Turkey Downs Drone Along Syria Border, Origin Unclear

US Blames Russia, Russia Says It's Not Missing Any Aircraft

Turkey reported that its Air Force shot down a drone along the Syrian border today, after the drone was repeatedly warned to turn back and didn’t respond. Turkish officials say the incident was “within the rules of engagement” for their forces.

The big question here is whose drone this actually is, and that’s unclear so far. Turkey just flat out says they don’t know, while the US says they suspect the Russians, likely in no small part because the US always suspects the Russians.

Russia, however, says they aren’t missing any aircraft, and didn’t offer any insight into whose drone this might’ve been. No one else is claiming ownership of the drone either, though ISIS has also been known to fly some limited drones in their airspace.

Turkey had made high-profile threats in recent weeks to shoot Russian warplanes out of the sky if they got too close to the border, and that seems to be informing a lot of the speculation about this being a Russian drone, though the fact that a remotely piloted drone “didn’t respond” to warning broadcasts seems a little silly, and seems mostly focused on Turkey trying to sell the idea that they tried to avoid the incident.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.