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Turkey Deploys Anti-Aircraft Guns On Syrian Border

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Turkey deployed anti-aircraft artillery near its border with Syria on Thursday, amid heightened tensions over the downing of a Turkish warplane by Syrian forces last week, state media reported.

Turkey deployed anti-aircraft artillery near its border with Syria on Thursday, amid heightened tensions over the downing of a Turkish warplane by Syrian forces last week, state media reported.

State TV footage showed trucks carrying rocket launchers and missile batteries arriving in the coastal town of Iskenderun, some 50 kilometers from the Syrian border.

The state-run Anatolia news agency said armored vehicles were being transported to military installations in the south-eastern Sanliurfa province.

The deployment comes two days after Turkish Prime Minsiter Tayyip Erdogan said "every military element approaching Turkey from the Syrian border" and deemed threatening would be seen as a military target.

Syria insists it engaged the F-4 Phantom "according to the laws that govern such situations" after it violated its airspace. Turkey says the plane was shot down in international airspace.

Speaking to the Turkish news channel A Haber on Wednesday, Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoebi said his country's forces may have mistaken the Turkish jet for an Israeli one.

An emergency NATO meeting, convened at Turkey's request on Tuesday, condemned the downing of the plane as "unacceptable" and expressed "strong solidarity" with Ankara.

 

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