On Monday [Sept. 16] the Turkish armed forces issued the following statement on its official website: “Unified Control Alert Center (BIKIM) in Diyarbakir identified an M-17 Syrian helicopter at 26 NM [nautical miles] to the Turkish border at 13:41 hours. ... [It] was warned that it was coming close to Turkish airspace ... [even] as close as 5 NM, but it continued to come closer and violated the Turkish airspace by 2 kilometers [flying] at 14,200 feet at 14:25 hours around the Guvecci border station in Hatay/Yayladagi.”

The statement continued, “Accordingly, it was shot by one of the two F-16 aircrafts on patrol duty at 14:27 hours in the Turkish airspace, and it fell down approximately 1 kilometer on the Syrian side.”

Ever since a Turkish jet was allegedly shot down by the Bashar al-Assad regime in June 2012, Turkey’s top leadership forcefully reminded all that the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government had changed the rules of engagement with Syria. As such, Turkish armed forces acted according to those guidelines all within the norms of international law.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul said Wednesday [Sept. 18]: “The Turkey-Syria border is not a border operating in normal order. There is an extraordinary situation there. We announced to the whole world based on the previous security incidents and threat perceptions that our rules of engagement will be active. As a result, this incident occurred due to a border violation. The other side also admits that they crossed the border.”