This is a summary of today’s developments.
The two pilots still have not been located. One TV channel has reported that they have been rescued and are in Turkey now, but official reports state that search and rescue efforts are continuing.
The downed F4 is reported to have been on a reconnaissance mission.
The government remains very tight-lipped, releasing very little information, but has made multiple calls for calm.
People in Turkey are not angry, excited, or calling for retaliation. A few media personalities have done a little chest-thumping but otherwise everything is calm.
Note: Foreign media are reporting that the Turkish Government has stated something along the line "necessary measures will be taken". This is standard government speak in Turkey. You can, and often do, hear government officials say it about anything. It is not ominous or threatening.
People who live on the Mediterranean coast in Turkey just north of the Turkish-Syrian border (some of them live on the border) have all said essentially the same thing in multiple television interviews.
Basically those interviewed said:
Two Turkish Air Force F4s flew south at a low altitude (about 1,000 m) along the Mediterranean coast towards Syria. A short time later (2 or 3 minutes) booms and explosions were heard, and 2 or 3 minutes later one F4 was seen flying north along the same route.
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Update: Turkish and foreign media are reporting that Syrian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Jihad Makdissi has just said in an interview with a Turkish news channel that the downing of the F4 was not a hostile act against Turkey but was Syria acting according to standard defense protocols to defend its sovereignity.
Mr. Makdissi stated that the F4 was flying at a low altitude in Syrian airspace 1 km off the Syrıan coast and had gone down in Syrian waters. He added that Syrian and Turkish forces were working together to locate and rescue the pilots.
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Previous posts about this:
- Rumors Abound in Turkey after Air Force F4 Lost off Syrian Coast
- Turkish Air Force F4 Shot Down by Syria - Confirmed