Syria imminent threat to Turkey

Turkey's prime minister branded Syria an imminent threat yesterday, vowing to retaliate over the "heinous" downing of one of its jets, as Russia downplayed the incident and Nato rallied behind Ankara.
Amid reports of fierce clashes between Syrian rebel forces and army units around elite Republican Guard posts in Damascus, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced his country had changed its rules of engagement and would now treat any Syrian security threat as a military target.
Friday's downing of a Turkish Phantom F-4 fighter jet has split Moscow and the West, with Nato condemning Syria and voicing its solidarity with member state Turkey while Russia, an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime, said the incident should not be seen as intentional.
"We believe it is important that the incident is not viewed as a provocation or an intentional action, and that it does not lead to destabilising the situation," the Russian foreign ministry said in its first comment on the incident.
But Erdogan raised the heat on the Assad regime by accusing it of shooting down the jet while it was in international airspace, without warning.
"This is a hostile act... a heinous attack," Erdogan told a parliamentary meeting of his ruling AKP party.
"Turkey will exercise its rights, born out of international law, with determination, and take the necessary steps by determining the time, place and method by itself."
Erdogan, once a close ally of Assad, has become one of the Syrian leader's biggest critics and his reaction to the downing of the jet is his fiercest outburst to date.
The premier admitted the Turkish plane had violated Syrian airspace but said it was only for a short time and "by mistake". He insisted it was not in Syrian airspace when it came under attack.
Any security or military risk posed by Syria on the Turkish border would be "considered a threat and treated as a military target."
After a request from Turkey, Nato's secretary-general Anders Fogh Rasmussen hosted talks with ambassadors of the alliance's 28 members in Brussels.
"Allies have expressed their strong support and solidarity with Turkey," he told reporters after the meeting, which lasted about 90 minutes.
"We consider this act to be unacceptable and condemn it in the strongest terms.
"It is another example of the Syrian authorities' disregard for international norms, peace and security, and human life.
"Let me make this clear. The security of the alliance is indivisible. We stand together with Turkey in the spirit of strong solidarity."
And Iran, an ally of Turkey and Syria, called yesterday for regional countries rather than outside powers to help resolve the row.
Damascus has defended the downing of the jet, saying it was a response to "a gross violation" of its sovereignty.
In Syria , Syrian armed rebel forces and regime army units were locked in fierce clashes around elite Republican Guard posts in the suburbs of Damascus, according to pro-opposition activists.
The Britain-based Observatory said 58 people had been killed across the country yesterday: 24 soldiers, 30 civilians and four rebels.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov yesterday said that Iran should be invited to an international meeting on the Syria conflict in Geneva on Saturday.
"We believe it (Iran) has to be invited. It should certainly be done," Lavrov told reporters after Russian President held talks with Jordan's King Abdullah II on the shores of the Dead Sea.
Lavrov said he would take part in the summit, but indicated that the talks without Iran would be less productive.