"Doubts Cast on Turkey's Story of Jet" is an article published by the
Wall Street Journal on Saturday. The article cites an anonymous US
official who believes that the Turkish aircraft was shot down by the Syrian
Air Force in Syrian air space. "Some current and former American
officials believe Ankara has been testing Syrian defenses. The version
of the Turkish F-4 Phantom that was shot down typically carries
surveillance equipment, according to U.S. defense officials. A former
senior U.S. official who worked closely with Turkey said he believed
the flight's course was meant to test Syria's response. "You think
that the airplane was there by mistake?" the former official said," –
the article reads.
A Turkish newspaper, Hurriyet Daily published an article headlined
"Ankara insists Syria shot jet in int’l waters" about the reaction of
a Turkish MP to the article in the Wall Street Journal. "The Wall
Street Journal is engaged in biased journalism and is taking sides
ahead of the coming U.S. elections, Turkey’s prime minister has said
following the Turkish military’s denial of the report which
contradicted Ankara’s version of the events surrounding the June 22
downing of a Turkish jet by Syria. Recep Tayyip Erdogan rejected WSJ’s
recent claims that the plane was shot in Syrian airspace, citing
senior U.S. defense officials as a source… Erdogan also criticized the
local media for accepting the WSJ story as truth and rejecting the
reports from Turkish authorities, such as the military and the Foreign
Ministry. Erdoğan connected the WSJ’s reports to the coming elections
in the United States, saying the stories stemmed from the anti-Barack
Obama attitude in the country," the article reads.
On Monday the Wall Street Journal reported on Erdogan's accusations in
an article "Turkey Holds Firm on Its Downed Jet". " Later on Sunday,
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the article was a
'lie' and criticized local media outlets that translated the Journal
article or questioned Ankara's account of the incident. 'Those who
follow the path of the cowardly, also publish this. Who are you with?
How many times have we made a statement on the jet?' Mr. Erdogan said
to supporters of his governing Justice and Development Party in
Kayseri, eastern Anatolia, Turkish state-run news agency Anatolian
reported," the article reads.
"Turkey weighs options for dealing with Syria" reads the headline of
an article published by the Washington Post on Sunday. Commenting on
the shooting of a Syrian jet by the Turkish Air Force, the newspaper
writes that "the incident underscored the deteriorating relationship
between the two neighbors as Syria’s internal conflict threatens to
spill over its borders. But while Turkey has made clear that it wants
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad gone, analysts say that Ankara is
still a long way from turning angry rhetoric into action." According
to the article, although "the Turkish government supports the Syrian
opposition," many in Turkey consider "the Syrian crisis to be a domestic
issue. A recent EDAM poll found that about 56 percent of respondents
opposed intervention in Syria."
