Hague condemns Syria for ‘outrageous’ attack on Turkish plane

Mr Hague said the “outrageous” act underlined the need for Bashar Assad’s regime to go.

“I am gravely concerned by the Syrian regime’s action in shooting down a Turkish military plane on June 22,” Mr Hague said in a statement.

“When I spoke to Turkish Foreign Minister (Ahmet) Davutoglu on 23rd June, he told me that the plane had been shot down without warning. This outrageous act underlines how far beyond accepted behaviour the Syrian regime has put itself and I condemn it wholeheartedly.

“My thoughts and sympathies are with the families and friends of the missing Turkish pilots. I have made clear to Foreign Minister Davutoglu the UK’s strong support for the Turkish government at this difficult time.

“The Assad regime should not make the mistake of believing that it can act with impunity. It will be held to account for its behaviour. The UK stands ready to pursue robust action at the United Nations Security Council.

“This deplorable incident underlines the urgent need to find a solution to the current crisis in Syria in order to bring an end to the violence and to achieve a genuine political transition. We support the Joint UN and Arab League Special Envoy’s continuing efforts on this.”

Nato’s governing body will meet on Tuesday in Brussels after Turkey made a formal complaint about the downing of the plane. Turkish officials say the jet was on a training flight on Friday when it strayed into Syrian airspace, but was in international airspace when it was shot down.

The consultations will focus on article 4 of Nato’s founding Washington Treaty.

Under the article, an ally can request consultations “whenever, in the opinion of any of them, their territorial integrity, political independence or security is threatened.”

Turkey’s foreign minister said the plane was not on a spying mission. Ahmet Davutoglu said the plane entered Syrian airspace on Friday, but quickly left when warned by Turkey.

He said the plane had no “covert mission related to Syria,” and it was purely on a training flight to test Turkey’s radar capabilities.

Mr Davutoglu said the plane was shot down by Syria in “international airspace” several minutes after it left.

He spoke on state-run TRT television two days after the downing of the jet in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

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