Turkish army downed Syrian plane with authorization, in line with international law: TSK

ANKARA

'We are observing that there is an effort to draw the Turkish Armed Forces into political issues,' the statement said. DAILY NEWS photo

The Turkish military shot down a Syrian warplane using authorization given by the government and conducted the operation in accordance with national and international law, the Turkish Armed Forces  (TSK) said on March 26, following allegations of an unjustified attack.

“The TSK successfully fulfilled its duty using the given authorization. The operation was conducted in accordance with national and international law,” read the statement, regarding the Syrian plane downed by Turkish F-16 jets.

It added that some were trying to drag the Turkish military into political issues ahead of the upcoming local elections, stating that “some media outlets” had recently made “speculative” reports.

Some media reports had suggested that the Syrian plane actually did not violate Turkish airspace.

Meanwhile, approached by the Hürriyet Daily News, an official from a prominent NATO member stated that their own records confirmed the Syrian plane had violated Turkish airspace despite warnings from the Turkish military.

“The Turkish Armed Forces have no troops in Syria other than the Süleyman Shah post,” the TSK statement also said.