Turkish warplanes shoot down Syrian helicopter near border

Originally published on September 17, 2013

Turkey said it shot down a Syrian Mi-17 military helicopter after it crossed into Turkish airspace on Monday (September 16).

According to Reuters, "Turkey scrambled two F-16 jets along the border between its southern Hatay province and Syria after warning the Mi-17 helicopter it was approaching Turkish airspace shortly before 2:30 p.m. (1130 GMT), the military said in a statement.

"Syria called the reaction "hasty" and accused Turkey of trying to escalate tensions along the border.

"Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said a warplane shot down the helicopter after it ventured up to 2 km (1 miles) into Turkey near the border town of Yayladagi. "It was repeatedly warned by our air defence elements," he said.

"Davutoglu said details of the incident would be provided to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the U.N. Security Council and fellow members of the NATO military alliance.

"Syria's army acknowledged the helicopter had strayed into Turkish airspace for a short time while monitoring "terrorists" moving across the border into Syria, but said it was an accident and that the aircraft was on its way back when it was shot down.

"In a statement carried by state news agency SANA, it accused Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's government of trying to increase tensions between the two countries.

"Turkey, one of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's fiercest critics, has advocated military intervention in Syria and grown frustrated over what it sees as Western indecisiveness.

"It shares a 900-km (560-mile) border with Syria and is sheltering a quarter of the 2 million people who have fled the Syrian conflict."