Introduction to the evening news 22-06-2012

Yesterday, a Mig-21, today an F-4. A defected Syrian air force pilot flew his Mig-21 and landed in Oman, asking for political asylum. The F-4 has a different situation, a Turkish pilot flew over the Syrian territories, but the plane got shot down by Syrian air defenses.        

In conclusion, despite the differences in the facts, the Syrian crisis goes beyond its geographical scale of the Syrian territory, reaching countries with common borders. This fact seems to be taking an upward trend, as granting asylum to the Syrian pilot in Oman will create a diplomatic crisis between Syria and Jordan. In addition, the Turkish plane shot down by Syrian air defenses will increase the tension between Ankara and Damascus, even if the Syrian capital apologized to Ankara. According to the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyib Erdogan, the Turkish warplane may have crashed, adding that he has no firm information on any apology from Syria. It is worth mentioning that Syria remained silent on this case.           

On the Lebanese scene, the dialogue committee awaits the second session next Monday, while the ministers wait for the cabinet session on Wednesday to know whether the budget will pave its way and if the electricity issue will be discussed during the session.