Special to WorldTribune.com

ANKARA — Turkey, preparing for a military invasion, has shot down a Syrian military aircraft.

Turkey said the Syrian warplane violated the air space of the NATO member when it was downed on March 23.

Officials said the Syrian aircraft was conducting a bombing mission near the Turkish border, where the Army has been battling Islamist rebel militias.

“Our response will be heavy if you violate our air space,” Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan told an election rally on March 23. “I congratulate the chief of general staff, the armed forces and those honorable pilots.”

The Turkish military said two U.S.-origin F-16 multi-role fighters were sent to stop the approach of Syrian Air Force fighter-jets in Turkey. The Turkish statement said two Syrian MiG-23 fiighters entered Turkish air space. One of the MiGs is said to have returned to Syria while the other continued.

“The pilot ejected from the plane and it fell in Syrian territory,” the military said.

Syria has confirmed the downing of its aircraft. The Syrian military
said this marked Turkish intervention in the rebel war in the Kassab area of
northern Syria.

“This marked a military aggression which the Turkish government has
waged against Syria’s sovereignty and the sanctity of its land in Kassab
area over past the two days, reflecting Turkey’s actual involvement in the
events in Syria from the beginning of the crisis up to now,” the Syrian
military said.

The Turkish shootout down came in wake of warnings by the opposition
that Erdogan was planning an invasion of Syria on the eve of municipal
elections on March 30. The opposition cited military preparations as well as
F-16 patrols around a Turkish shrine in Syria’s Aleppo province.

  Ankara says it shot down Syrian plane that violated Turkish air space, F-16s, Kassab, Recep Erdogan, Syrian MiG