Turkey said it had downed a Syrian military helicopter on Monday, accusing the neighbouring nation of violating its airspace in the tense border region, amid a new international diplomatic push to end Syria's civil war.
The Syrian MI-17 helicopter was detected two kilometres (1.2 miles) inside Turkish airspace and shot down five minutes later after failing to heed warnings, Deputy Prime Minister BulentArinc told reporters after a weekly cabinet meeting.
"It was continuously warned by our air defence but as the violation continued, it fell on Syrian soil at 2:25pm (1125 GMT), having been hit by missiles from our planes," which took off from their base in the eastern province of Malatya, he said.
Arinc added that there was no information about the fate of its crew because the helicopter fell on Syrian soil.
The downing of the helicopter comes at a time of heightened diplomatic activity to resolve the Syrian crisis, which has spillover effects across the region.
Arinc also said that Turkey has changed its military rules of engagement in response to repeated gunfire from the Syrian side towards the border areas.
In a statement posted on its website, the Turkish military said the Syrian helicopter was detected when it was 26 nautical miles away from its airspace and was warned until it was five nautical miles away.
"Despite that, the Syrian helicopter kept on approaching the Turkish airspace," the army said, adding that it violated the airspace in the vicinity of the Guvecci border post, while it was flying at an approximate altitude of 14,200 feet.
One of the two patrolling Turkish F-16 jets shot down the helicopter which fell almost one kilometre inside Syrian territory, according to the army.
Turkey has also notified in writing the United Nations and Nato, a Turkish official said.