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The downing
of a Turkish plane by Syria was an act of self-defense against a violation of
its sovereignty, the Syrian foreign ministry has said. Damascus insists it was
within its right to open fire on unidentified aircraft violating its airspace.
The
statement by the Syrian foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Magdissi comes a day
after Ankara accused Damascus of violating international law in last Friday’s
incident.
Magdissi
said the Turkish claim that their military jet was shot down in international
air space after leaving Syrian territory was false. The aircraft was hit by air
defense artillery, not a surface-to-air missile, and this weapon’s maximum
range is just 2.5 kilometers, he said in a statement aired on Syrian TV.
Commenting
on the claims that no warning has been given before the downing, Magdissi said
the Syrian defense forces “have been taken by surprise to see such a plane.”
“Syria air
defense taken by surprise by plane at 100m altitude, even if plane was Syrian
we would have shot it down,” he said.
He added
Syria did its best to mitigate the consequences of the incident by promptly
contacting their Turkish counterparts and offering all due assistance in the
search and rescue operations.
This
was done despite the fact that relations between the two countries have
deteriorated over the past 15 months, he stressed.
Pakistan Cyber Force
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