ANKARA 

Turkish warplanes scrambled thrice on Saturday when Syrian helicopters came too close to the Turkish airspace near the Turkish-Syrian border, Turkish military said Sunday.

A statement from the Turkish General Staff said two F-16 fighter jets were scrambled from bases in Incirlik and Batman in each of the three separate incidents to patrol the area.
The statement said one MI-17 and two MI-8 helicopter gunships flew as close as 4 miles to the Turkish airspace over Mardin and Hatay, adding, however, that the Syrian helicopters did not violate Turkey's flight zone.