Turkey Forces Down Syrian Airbus

Turkey Forces Down Syrian Airbus

Turkey scrambled fighters to force a Syrian passenger plane to land on Wednesday, suspecting it of carrying military equipment from Moscow, while Turkey’s military chief warned of a more forceful response if shelling continued to spill over the border.

Military jets escorted the Damascus-bound Airbus A320, carrying around 30 passengers, into the airport in Ankara hours after Turkey’s chief of staff said his troops would respond with greater force if bombardments from Syria kept hitting Turkish territory, Turkish state-run television said.

“We are determined to control weapons transfers to a regime that carries out such brutal massacres against civilians. It is unacceptable that such a transfer is made using our airspace,” Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said.

For the complete story by Reuters’ Nick Tattersall and Ece Toksabay, click here.

Updated: October 10, 2012 — 5:20 PM
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