BICOM

In an angry reply to the downing of a Turkish military plane last week by Syria, Turkey’s Prime Minister warned Damascus yesterday to keep its forces away from the countries’ troubled border or risk an armed response.

In a speech to parliament, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Syria shot down the unarmed reconnaissance plane in international airspace without warning in a “deliberate” and “hostile” act. “Any military element that approaches the Turkish border from Syria and poses a security risk and danger will be regarded as a threat and treated as a military target,” Erdogan said.

He added that border violations in the region were not uncommon and Syrian helicopters had violated Turkish airspace five times recently without a Turkish response.

Turkey’s limited reaction to Friday’s incident suggested, however, that there is no appetite for a violent retaliation. Still, Erdogan cautioned Syria against testing his resolve: “No one should be deceived by our cool-headed stance,” he said. “Our acting with common sense should not be perceived as a weakness.”

NATO backed up Turkey and condemned Syria for shooting down the plane but also stopped short of threatening military action, reflecting its reluctance to get involved in a conflict that could ignite a broader war.

Meanwhile, near the capital of Damascus, Syria’s elite Republican Guard forces battled rebels in some of the most intense fighting involving the Special Forces since the uprising against President Bashar Assad’s regime began in March 2011, according to activists.

Assad appeared to acknowledge the seriousness of the situation while addressing his new Cabinet yesterday in a statement broadcast on Syrian state TV, when he said his country is in a “genuine state of war”. Up to now Assad has described the uprising against him as run by terrorists carrying out a foreign agenda.

Also yesterday the head of United Nations peacekeeping operations told the Security Council that violence in Syria has escalated to a point now where the country is too dangerous for the UN’s 300 unarmed monitors to resume their mission to observe and report on cease-fire violations.

“The ongoing violence continues to prevent the monitoring mission from carrying out its mandated tasks to monitor and report on the cessation of violence,” peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous told a closed meeting of the Security Council, according to a UN official.

The mission’s mandate expires in less than a month, and Ladsous and an Arab League envoy who also addressed the diplomatic gathering reportedly indicated that unless fighting between forces loyal to Assad and rebel factions ceases, the United Nations won’t recommend extending the monitors’ presence.

More than 14,000 people have been killed in the last 15 months of fighting in Syria.