Turkey-Syria tensions rise as officers defect

Tuesday 26 June 2012

A Syrian general and 38 other soldiers have defected to Turkey, days after Syria shot down a Turkish warplane, escalating tensions between the two neighbours.

crisis talks: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right.

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Jonathon Burch ANKARa

Turkey has summoned a Nato meeting for today to agree a response to the downing of its military reconnaissance jet in what it says was an attack without warning carried out over international airspace.

Syria said Friday's shooting of the Turkish jet was an act of self-defence and warned Turkey and its Nato allies against retaliatory measures.

A Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesman said: "Nato is supposed to be there to strengthen countries. If their meeting is for hostile reasons [they should know that] Syrian land and waters are sacred."Turkey says the wreckage of the aircraft, shot down close to the Mediterranean maritime border of both states, is lying in deep water. Syria said some wreckage had been found and turned over to Turkey. There was no word on the two airmen. The Syrian spokesman added: "The plane disappeared and then reappeared in Syrian airspace, flying at 100 metres altitude and about 0.6-1.2 miles from the Syrian coast. We had to react immediately. Even if the plane was Syrian we would have shot it down."The Syrian response was an act of defence of our sovereignty carried out by anti-aircraft machine gun."The new defections from Syria's armed forces will have encouraged those awaiting a disintegration of President Bashir al Assad's army.A Syrian general, two colonels, two majors, a lieutenant and their families – altogether 199 people – crossed the border into Turkey early yesterday. Thirteen Syrian generals are now in Turkey, which is giving logistical support to the Free Syrian Army, although Ankara denies arming the rebels.European Union foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg called for a calm response from Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and said they would increase pressure on Assad. There seemed little appetite, however, for any military retaliation against SyriaDutch foreign minister Uri Rosenthal said: "Military intervention - is not a matter of consideration for the Dutch Government."Analysts also think it unlikely Turkey, even with the second- biggest army in Nato, some half-a-million personnel, would opt, at least for now, for military action."I don't think Turkey's response will be a military one," said Cagri Erhan, a professor of political science at Ankara University. "Turkey will act in line with measures taken within Nato."However, Beril Dedeoglu, of Galatasaray University, added: "But if there is another action, then there will certainly be a military response, there is no doubt."Fierce fighting continued inside Syria, which has a 550-mile border with Turkey, with rebel fighters killing dozens of soldiers in the past few days as they fought against army attacks on towns and villages in central, north and eastern Syria, according to opposition sources.Syrian tanks and artillery shelled the eastern city of Deir al-Zor, killing at least 20 people on Sunday in the second day of heavy bombardment in the country's main oil-producing region.The intensification of the fighting has raised fears in Turkey of a flood of refugees – there are currently more than 30,000 in Turkey – and a slide into ethnic and religious warfare that could envelop the region.

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Turkey-Syria tensions rise as officers defect

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