The pilots are reported to still be missing. A few reports state that the ejection seats, parachutes and what is believed to be the pilot boots have been found but that the ejection seats don’t appear to have been used.
I still do not see any public uproar against Syria. A few media personalities have done their standard chest-thumping but many newspaper writers and TV news reporters say there are a lot of questions still unanswered and things don’t seem to fit together.
There is an undercurrent of speculation about whether or not the F4, and Turkey, might have been used as a disposable pawn by the west in its anti-Assad efforts.
The whole affair has not elevated the public’s opinions of the ruling AKP and the government of PM Erdoğan. It has diminished it. Discussion abounds about whether or not the PM is allowing Turkey to be used as a pawn and why is the Turkish government so involved with Syria when there are more pressing domestic issues. Public opinion against Turkish involvement in Syria runs at more than 70% and for it at 10% or less.
The Turkish Government's timeline for this affair is that the F4 was at 21,000 feet flying northeast from off the northeast corner of Cyprus towards Hatay. As it flew towards Hatay it gradually descended to 2,000 feet in order to test the Turkish radar systems, and at 11:40 arrived off the coast of Hatay where it turned south and flew along the coast towards Syria while descending to 200 feet. The F4 entered Syrian airspace and was in Syrian airspace until 11:47. The timeline then jumps up to 11:58 when the F4 was hit by an anti-aircraft missile 13 miles off the Syrian coast and went down about 8 miles off the Syrian coast about 20 km south of Turkish airspace. The F4 according to this timeline was reported to have been flying erratically before it was hit by the missile.
Update: It has just begun to be reported in the Turkish media that the last radio traffic between the F4 and the Turkish Air Force happened at 11:43. This has not been confirmed by any official statements. end Update
The first part of the Turkish timeline - the F4 flying at a low altitude towards Syria and into Syria - fits with what multiple eyewitnesses reported and is similar to the first part of the Syrian Government's timeline, but the Syrian timeline states that the F4 was hit by anti-aircraft fire as it was flying at a very low altitude between 1 and 2.5 km off the Syrian coast.
As I understand it the area around Latakia, which is about 45 km south of the Turkish-Syrian border, is very sensitive for the Syrians and according to the Syrıian timeline the F4 was hit by anti-aircraft fire which was north of Latakia and defending this area.
There are also reports that the Syrians have recovered the tail fin of the F4, that it had holes in it from anti-aircraft fire and that the Syrian government has handed it over to the Turkish government.
It has been reported that the EU will not support any call for anti-Syrian military actions at the NATO meeting tomorrow.
Update: Turkish Government Spokesman and Deputy PM Bülent Arınç has stated in a news conference that a Turkish Air Force Search and Rescue aircraft (a CASA) was briefly fired upon by Syrian forces while it was in Syrian airspace as it was flying to join search and rescue efforts shortly after the Turkish F4 went down last Friday.
It appears that the Syrian government had not been informed that the aircraft would be coming to participate in search and rescue and experienced "a short period of hostile fire" and the matter was resolved when the Turkish Foreign Ministry informed the Syrian Government that the aircraft was being sent to join in the search and rescue efforts.
The aircraft was not hit. end Update
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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
- Turkish Air Force F4 Downed by Syria - Today’s Developments
- Updated: Turkish Air Force F4 Downed by Syria - The Spin Begins?