Sombras do Império Otomano

Turkey's President, Abdullah Gul, has said the Turkish fighter jet shot down by Syria's air defence forces on Friday may have violated Syrian airspace. Mr Gul said it was routine for warplanes flying at high speed to cross borders for short distances. Syria has said it engaged the aircraft in its airspace "according to the laws that govern such situations", and that it crashed into the Mediterranean Sea. The Turkish and Syrian navies are searching for the two crew members. "It is routine for jet fighters to sometimes fly in and out over (national) borders ... when you consider their speed over the sea," Mr Gul told official Anatolia news agency. "These are not ill-intentioned things but happen beyond control due to the jets' speed," he said. Mr Gul said that the incident could not be ignored, and echoing Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's statement after an emergency government meeting on Friday, he stated that "whatever is necessary will be done." Relations between Nato-member Turkey and Syria, once close allies, have deteriorated sharply since the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011. Tens of thousands of Syrian refugees have fled the violence across the border into Turkey. BBC