Israel Has No Sufficient Justification For Constant Syria Attacks- Ex-Ambassador Of Turkey

ANTAKYA (Turkey) (UrduPoint news / Sputnik - 23rd September, 2018) Israel's desire to resist Iranian influence in Syria does not justify its constant attacks on Syria, former Turkish ambassador to the United States Faruk Logoglu told Sputnik commenting on the crash of Russia's Il-20 military jet in Syria.

The Russian Il-20 military aircraft, which was 22 miles off the Syrian coast, was shot down on September 17, while returning to the Hmeimim airbase. At the same time, four Israeli F-16 aircraft were bombing Syrian targets in the province of Latakia. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Israel notified Russia of the airstrikes only a minute before their start and provided misleading information concerning the area of the attack and the location of Israeli F-16 jets. The ministry said that the Israeli pilots used the Russian aircraft as a shield against Syrian air defense systems. As a result, the Il-20 jet was downed by a missile launched by Syria's S-200 air defense system. The incident claimed the lives of 15 Russian servicemen.

The Russian Defense Ministry placed the blame for the catastrophe on the Israeli Air Force and on those who had made the decision to carry out the airstrike. According to the ministry's data, the Russian side informed Israel of the tragedy at 10:29 p.

m. local time (19:29 GMT), asking to call off F-16 fighter jets from the area of the incident, however, they continued to remain there until 10:40 p.m., as radars showed. It was not until 10:53 p.m that the Israeli side informed that its jets had left the area, meaning that a total of 50 minutes had passed since the Russian aircraft was hit by a missile.

"Israel believes that it has the right to oppose Iran's military presence in Syria, and therefore attacks Syria. However, this is not sufficient justification for its attacks on Syria," Logoglu said.

Damascus and Moscow have repeatedly stated that the Israeli airstrikes were conducted in violation of Syria's sovereignty.

Commenting on Moscow's reaction to the Il-20 incident, the Turkish diplomat noted that "Russia seeks to resolve the crisis caused by the crash of its plane ... with restraint and diplomacy not to protect Israel, but to prevent the escalation of the problem and the crisis."

"[Meanwhile,] Israel does not pay attention to anyone while carrying out air operations in Syria, including to Russia, which had recently developed a good relationship with [Israel]," Logoglu stressed.