NATO in jet incident talks
Source: Agencies |
June 25, 2012, Monday
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NATO leaders will meet this week to discuss how and whether to respond to Syria's downing of a Turkish jet in what Turkey insists was international airspace. The incident has spiked regional tensions caused by the conflict in Syria, where reports yesterday said more than a dozen people died in new clashes between rebels and regime forces.
The jet's wreckage was found in the Mediterranean at a depth of 1,300 meters, Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency said yesterday. The two pilots remain unaccounted for.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the jet was on a training flight to test Turkey's radar capabilities, not spying on Syria. He said the plane mistakenly strayed into Syrian airspace on Friday, but was quickly warned to leave by Turkish authorities and was a mile inside international airspace when it was shot down off the coast of Latakia.
Syria insisted on Saturday that the shooting was "not an attack" and that the aircraft had violated its airspace.
Oana Lungescu, a NATO spokesman, said yesterday that at the request of Turkey, the alliance's governing body will meet tomorrow to discuss the incident. The consultations will focus on article 4 of NATO's founding Washington Treaty
"Under article 4, any ally can request consultations whenever, in the opinion of any of them, their territorial integrity, political independence or security is threatened," Lungescu said. The North Atlantic Council - the ambassadors of the 28 NATO countries - will decide whether to respond, she said.
The last time article 4 was invoked was nine years ago - also by Turkey - after tensions with neighboring Iraq escalated. However, that case did not lead to the invocation of article 5, which declares that an attack against any single NATO country shall be considered as an attack against them all.
Turkey has been one of the most vociferous critics of Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime as it has cracked down on an increasingly armed popular uprising. Opposition activists say the conflict has killed 14,000 people, most of them civilians, over the past 15 months.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who discussed the plane's downing with leaders of opposition parties in Parliament yesterday, was expected to make a statement tomorrow, Davutoglu said.
The plane's downing has already drawn international criticism from other countries pushing Assad to stop his crackdown.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said yesterday he was "gravely concerned by the Syrian regime's action in shooting down" the plane and that Davutoglu had told him no warning was given. "This outrageous act underlines how far beyond accepted behavior the Syrian regime has put itself, and I condemn it wholeheartedly," Hague said in a statement.
Hague met United Nations and Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan last week for talks on plans for a global summit, while British officials discussed the issue in Geneva on Saturday with members of Annan's team.
Syrian activists, meanwhile, said rebels captured a military base in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo, confiscating large amounts of ammunition. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 16 government troops died in the attacks on the base near the rebel-held town of Daret Azzeh and nearby checkpoints early yesterday.
Activist Mohammed Saeed said the rebels had removed hundreds of artillery shells from the base.
The jet's wreckage was found in the Mediterranean at a depth of 1,300 meters, Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency said yesterday. The two pilots remain unaccounted for.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the jet was on a training flight to test Turkey's radar capabilities, not spying on Syria. He said the plane mistakenly strayed into Syrian airspace on Friday, but was quickly warned to leave by Turkish authorities and was a mile inside international airspace when it was shot down off the coast of Latakia.
Syria insisted on Saturday that the shooting was "not an attack" and that the aircraft had violated its airspace.
Oana Lungescu, a NATO spokesman, said yesterday that at the request of Turkey, the alliance's governing body will meet tomorrow to discuss the incident. The consultations will focus on article 4 of NATO's founding Washington Treaty
"Under article 4, any ally can request consultations whenever, in the opinion of any of them, their territorial integrity, political independence or security is threatened," Lungescu said. The North Atlantic Council - the ambassadors of the 28 NATO countries - will decide whether to respond, she said.
The last time article 4 was invoked was nine years ago - also by Turkey - after tensions with neighboring Iraq escalated. However, that case did not lead to the invocation of article 5, which declares that an attack against any single NATO country shall be considered as an attack against them all.
Turkey has been one of the most vociferous critics of Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime as it has cracked down on an increasingly armed popular uprising. Opposition activists say the conflict has killed 14,000 people, most of them civilians, over the past 15 months.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who discussed the plane's downing with leaders of opposition parties in Parliament yesterday, was expected to make a statement tomorrow, Davutoglu said.
The plane's downing has already drawn international criticism from other countries pushing Assad to stop his crackdown.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said yesterday he was "gravely concerned by the Syrian regime's action in shooting down" the plane and that Davutoglu had told him no warning was given. "This outrageous act underlines how far beyond accepted behavior the Syrian regime has put itself, and I condemn it wholeheartedly," Hague said in a statement.
Hague met United Nations and Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan last week for talks on plans for a global summit, while British officials discussed the issue in Geneva on Saturday with members of Annan's team.
Syrian activists, meanwhile, said rebels captured a military base in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo, confiscating large amounts of ammunition. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 16 government troops died in the attacks on the base near the rebel-held town of Daret Azzeh and nearby checkpoints early yesterday.
Activist Mohammed Saeed said the rebels had removed hundreds of artillery shells from the base.
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