Turkish warplanes shoot down drone near Syrian border

Turkish warplanes shot down a drone in Turkish air space near the Syrian border on Friday and its nationality has not yet been identified, a senior government official told Reuters.

The military said earlier in a statement that it had shot down an unidentified aircraft after it continued on its trajectory despite three warnings, in line with the Nato member's rules of engagement.

Broadcaster NTV said the done was brought down around 3 km inside Turkish air space.

Turkish foreign minister Feridun Sinirlioglu said the drone crashed about 3km inside Turkish territory. He said: “We have not been able to establish who the drone belongs to, but we are able to work on it because it fell inside Turkish territory.” Russia strongly denied ownership of the drone.

“I state with absolute responsibility that all our drones are either performing tasks or staying at the base,” said Colonel-General Andrei Kartapolov, of the Russian military’s general staff, at a meeting with foreign military attaches in Moscow.

Two Russian jets violated Turkish air space earlier this month, bringing the Syrian conflict across Nato's borders, and Turkey has warned it would respond if the violations continued.

The Russian air force officially informed the Turkish military on Thursday about the violations and about steps it would take to prevent a repetition.

Turkey has also reported unidentified aircraft and Syria-based missile air defence systems harassing its warplanes.

Reuters