The NATO is likely to hold an emergency meeting on Tuesday to discuss Syria's downing of a warplane of neighboring Turkey.
The Syrian military shot down the Turkish jet on Friday over the Mediterranean near the Syrian border. A search was on to trace its two crewmembers, Turkish media reports said.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on state TV on Sunday that the plane briefly strayed into Syrian airspace by mistake, but it was shot down in international airspace without giving an advance warning.
Turkey has urged NATO to convene an emergency meeting to discuss the downing of the aircraft as it threatened its national security.
Thought NATO took military action in Libya last year to knock out the war machine of Moammar Qadhafi, it is cautious about launching a similar move in Syria, where security forces continued to crack down on civilians. NATO officials say a military strike in Syria could have a huge impact on neighboring countries.
The civil unrest in Syria had greatly affected Turkey as it had to shelter nearly 25,000 Syrian refugees. Fighting in Syria still continued despite a U.N.-brokered ceasefire was in force since April. Unabated violence had forced U.N. monitors to suspend their operation in that Middle East country where more than 10,000 people have died since a popular uprising against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad broke out 15 months ago.
by RTT Staff Writer
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