NATO’s administration body convened on Tuesday to talk about the downing of a Turkish military plane by Syrian Arab Republic.
Turkey will brief NATO’s North Atlantic Council on the shooting down Fri of its unarmed RF-4E reconnaissance jet over the Mediterranean. It broke apart into the sea a mile (1.6 kilometers) inside international waters. The 2 pilots are still lost.
The discussions will be took hold under Article four of NATO’s founding treaty allowing a NATO member, in this case Turkey, to call for consultations if its security has been endangered, officials and diplomats stated.
On Mon, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arinç told Ankara would ask that the incident be conceived under Article 5, stating that an attack against one NATO member shall be viewed an assault against all members and would potentially allow for NATO military retaliation.
But diplomats and officials speaking on circumstance of anonymity because of the alliance’s standing rules, told Turkey had officially asked that the incident is talked over under Article 4.
Syria told the shooting down was an accident, caused by the “automatic response” of an officer controlling an anti-aircraft position who figured an unidentified jet flying at high speed and low height.
Diplomats stated the twenty-eight ambassadors making up the North Atlantic Council will talk over Turkey’s concerns and would likely decry the downing, but abstain from military action.
NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has repeatedly stated that the alliance would need a clear international authorisation, and territorial back up, before it started a mission in Syria. Last year, NATO set up air attacks on Libyan government targets only after receiving such a mandate from the U.N. Security Council, along with backing from the Arab League.
