Assad wishes it had been an Israeli jet
Syria's Bashar al-Assad has decided that he let things get a bit too far out of hand with Turkey. So he has issued his 'regrets' that Syrian missiles shot down that Turkish plane. And he's said something that will make Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan feel all warm and fuzzy: Assad said that he wishes it had been an Israeli jet. "The plane was using a corridor which 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," the Cumhuriyet newspaper quoted Assad as saying in an interview published on Tuesday.But Assad is not issuing an apology yet.
"Of course I might have been happy if this had been an Israeli plane," Assad said.
Assad said that he would not allow the tensions between Syria and Turkey to turn into open combat.
"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',"
Asked whether the tensions between Syria and Turkey could lead to war, Assad said: "We will not allow (the tensions) to turn into open combat between the two countries, which would harm them both."
He also said Syria had not amassed and would not amass military forces along the Turkish border, whatever action Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's government takes.
The paper did not specify when the interview was held, but in it Assad refers to an international meeting held in Geneva on Saturday under the auspices of peace envoy Kofi Annan.
Damascus said it would not hesitate to apologize if it was determined that the plane was shot down in international airspace.Anyone think that will be good enough for Turkey?
Labels: Bashar al-Assad, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Syria, Turkey, Turkish obsession with Israel
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:55 PM
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