Turkey: Syrian warplane downed by Turkish pilots
A Syrian warplane violated Turkey’s airspace and was shot down by F-16 pilots, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said.
Speaking at a local election rally in Kocaeli, near Istanbul on Sunday, the Turkish leader told ruling AK Party supporters: “If you violate our airspace, then our response will be strong; you need to suffer the consequences.”
Erdogan congratulated the Turkish Chief of Staff as well as the “honorable” pilots of the Turkish Armed Forces who brought down the plane.
Two Syrian MIG-23 fighter aircrafts approached Turkey’s airspace along the Turkish-Syrian border around 1pm on Sunday, according to a press release from the office of Turkish Chief of Staff.