AL ARABIYA , 25 June 2012 – Turkey said on Monday that Syrian forces had fired at a second Turkish plane which was searching for an F-4 reconnaissance jet shot down by Syria last week, but the second plane was not brought down.

Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc told a news conference that Turkey would protect itself, within the framework of international law, against what it called Syria’s “hostile action” of downing its warplane last week, according to Reuters.

He said at the end of a seven-hour cabinet meeting on the incident that Syria’s downing of the reconnaissance jet would “not go unpunished.”
The official also said that Turkey had no intention of going to war with anyone after one the jet was shot down by Syria and said it would only act in accordance with international law.

“Whatever is needed to be done will definitely be done within the framework of international law. We have no intention of going to war with anyone. We have no such intent,” Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc told a news conference Turkey after a seven-hour cabinet meeting on the incident.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government said it downed the F-4 Phantom on Friday after the Turkish jet violated Syrian airspace.

NATO has said it will discuss Turkey’s accusations, while Britain, another member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, has offered support for “robust” international action.

Turkey-Syria relations have already been strained by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s outspoken condemnation of the Assad’s regime’s bloody crackdown, which rights activists say has killed more than 15,000 people since March 2011.

“Turkey has been a leader in the international community’s effort to address the Syrian regime’s violence against its own people,” said U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton.

“We will continue our close cooperation with Turkey as part of our broader efforts to promote a democratic transition in Syria,” she said.

Davutoglu said the search for two missing pilots was still under way, in coordination with the Syrian authorities. He denied it was a “joint” operation.