As tension between former allies Turkey and Syria continues to build, Syria moved closer to apologizing for last month’s downing of a Turkish jet. In a news conference in Damascus, President Bashar Assad said Syria did not know the plane belonged to Turkey when it was attacked two weeks ago.
“We learned that it (the plane) belonged to Turkey after shooting it down. I say 100-percent ‘if only we had not shot it down’,” the Cumhuriyed newspaper quoted Assad as saying in an interview published yesterday
Assad said Syria will “not hesitate” to apologize if it turns out the plane was in international airspace. Syria insists that the Turkish jet violated Syria’s airspace, while Turkey says the jet was shot down in international air space.
The incident has fueled tensions between the two states and Turkey has heightened military activity along its border with Syria. Although the two states were once close allies, relations have deteriorated to the point that some Turkish journalists boycotted the news conference with Assad, said Mustafa Aykol, journalist and columnist for Huriyet Daily News.
“Many journalists decided it would be unpatriotic to go at a time of such tension,” Aykol said. “The ones who did attend are pro-Assad sympathizers.”
Assad also accused the Turkish government of being a “Western puppet,” although he said he would not allow relations between Israel and Syria to turn into “open combat.” He tried to shift the focus of the dispute on to Israel, telling the journalists, “the plane was using a corridor that Israeli planes have used three times before. Soldiers shot it down because we did not see it on our radar and because information was not given.”
“Of course, I might have been happy if this had been an Israeli plane,” continued Assad. The Syrian president said that he would not amass forces along the Turkish border, even if Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government sends more troops to the area.
Israel, which also shares a border with Syria, is watching developments in both Syria and Turkey closely. Israel and Turkey used to be close allies, with strong defense ties and tens of thousands of Israelis vacationing in Turkey every year, but relations have soured since Israeli commandos killed 10 Turkish citizens on a ship trying to break Israel’s naval blockade of the Gaza Strip in 2010.
“Assad feels the noose tightening around his neck and (the quasi-apology) to Turkey is like a life vest that he is grabbing on to,” said Professor Mordechai Kedar, a Syria expert at Bar Ilan University. “It shows how much trouble he is in domestically and internationally.”
Turkey, says Kedar, is the main supplier of weapons to the Syrian rebels who are fighting Assad. Some 35,000 Syrian refugees have already crossed the border into Turkey, although the Turkish government is careful to call them “guests” so they will not have to provide them with food and housing if they are recognized as refugees.
In Israel, more and more analysts believe Al-Assad’s fall is inevitable. As Syria spirals into civil war, and more senior officers defect, Assad’s base of support is dwindling. Analyst Kedar says Syria will break apart into as many as six “mini-states. The breakup of Syria, says Kedar, would be good for Israel.
“Each of these enclaves will be based on homogenous group which will not need an external enemy to unify all the factions,” he said. “They are not expected to fall in love with Israel yet these enclaves might be much more positive toward Israel.”

— Linda Gradstein and Felice Friedson write for The Media Line Middle East News website (www.themedialine.org)