Turkey Shoots Down Syrian Helicopter

A Turkish warplane shot down a Syrian helicopter that had violated Turkish airspace Monday, underlining the regional combustibility of Syria’s conflict despite a week of frenzied international diplomacy.

Turkey’s general staff said that the Mi-17 attack helicopter had strayed into Turkish territory and was warned repeatedly before two Turkish warplanes scrambled and shot it down. The helicopter crashed one kilometer, or just over half a mile inside Syria, it said.

The confrontation marks the first time Turkey, a North Atlantic Treaty Organization member, has downed a Syrian aircraft since Syria’s civil war began more than two years ago, although Ankara has been scrambling jets to deter Syrian air power flying close to the frontier for more than a year.

The Syrian Armed Forces said the helicopter had entered Turkish airspace “inadvertently” while investigating “the infiltration of terrorists through the Turkish border,” and that it was “on its way back” when it was fired upon.

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