Turkey shoots down unidentified drone near Syrian border

A Turkish fighter jet — (Image credit: Yasser al-Zayyat/AFP/Getty Images)

Turkish fighter jets downed a drone near the Syrian border on Friday after it violated Turkish airspace, government officials announced. The aircraft, which was trespassing in what Turkey claims as its territory, was warned three times before the patrolling fighter jets opened fire.

Russia denies that the drone was theirs, despite their recent and supposedly unintentional violations of Turkish airspace. American officials, however, believe the drone was, in fact, Russian, according to an anonymous source who spoke with Reuters.

Russia and Turkey met on Thursday to prevent further airspace violations. "All airplanes of the Russian air group in the Syrian Arab Republic returned to the Hmeymim airbase after completing their military missions," Russian armed forces spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov was quoted as saying in The Wall Street Journal. Turkey has also downed drones belonging to the Syrian Air Force in the past.

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.