ‘ despicable ‘ over downed jet report

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan slams Wall Street Journal, calls the US newspaper despicable and claims downed Turkish jet reports are biased.

Istanbul / NationalTurk – Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addressed his party’s supporters in the Anatolian province of Kayseri onSunday and this time he engaged a battle of words with US daily Wall Street Journal (WSJ)

On Turkish leader’s agenda was Wall Street Journal’s engagement in biased journalism over Turkey Syria crisis erupted after Syria shot down a Turkish military jet over Turkish-Syrian border previous week. Erdogan claimed Wall Street Journal is taking sides and pumping biased reports ahead of the coming U.S. presidential elections. The Wall Street Journal a daily from USA contradicted Ankara’s version of the incident regarding the June 22 downing of Turkish military jet by Syrian air defense.

From Erdogan to US newspaper Wall Street Journal : That despicable paper

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan rejected WSJ’s recent claims stating the Turkish jet plane was shot in Syrian airspace, citing allegedly senior U.S. defense officials as a source.

Erdoğan asked during the event ‘ Who are these sources?’  calling on the WSJ to reveal its sources and accusing the paper of ‘ despicableness ‘ by covering the truth of their stories. ‘ They have published lies earlier as well.’ he added.

Local Turkish media whom Erdogan referred as ‘ certain media ‘ also has been targeted by Turkish PM’s sharp criticism for accepting the WSJ report as truth and rejecting the reports from Turkish authorities, such as the Turkish General staff and the Foreign Ministry.

Wall Street Journal is anti-Obama, says Tayyip Erdogan

Erdogan indicated that WSJ’s assertion for publishing biased reports was the upcoming presidential elections in the USA, stating openly the stories stemmed from the anti-Barack Obama attitude in the USA.

Syria Turkey Crisis : The downed Turkish military jet

An unarmed Turkish military jet was shot down June 22 by Syrian air defense. Turkey claims the jet was shot in international airspace with a heat- or laser-guided missile, but Syria rejects those claims, stating the Turkish jet was downed by anti-aircraft gunners as it flew at an altitude of 100 meters within Syrian airspace. The 2 pilots of the downed Turkish military jet are listed still as missing.