Turkey's armed forces command said on Monday it had scrambled a total of six F-16 fighter jets in three separate incidents responding to Syrian military helicopters approaching the border on Sunday, but there was no violation of Turkish airspace.
It said in a statement the jets had been scrambled from Incirlik air base in southern Turkey in response to Syrian helicopters flying south of the Turkish province of Hatay, within 2-2.5 miles of the Turkish border.
Separately, the Arab
League hosts today
and tomorrow a meeting of the Syrian
opposition in Cairo aimed
at reaching a common vision for
the next stage.
In his first comment on this meeting, the
General Command of the Free Syrian army declared
Monday, the latter’s choice to boycott the conference,
describing it as a plot. “The aim is not only to oust President Bashar al-Assad, but bring down the whole system” he said.
On
the onset of the meeting, Secretary General of the Arab
League, Nabil Al-Arabi said that the Arab League and the International Community cannot overlook the daily bloodshed in Syria.
He
added that the opportunity to unify the Syrian opposition’s stances should not
be missed.
“The
regime bares responsibility for the violence in Syria, the government should be responsible
for the protection of its people, not for its death” he said.
Syria’s sovereignty
and unity is a priority, he concluded.
Speaking on behalf of newly
elected Egyptian President Mohammad Mosri, Egypts Foreign Minister Mohammad
Kamel Amr called for putting an end to civilian deaths in Syria.
He added
that Egypt’s
door will always be open for "our Syrian brethren”.
“Syria’s unity and safety is a red
line, and a political solution comes through Annan”, he added.
For
his part, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari
said that the main objective of this meeting is to unify the Syria
opposition’s front. “The opposition should be representative of the demands of
all Syrian people” he said.
He
called for the implementation of International envoy Kofi Annan’s peace plan.
Turkey also participated in the summit through its
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davut Oglu who blamed the regime for the “ongoing
massacres”,
adding that the latter has lost its legitimacy and no longer has “our respect alongside
the International Community’s”.
The FM stated that there are currently
35,000 Syrian refugees in Turkish lands and they “are our guest” adding that Turkey’s doors
will remain open. “We are facing an irrational regime, and believe that the future
of Syria
is in the "hands of its people".
Throughout his speech, Kuwait’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah
Al-Khalid Al-Sabah said that Syria’s
violence threatens the entire region.
For
his part, Deputy UN envoy to the Arab League called
for joint work for Syria and
its people.
On the field, Syrian forces continued to bomb besieged areas in both
Homs and
Damascus.
According to AFP, activists said that 79 civilians have so far been
killed.
This as Syrian President Bachar Assad issued three laws on combating violence and
terrorism according to SANA.
REUTERS/LBCI