Erdogan defines downing of Turkish jet by Syria as hostile approach

Speaking at a meeting of his Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in Parliament yesterday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that it was ascertained the Turkish military jet had been downed on June 22 not in Syria's territorial waters, but 13 miles off the Syrian coast, adding that the aircraft had been downed not accidentally, but deliberately with a hostile approach. Stating that the attack has resulted in a new phase in Turkish-Syrian relations, Erdogan said that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime has evidently become a clear and present danger to Turkey's security. "The rules of engagement of the Turkish Armed Forces have changed. Any military element that approaches the Turkish border from Syria, posing a security risk or danger, will be regarded as a threat and treated as a military target," Erdogan added. Erdogan stressed that Turkey would not tolerate that incident at all and not leave it unanswered, adding that every military element approaching Turkish borders from Syria would be considered a threat. "However valuable Turkey's friendship is, its wrath is just as strong. Don't take our common sense and cautious approach as a sign of passivity," Erdogan said. Stating that the downing of the jet by Syria has nothing to do with a violation of Syria's airspace, Erdogan noted that Turkey's airspace has been violated by other countries 114 times since January 1 of this year. "Syrian helicopters also violated our air space five times recently. We warned them to leave. Syria's position is also clear evidence that our jet was hit in a hostile act. Syria attacked a second rescue plane with harassing fire, and this is proof that the act was deliberate," Erdogan added.