Syria: De facto no fly zone

Turkey sends jets to border in response to presence of Syrian helicopter

No shots were fired, but move is interpreted as a sign that PM Erdogan may be prepared to enforce a de facto no-fly zone

the Guardian,

12 October, 2012

Turkey has scrambled fighter jets to its border with Syria for the first time since warning its southern neighbour that fast escalating tensions between the two former allies could lead to war.

Officials in Ankara said on Friday the jets were deployed in response to the presence of a Syrian helicopter firing near the town of Azmarin, around 8km from Turkey's south-western border. The town has seen intense fighting between regime forces and rebels since Monday.

The Turkish jets fired no shots, but their response to a Syrian aircraft flying close to the frontier is being interpreted as a sign that prime minister Recep Erdogan may be prepared to enforce a de facto no-fly zone inside Syrian airspace.

Officials told Turkish media last week that Syria had agreed to keep its forces up to 10km from the restive 900km-long border with Turkey. Damascus did not respond to the claim, which came after Ankara won parliamentary approval to enter Syrian territory on hit and run missions, following the shelling of the Turkish town of Akçakale, which killed five civilians.

The cross-border shellfire that led to Turkey's dramatic move continued for at least six days after the law was passed, stirring already incendiary tensions and casting doubt on the Turkish claim of a deal, which if true would mark a significant moment in the Syrian civil war.

The Syrian air force has been increasingly deployed over the country's towns and cities since July and has been a formidable foe for opposition groups with limited means to down regime jets and helicopters.

Although several of each have been shot down with anti-aircraft cannons, rebels have taken to attacking airbases. One such attack on the Taaneh base east of Aleppo late on Thursday is believed to have left the giant airfield in rebel hands.

Claims of the base's capture were supported by videos posted online, which showed large missiles and several aircraft as uniformed rebels moved among them. Eyewitness accounts of Syrian jets bombing weapons depots within the airfield's boundaries also supported the rebel claims to have taken the base. The bombing seemed to be aimed at preventing planes and weapons from falling into opposition hands.

Opposition groups in Idlib have also attacked airbases, with a confirmed raid on one airfield in September destroying five helicopters and damaging several more.

Meanwhile, Turkish officials suggested that a Syrian commercial airliner intercepted by the Turkish air force on Wednesday was carrying components for weapons systems sent by Russia. The plane and its passengers, which took off from Moscow, were allowed to continue to Damascus after being grounded at Ankara's Esenboga airport for several hours. However, the incident continues to draw fierce criticism from Moscow, which denies that it had sent a cargo of weapons or ammunition, and from Damascus, which accuses the Turks of air piracy.

The flight engineer of the plane told Syrian media on Friday that he and other officers were handcuffed by Turkish officials as the plane was searched. As the civil war has escalated over the past year, Turkey has also twice brought to ground Iranian planes flying over its airspace that it suspected of carrying weapons to Damascus. Both groundings drew similar protests from Tehran.

In the wake of the tensions, Turkey on Thursday said it had banned its carriers from travelling over Syrian airspace.