A Syrian Air Force fighter plane fires a rocket during an air strike north of AleppoReuters
Footage has emerged of the moment that a Turkish F-16 fighter jet shot down a Syrian Mig-23 for violating Turkish airspace, showing smoke rising from the scene of the jet's crash.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Syria violated Turkish airspace on the shared border despite numerous warnings, meriting a "heavy response" from the Turkish military.
Syria refuted Erdogan's claims, accusing Turkey of "blatant aggression" and claiming that the Syrian jet had been within Syrian airspace at the time.
Turkey and Syria share 500 miles of border and have traded artillery strikes in recent years surrounding several airspace disputes.
"A Syrian plane violated our airspace. Our F-16s took off and hit this plane. Why? because if you violate my airspace, our slap after this will be hard," Erdogan told a rally of supporters.
A Turkish General Staff statement states that the two Syrian military jets were "warned four times that they were approaching Turkish airspace".
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based activist organisation, claimed that the plane crashed on the Syrian side of the border.
"Turkish air defences targeted a Syrian fighter-bomber as it struck areas of the northern province of Latakia. The plane caught fire and crashed in Syrian territory," the Observatory said.
Over 100,000 people have been killed in the Syrian conflict over three years, while millions more have been displaced into neighbouring countries such as Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan.
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