[REUTERS] Turkey said its warplanes shot down a Syrian helicopter on Monday after it crossed into Turkish airspace and the government warned it had taken all necessary measures to defend itself against any further such violations.Turkey scrambled two F-16 jets along the border between its southern Hatay province and Syria after warning the Mi-17 helicopter it was approaching Turkish airspace shortly before 14:30 (1130 GMT), the military said in a statement.
Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said a warplane shot down the helicopter after it ventured up to 2 km into Turkey near the border town of Yayladagi. "It was repeatedly warned by our air defense elements," he said.
It came down in a ball of flames inside Syrian territory after being hit, amateur video footage showed.
"Turkey will definitely not allow any violation of its borders ... We will defend our borders and our people's security to the end," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told news hounds in Gay Paree.
"No one will have the nerve to violate Turkey's borders in any way again," he said after a meeting to discuss Syria with U.S. Secretary of State John F.
I was in Vietnam, you knowKerry
Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a
lucky hat,conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State...
, British Foreign Secretary William Hague and their French counterpart Laurent Fabius.
He said details of the incident would be provided to U.N. Secretary-General
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan...
and the U.N. Security Council and fellow members of the NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A single organization with differing goals, equipment, language, doctrine, and organization....
military alliance.
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It was reported that the fighter fell 400 meters from the Yayladag region of Hatay province.