The North Atlantic Council will hold an emergency meeting on Tuesday to discuss Syria's downing of a warplane of neighboring Turkey last week.
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 crew-members.
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.
A NATO statement said Ambassadors of all its 28 Allies would meet in Brussels in response to a request by Turkey, which says downing of the aircraft has threatened its national security.
Under article 4 of NATO's founding Washington Treaty, any ally can request consultations whenever, in the opinion of any of them, their territorial integrity, political independence or security is threatened.
Though 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 more than 30,000 Syrian refugees.
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June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.