Fighter jet downs Syrian warplane near border

ISTANBUL (AP):

Turkish fighter jets shot down a Syrian warplane yesterday after it violated the country's airspace, Turkey's prime minister said, in a move likely to ramp up tensions between two countries already deeply at odds over Syria's civil war.

A spokesman for Syria's military confirmed the incident, denouncing it as a "blatant aggression". The unnamed spokesman quoted on Syrian State TV said the plane was hit while pursuing gunmen near the border, and that the pilot safely ejected from the aircraft.

Turkey, a NATO member that once enjoyed good ties with Syria, has emerged as one of the strongest critics of Syrian President Bashar Assad and is now one of the main backers of the three-year-old rebellion against him. Hostilities have flared along the border on several occasions, although the exchanges of fire have generally been brief and very limited in scope.

In a statement, the Turkish military said a Syrian MiG-23 entered Turkey's airspace near the Hatay border zone after ignoring four warnings to turn back. One of two Turkish F-16s conducting a patrol in the area then fired a missile that struck the Syrian jet, which crashed 1,200 metres inside Syrian territory near the town of Kassab, the military said.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking at a rally in northwestern Turkey a week ahead of local elections, congratulated the military, and said the strike should serve as a warning against further incursions.

"If you violate our border, our slap will be hard," he said.

The Lebanon-based Al-Mayadeen TV, which has a network of reporters around Syria, reported that the pilot of the downed warplane landed in the village of Bahluliya in Latakia province. It gave no further details.