Assad to Turkey: Sorry about the downed jet, it could have been Israeli

Published time: July 03, 2012 10:00
Edited time: July 03, 2012 22:45
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (AFP Photo/HO/SANA)

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has told a Turkish newspaper he regretted the downing of the Turkish military plane, which escalated tensions between the two countries.

­“We learned that it (the plane) belonged to Turkey after shooting it down. I say 100 per cent ‘I wish we had not shot it down’,” the Cumhuriyet newspaper quoted Assad as saying in an exclusive interview published on Tuesday.

“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 Syrian president explained.

“Of course I might have been happy if this had been an Israeli plane,” Assad said.

Syrian troops shot down a Turkish RF-4E reconnaissance jet after it crossed into Syrian airspace on July 22. The incident sparked high tension between the two countries, with both building up forces in border areas.

Ankara says the plane was doing a test flight and was downed after it went back into international airspace. It says it was an act of aggression against Turkey. Damascus insists that the aircraft was engaged by air defense forces while still over Syria proper. It sees the downing as an act of self-defense.

Assad assured the newspaper that if Turkey is right about where the incident took place, Syria would not hesitate to apologize accordingly.

“We will not allow (the tensions) to turn into open combat between the two countries, which would harm them both,” he assured.

Assad also touched upon the results of the Geneva talks last Saturday, voicing satisfaction with the proposal to create a transitional government consisting of current authorities and opposition leaders.

When asked if his resignation is possible, Assad said he would be ready to leave only if he was sure that the move would solve the crisis in Syria.

"If saving my people and my country depends on my staying or leaving, then why should I hang on? I would not stay even a day longer. But if the opposite were true; if the people do not want me then they have elections. If the people so choose they can send me packing," he was quoted by the Cumhuriyet newspaper as saying.

But such a decision, he added, should be made by the people of Syria through democratic elections.

Cumhuriyet did not specify exactly when the interview took place.

Comments (47)

Richard (unregistered) 03.07.2012 23:23

to Md. Rashidul Hasib -

you need to dig deeper.  All of this has happened since space aliens landed in Roswell, New Mexico.  The aliens are now in control of US government and planning to take over the world as evidenced by such technology as microprocessor chips, space shuttles, and stealth bombers.  Without alien technology the brainwashed americans could have never invented these things.  Obviously the evidence proves that our planet has been invaded and that the aliens are using they are using US government to conquer it.  You can escape their mind probes by lining a turban with aluminum foil.  You would think that a jewish skullcap might give protection but due to its shape it acts like a lens.  In fact the jews are the ones who invited the aliens and now control them.  You can escape jewish dominion by covering your eyes and chanting nanana um na na um na.  good luck comrade.  remember to always wear your tin foil hat, even to sleep.

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Md. Rashidul Hasib (unregistered) 03.07.2012 21:16

A short introduction to NATO
5. Thus the “dance of death” begins, the Muslim commander in Bosnia working for western intelligence agencies, killing Serbian civilians, convic ted of such by the ICC. We all knew this but there is something far more important none of us knew, the real reason the Court at the Hague disbanded in “mid-trial” back in May.“Paper’s submitted by the French Major (name withheld) substantiate that Oric had received 70 “operational directives” to act against Serbian civilians issued by French intelligence services, in particular, the DRM.  Dutch “peacekeeper” battalions stationed in Srebrenica, were warned in advance by the French not to interfere.  Copies of these documents are held in Minsk also. Soon thereafter, Serbian “Scorpion” groups descended on Srebrenica, not answerable nor under the control of Serbia or Ratco but paramilitary groups recruited, trained and paid by the CIA, MI6 and the French DRM. Thousands were killed by these groups on orders from the western powers who submitted reports blaming the Serbian government, Ratco and blaming the Dutch peacekeepers who had actually been ordered to stand aside by NATO.”

+10

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Md. Rashidul Hasib (unregistered) 03.07.2012 21:13

A short introduction to NATO
4.
BELGRADE –  A French major, serving with their intelligence services, fled to Belarus with the evidence that war crimes committed in Srebrenica in 1995. The documents he presented shows that the “genocide” blamed on Serbians was organized by the American, British and French secret intelligence service, and carried out by a paramilitary group known as the “Scorpions” in order for the alleged genocide to be blamed on the military and civilian officials of the Republic of Serbian (RS) – learned “Pravda”. Accor ding to our source, the major French military intelligence DRM has evidence that the wartime commander of the VRS Main Staff, Ratko Mladic was not aware of these activities. From these documents, which are in the possession of Belarus, the French officer requested and received political asylum on the June 29, 2012 in Minsk. The documents clearly show that Naser Oric and all the commanders of the Army of Bosnia/Herzogovenia (Muslim) in this part of eastern Bosnia were under constant control of the western intelligence services.  Oric was the Bosnian Muslim commander in Srebrenica and was convicted by the ICC of war crimes against Serbs but found “not guilty” of broader crimes of ethnic cleansing.

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