Turkey shoots down unidentified aircraft near Syria border

Two U.S. Defense officials told CNN that according to initial reports, the aircraft was a Russian unmanned vehicle.

Russian Federation began air strikes in Syria on September 30 with the stated intention of supporting the regime of Bashar al-Assad, whom Turkey wants to see deposed.

“They violated Turkish airspace, which we strongly affirmed in Brussels last week, is North Atlantic Treaty Organisation airspace”. Russian Federation has complained that North Atlantic Treaty Organisation has deliberately chosen to disregard Russia’s position on the issue.

“An aircraft, whose nationality is unknown, has been downed as demanded by engagement rules”, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said of the latest incident.

Turkish Armed Forces is performing its duties determinedly within the framework of engagement rules, it added.

“Turkey shot down Russian drone near Syrian border, official says”, reads a headline from Fox News.

The Turkish military source is also wrong about how the drone’s alleged flight path was disrupted, as the UAV, from the images on the web, “certainly wasn’t downed by a plane”, it added.

“All the airplanes of the Russian aviation group in the Syrian Arab Republic have returned after accomplishing their combat tasks”, Konashenkov said.

The result of the heavy Russian bombardment is that Syria’s airspace had become saturated, resulting in US aircrafts also targeting ISIS coming in close contact with Russian counterparts.

Since 2013, Turkey has downed a Syrian military jet, a helicopter and a surveillance drone that crossed into Turkish airspace. Russia’s intervention has raised tensions with the USA and its allies, who are conducting their own airstrikes in Syria against the Islamic State.

The incidents drew worldwide criticism, with North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg calling it a violation that “does not look like an accident”. By shooting down the unmanned drone, Turkey can send a strong message that it will defend its airspace, but without risking the unsafe diplomatic and military escalation that would be brought about by downing a manned jet. Russian Federation says it’s not one of theirs; and USA officials say all their drones are present and accounted for. “Turkey has not asked for any North Atlantic Treaty Organisation assistance or consultations”.

Pentagon officials have held three rounds of talks with Russians on safety procedures.

Turkey had formally protested against the incursions, which Moscow said was due to “bad weather conditions”.

On Friday Russian warplanes hit areas in support of the army’s offensive south of Aleppo, which lies around 35 km (20 miles) from the Turkish border.