ANKARA
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday said that Syria downed a Turkish military jet in international air space 13 miles off the coast of Syria on June 22, 2012.
Speaking at a group meeting of his Justice and Development (AK) Party in the Turkish parliament on Tuesday, Erdogan said that the Turkish military jet fell onto Syrian territorial waters 8 miles off the coast of Latakia after it was downed.
Our plane was downed over international waters. After getting hit, the military jet fell on to Syrian waters, Erdogan stressed.
Our military jet was not downed by mistake but it was targeted by an hostile and deliberate act, Erdogan said.
Turkey has never intervened in the domestic issues of any country and will not do so in the future. Turkey is a country whose neighbors could have confidence in. Turkey's friendship is highly valuable. Any country that has Turkey's backing should know that it is in security, Erdogan noted.
Just as Turkey's friendship is valuable, Turkey's anger could be extremely torrential, Erdogan said.
There are certain circles concerned by Turkey's growth, its success against the global economic crisis and its embracing of its brothers and sisters. We know very well that these circles support terror acts in Turkey as they are concerned by Turkey's growth and success. A growing and giant Turkey is not a risk but an opportunity, Erdogan stated.
Syria has neither made any warning to our military plane nor given a note to us. They chose to act without a warning. Their stance is an hostile one. A short violation can not justify an unfair, unlawful and conscienceless attack, Erdogan underlined.
Making statements to show the act of the Assad regime as innocent would not be a responsible one. No one should make comments that may hurt the national interests of Turkey, Erdogan noted.
I want to underline the fact that Turkey will use all its rights stemming from international laws and take the necessary steps with determination, Erdogan indicated.
We will never fall on to the trap of those touting a war. However, we will not remain silent over the downing of our military jet in international waters. We will continue to work on this issue with determination within international laws, Erdogan also said.
