Wreckage of downed Turkish fighter jet found

A file photo of a Turkish Air Force F-4E Phantom fighter jet. / Turkish Armed Forces

Last Updated 9:24 a.m. ET

(CBS/AP) ANKARA, Turkey - Turkish state TV says wreckage of a plane shot down by Syria has been found in the Mediterranean at a depth of 1,000 meters.

NATO's governing body will meet Tuesday to discuss the Syrian downing of a Turkish fighter plane, a spokeswoman for the Alliance said.

Turkey called for the emergency meeting, saying its plane was shot down by Syria in international airspace.

Turkey sought the meeting Tuesday over Article 4 of the NATO charter concerning Friday's incident. The article says member countries "will consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the parties is threatened."

Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told State TV Sunday that the jet was downed in international airspace after it mistakenly entered Syria, but the plane was not on a spying mission.

He said the plane entered Syrian airspace on Friday, but quickly left when warned by Turkey.

The plane had no "covert mission related to Syria," and it was purely on a training flight to test Turkey's radar capabilities, Davutoglu asserted. He said the plane was then shot down by Syria in "international airspace" several minutes after it left.

Syria on Saturday insisted the shooting down of the plane was "not an attack," and that the plane had violated its airspace.

In a release by the state-run SANA news agency issued Saturday, a military spokesman said that the target entering Syrian airspace "was dealt with according to laws observed in such cases."

[FoolKiller]

"Turkish state TV says wreckage of a plane shot down by Syria has been found in the Mediterranean at a depth of 1,000 meters." Over half a mile down??? This quickly??? Good trick, that.

[speakthetrut]

We are jumping with joy that they found the wreckage of Turkish fighter jet.

Now where did they find it?

Did Turkey have to haul another brokendown jet into the Mediteranian before they could find a wreckage?

[alphaa10000]

Old though it may be, the McDonnell F4 Phantom is known for respectable speed at low altitude. This is no stealth-era fighter with a dainty radar signature, but a brute-force beast modeling 1960's ideas of air superiority.

The Vietnam-era "Wild Weasel" probably had a similar mission to the Turkish aircraft-- to obtain a radar profile of air defenses between two points.

The Turkish jet faced later-generation Russian anti-aircraft missiles which found its blazing afterburners an easy target.

[raymailhot]

Who's radar were they really testing?

[amurguz]

It would probably be better, covertly at least, to have the Turks invade Syria and overthrow the Assad regime, then to have the western powers get involved. Don't you think?

[alphaa10000]

Read "The Guns of August" for an idea of how little it takes for an aggrieved ally to consider military retribution.

This conflict may appear to be Assad vs. The World, but is actually Assad and Russia and (to some degree) China vs. The World. Assad enjoys some stability because Russia and China block sanctions against him through the UN, and his heavily-patrolled borders prevent major efforts at aiding civilians and/or supplying the insurrection.

This creates an impasse in which the only change is a rising count of civilian casualties. Ultimately, Assad's regime will end as fragile as North Korea's, but not before a great deal of human suffering occurs.

Complicating the situation are bloody, historic religious rivalries. Alawite Muslims run the government, but Sunnis dominate the citizenry. Since the Alawites are proxies of the Shiite Iranians, Saudi Arabia and other Sunni states ostensibly support the Syrian masses.

Yet, aside from the Arab League's brief expedition to Syria with observers, it is worth noting how little we have heard from the Arab League on Syria. Presumably, since Syria's seat at the league is empty, the burden is on Syria to reform and rejoin the Arab community.

The hope is a creative solution (reading between lines permitted) in which all parties work to stop the bloodshed, in spite of themselves and national aspirations to regional influence and power.

[rwsmith29456]

That's like that airliner that the Sovs worked so hard to shoot down, Cross into certain airspaces and you are doomed no matter what even if you get out right away.

[nor-one]

No wonder the US is reluctant to help the rebels in Syria. Apparently an F4 Fantom is no problem for the Syrians.

[LCCLYDE]

An F-4 is a bad a## plane but its 1960s technology.I think the U.S.A. could handle Syria with about 2000 cruise missles,if not it would get their attention.

[speakthetrut]

Israel wants syria out of the way, so that they can attack Iran. That is all this is about.

Remember, all this started out as simple demonstration by rebels, then they (or a CIA agent) shot Assad in the head. He was hospitalized for several days, but survived. Then he started returning the same medicine rebels put in his head.

In America you would get pepper sprayed on your face, beaten, fired at, and flash grenade thrown at you by police if you hold a large protest on the sidewalk. If that is ok in the "best" democracy in the world, how can you blame Assad for suppressing the attempted killers/assassinators?