NATO To Meet Over Downed Turkish Plane

UPDATE: Turkey insisted on Sunday that the Turkish military plane shot down by Syria on Friday was in international airspace, as NATO prepares to meet this week to discuss their response to the incident.

Turkey, a full member of NATO, invoked article 4 of NATO's founding treaty, which allows for consultations among allies when a country is threatened or is attacked. As the Associated Press notes, it's unlikely that the allies will push forward with military action against Syria because of this incident. 

Turkish Foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Sunday that an investigation into the downed plane showed it was hit by Syrian antiaircraft weapons in international airspace after briefly crossing over into Syria, the New York Times reports.

On Saturday, Turkish labor and social security minister Faruk Celik said that the country will respond to Syria's actions "either in the diplomatic field or give other types of response."

Syria has insisted that the incident wasn't an attack, noting that they downed the plane because it was flying low into their airspace.

Saturday, June 23: Syria will face retaliation from former ally Turkey after a Turkish military jet was shot down by Syrian forces, Turkish president Abdullah Gul said on Saturday.

But the Turkish president also acknowledged that the downed aircraft may have violated Syrian airspace. Gul claimed that it was "routine for planes to go in and out of borders" due to the high speeds at which the aircraft travel, CNN reports.

According to Turkish labor and social security minister Faruk Celik, Turkey will respond to Syria's actions "either in the diplomatic field or give other types of response," the Associated Press reports. Celik further noted that "even if we assume that there was a violation of Syria's airspace — though the situation is still not clear — the Syrian response cannot be to bring down the plane."

On Friday, Syria said that it had shot down an unidentified aircraft that entered its airspace. According to the AP, the plane turned out to be a Turkish military plane, specifically an unarmed F-4, which fell into the Mediterranean Sea about 10 kilometers from the shore of Um Al-Tuyoor. Both Syrian and Turkish coast guards are searching for the missing pilots.

It's not certain what sort of retaliation Turkey has in mind, but the AP suggests that the Turkish response could range from anything between a demand for an apology to military action.