Source: todays zaman The Turkish military shot down on Sunday a Syrian aircraft after it violated Turkish airspace on the Turkish-Syrian border near Yayladağı, a district in southern Hatay, leading to concerns over possible government efforts to cover up a corruption scandal that has deepened with leaked voice recordings ahead of local elections scheduled for March 30. According to a statement by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), two Syrian MIG-23 warplanes were warned four times when they began flying close to Turkish airspace. After the warnings, one of the Syrian aircraft started to leave the area but the other warplane began flying over Turkish airspace near the border outpost in Yayladağı at about 1:13 p.m. When the Syrian warplane flew 1.5 kilometers westward within Turkish airspace, one of two Turkish F-16 fighter jets fired a missile at the Syrian warplane in line with Turkey’s rules of engagement. The Syrian warplane was shot down and fell in Syrian territory 1.2 kilometers away from the Turkish border. The TSK statement said a Turkish F-16 jet shot down the Syrian aircraft at 1:14 p.m. and the aircraft fell in the Syrian town of Kassab in the coastal province of Latakia. “A Syrian plane violated our airspace. Our F-16s took off and hit this plane. Why? Because if you violate my airspace, our slap will be hard. Now in your presence, I congratulate the General Staff, the Turkish military and our air forces,” Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said during a rally in the northwestern province of Kocaeli on Sunday. President Abdullah Gül, who was in the Netherlands for a conference, called Chief of General Staff Gen. Necdet Özel to congratulate him and his staff. He reportedly said the TSK showed Turkey’s determination to protect its borders. Gökhan Bacık, a prominent analyst on foreign policy, told Today’s Zaman the Turkish-Syrian border is porous and Turkey has many opportunities to act against Syria violations every day. “This act by the Turkish military arouses suspicions. The border between Turkey and Syria is porous and this border provides Turkey with situations to act against Syria everyday. What is important here is Turkey’s political will, not the technical issues. When you go to the TSK’s website you see there is a violation every day. But the timing of this downing during a [Justice and Development Party] AK Party rally in İstanbul with only six days remaining before the elections is really meaningful.” Turkey’s embattled Erdoğan has been dealing with leaked voice recordings focusing on him and members of his inner circle and a corruption scandal which became public on Dec.17 with a wave of high-profile detentions, including those of three former Cabinet ministers’ sons. The government responded to the corruption investigation by reassigning scores of judges, prosecutors and police officials, including those involved in the investigation, as well as by restricting the body responsible for appointments, promotions and removals in the judiciary. However, voice recordings of high-level Turkish officials leaked onto social media have not helped the AK Party against the allegations targeting its members.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Mar 2014 18:36:21 +0000
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