Al Arabiya , 26 June 2012 – Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday accused neighboring Syria of a “hostile act” and “heinous attack” in shooting down the army jet in international airspace without warning.

“We did not receive a single warning, note from Syria (regarding airspace violation)…They acted without (warning). This is a hostile act,” Erdogan told a parliamentary meeting, in which he called the Syrian fire a “heinous attack.”
Erdogan said Ankara’s rational response to Syria’s shooting down of a Turkish warplane should not be mistaken for weakness, warning Turkey’s wrath was as strong as its friendship was valuable.

Turkey was totally in the right over Syria’s “downing of an unarmed reconnaissance jet in international air space” last week, Erdogan said in a speech to his ruling AK Party deputies in parliament.

Erdogan said that the Turkish Armed Forces’ rules of engagement have changed and they will respond to any violation on the Syrian border.

Turkey would not engage in war-mongering, but the attack on the reconnaissance jet, which was deliberately targeted, would not be left unanswered, Erdogan said.

The downing of the jet has aggravated tense ties between the two neighbors. Turkey has repeatedly called on Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down as 33,000 Syrians have sought refuge in Turkey, fleeing a government crackdown on a popular uprising.

Erdogan said as much as Turkey’s friendship is valuable, Turkey’s “wrath is as much violent and crushing.”

He said: “we will continue to be a burning torment for circles who have adopted a hostile attitude toward Turkey.”

The public anger in Turkey is largely muted and Huseyin Celik, a senior member of Erdogan’s ruling party, said the party grass-roots is against going to war.