Syria warns NATO against action over plane

Syria described its shooting down of a Turkish warplane as an act of self-defence and warned Turkey and its NATO allies against any retaliatory measures. In shell-shattered districts of Homs, heart of a 16-month-old revolt against President Bashar al-Assad, rebels battled troops as aide workers tried to evacuate civilians. Turkish television reported the desertion of a Syrian general and other officers across the border. Syria's account of Friday's shooting down, though tempered with commitment to a "neighbourly relationship", seemed likely to further anger Ankara, which has summoned a NATO meeting on Tuesday over what it calls an unprovoked attack in international air space. "Nato is supposed to be there to strengthen countries," Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi told a Damascus news conference. "If their meeting is for hostile reasons (they should know that) Syrian land and waters are sacred." Turkey say the wreckage of the aircraft, shot down close to the Mediterranean maritime borders of both states, is lying in deep water. Makdissi said some flotsam had been found and turned over to Turkey. There was no word on the two airmen. "The plane disappeared and then reappeared in Syrian airspace, flying at 100 metres altitude and about 1-2kms (0.6-1.2 miles) from the Syrian coast," he said. "We had to react immediately, even if the plane was Syrian we would have shot it down." "The Syrian response was an act of defence of our sovereignty carried out by anti-aircraft machinegun which has a maximum range of 2.5 km." In Ankara, Turkish air force chiefs briefed both President Abdullah Gul, the commander of the armed forces, and the cabinet on what Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said would be a "decisive" response. Turkey also said it would take the matter to the United Nations Security Council. Turkey said on Monday it had no intention of going to war with anyone after one of its jets was shot down by Syria last week and said it would only act in accordance with international law. "Whatever is needed to be done will definitely be done within the framework of international law. We have no intention of going to war with anyone. We have no such intent," Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc told a news conference Turkey after a seven-hour cabinet meeting on the incident According to Ankara's account, the aircraft entered Syrian airspace briefly and by mistake while on a mission to test Turkish air defences. Some analysts have suggested it might in fact have been testing the responsiveness of Russian-supplied Syrian radar that would be a major obstacle to any foreign intervention, including supply of Syrian rebels or reconnaissance support. "I'm not of the opinion that Turkey will immediately respond militarily," agreed Beril Dedeoglu of Galatasaray University. "But if there is another action, then there will certainly be a military response, there is no doubt." Erdogan turned against former ally Assad after he refused his advice to bow to demands for reform. He now allows the rebel Free Syrian Army to use Turkish territory as a safe haven, though Ankara denies supplying arms. A Syrian general, two colonels, two majors, a lieutenant and their families - altogether 199 people - crossed the border into Turkey overnight, CNN Turk said. Thirteen Syrian generals are now in Turkey which is giving logistical support to the Free Syrian Army. The new defections from Assad's armed forces could encourage those awaiting a disintegration of Assad's army. But there has been little indication of a broader trend to desertion in senior ranks, bound often to Assad by their Alawite background. Alawites make up 90 percent of the officer corps. Such Sunni generals as there are tend to serve in administrative roles rather than field commands, their religious adherence making them in the authorities' eyes more likely to sympathise with Sunni rebels. The United Nations has said more than 10,000 people have been killed by government forces, while Syria has said at least 2,600 members of the military and security forces have been killed by what it calls foreign-backed "terrorists." The intensification of the fighting has raised fears in Turkey of a flood of refugees and a slide into ethnic and religious warfare that could envelop the region. Ankara, like the West, is torn between a wish to remove Assad and the fear that any armed intervention could unleash uncontrollable forces.