Turkish fighters attack Syrian helicopter near border

DEBKAfile October 12, 2012, 2:03 PM (GMT+02:00)

DEBKAfile: In another step towards enforcing a buffer strip inside Syria, Turkish fighters Friday attacked a Syrian helicopter bombing rebel positions in the village of Azmarin near the Turkish border. This attack brought the Turkish Air Force closer to a clash with the Syrian air force over the control of Syrian air space.

Seventeen Turkish troops die in helicopter crash
DEBKAfile November 10, 2012, 3:55 PM (GMT+02:00)

Turkish Kurdish PKK separatists are suspected of downing the Turkish Sikorsky with an anti-air missile Saturday over the Pervari area inside the Iraq-Syria-Turkish border triangle. Ankara said later that bad weather conditions caused the crash. DEBKAfile: Syrian ruler Bashar Assad is believed to have armed the Kurdish PKK with anti-air missiles in revenge for the delivery of American-made Stingers to Syrian rebels. Last Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said: “We have verified information that thee are more than 50 Stingers in Syrian now.”