Turkish warplanes shoot down Syrian helicopter

ANKARA: Turkish warplanes shot down a Syrian helicopter on Monday after it violated Turkish airspace and are continuing to patrol the border, Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said.
“Today at 1420 (1120 GMT) an Mi-17 helicopter belonging to Syria violated the Turkish border in the Guvecci area of Yayladagi in Hatay province by 2 km,” Arinc told reporters in Ankara after a regular cabinet meeting.
“It was repeatedly warned by our air defense elements. When the violation continued, our planes ... hit the helicopter at 1425 with a missile causing it to fall on Syrian soil.”
Turkey, one of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s fiercest critics, has advocated military intervention in Syria and grown frustrated over what it sees as Western indecisiveness.
Turkey, which shares a 900-km (560-mile) border with Syria, is sheltering a quarter of the 2 million people who have fled the Syrian conflict.