Turkish air defense forces shot down a Syrian fighter jet on Sunday after it crossed into Turkey's airspace — and a news channel caught the whole thing on live TV.
The Turkish news channel Habertürk was in the middle of a live TV broadcast when a reporter heard the artillery fire over the hills behind him. He turned, and the camera scanned the skies. Suddenly, a black cloud of smoke began rising from the ground where the plane crashed.
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Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan confirmed the downing of the jet at a rally in northwest Turkey saying, "Our F-16s took off and hit this plane. Why? Because if you violate my airspace, our slap after this will be hard," Reuters reported.
A Syrian military source responded by calling the jet's shooting "a flagrant act of aggression," and said it occurred as the Syrian military aircraft "was chasing terrorist groups inside Syrian territory at Kasab," according to Turkey-based English language daily Hurriyet Daily News. The pilot was able to eject, the source said.
The Turkish military issued a statement that said it was a Syrian MiG-23 that entered Turkey's airspace near the Hatay border zone, and that it ignored four warnings to turn back. A Turkish F-16 that was flying an air patrol in the area then fired a missile that struck the Syrian jet, and it crashed 1,200 yards inside Syrian territory, the Associated Press reported, citing the military statement.
Turks, responding to the shooting on Twitter, were skeptical the reporter just happened to be there, filming the hills, when the act occurred. The Turkish prime minister has been tied to the news channel previously, and some claim the incident was simply pre-election "theatre."
How on earth did the journalist on Syrian border get told a plane had been shot down *as it was shot down*? And why was he there? Theatre.
— Can Okar (@canokar) March 23, 2014
The downing of the Syrian jet is likely to raise tension between the two countries, which have fired at each other's aircraft since a 2012 downing of a Turkish jet by Syrian forces. That incident compelled Turkey to change its rules of engagement, which now state that any military approach near the border is considered a threat.
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