Turkey scrambles fighter jets to intercept Syrian plane at airspace

Turkey sent two F-16 fighter jets to the border as Syrian aircraft approached the Turkish airspace, the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces said in a written statement on Monday. The Two F-16 fighter jets scrambled from Incirlik airbase in southern Adana for patrolling, and then headed to southern border provinces of Gaziantep and Hatay as a Syrian MIG-21 plane approached the Reyhanli village border in Hatay, said the statement. The Syrian plane returned after the interception only 3 sea miles from the Turkish border, said the statement. Similar incidents take place since a Turkish plane was shot down in 2012 by Syrian army when the plane reportedly violated the Syrian airspace, according to local media. A Turkish F-16 jet shot down a Syrian MI-17 attack helicopter in September, saying it made a 2 km incursion into its airspace ignoring warnings. Turkey, once an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad but now a leading voice urging his ouster, shelters more than 500,000 Syrian refugees and has reportedly provided Syrian rebel army leaders with sanctuary.