Turkey calls for NATO meeting over Syria

24 Jun 2012, 11:53 pm   -   Source: AAP

Turkey is calling on NATO to discuss a response to Syria's downing of a Turkish jet in what Turkish leaders insist was international airspace.

Turkey is calling on NATO to discuss a response to Syria's downing of a Turkish jet in what Turkish leaders insist was international airspace.

The incident has deepened regional turmoil caused by the conflict in Syria, where reports on Sunday said more than a dozen people had died in the latest clashes between rebels and government troops.

The plane wreckage was found on Sunday in the Mediterranean at a depth of 1000 meters, Turkish state-run TRT television said. The pilots are 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 the shooting was "not an attack" and the plane had violated its airspace.

TRT reported Davutoglu had called for a special meeting of NATO on Tuesday to discuss Article 4 of the NATO charter in relation to Friday's incident.

The article says member countries "will consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the parties is threatened".

The plane's downing drew international concern, including from countries pressuring Syrian President Bashar Assad to step aside due to the bloodshed in his country.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Sunday 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 behaviour the Syrian regime has put itself, and I condemn it wholeheartedly," Hague said in a statement.

"The Assad regime should not make the mistake of believing that it can act with impunity. It will be held to account for its behaviour."

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