Turkey’s prime minister branded Syria an imminent threat yesterday, vowing to retaliate over the “heinous” downing of one of its jets, as Russia downplayed the incident and Nato rallied behind Ankara.

Erdogan, once a close ally of Assad, has become one of the Syrian leader’s biggest critics

Amid reports of fierce clashes between Syrian rebel forces and army units around elite Republican Guard posts in Damascus, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced his country had changed its rules of engagement and would now treat any Syrian security threat as a military target.

Friday’s downing of a Turkish Phantom F-4 fighter jet has split Moscow and the West, with Nato condemning Syria and voicing its solidarity with member state Turkey while Russia, an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, said the incident should not be seen as intentional.

“We believe it is important that the incident is not viewed as a provocation or an intentional action, and that it does not lead to destabilising the situation,” the Russian foreign ministry said in its first comment on the incident.

But Erdogan raised the heat on the Assad regime by accusing it of shooting down the jet while it was in international airspace, without warning.

“This is a hostile act... a heinous attack,” Erdogan told a parliamentary meeting of his ruling AKP party.

“Turkey will exercise its rights, born out of international law, with determination, and take the necessary steps by determining the time, place and method by itself.” Erdogan, once a close ally of Assad, has become one of the Syrian leader’s biggest critics and his reaction to the downing of the jet is his fiercest outburst to date.

The premier admitted the Turkish plane had violated Syrian airspace but said it was only for a short time and “by mistake”. He insisted it was not in Syrian airspace when it came under attack.

“The rules of engagement of the Turkish Armed Forces have changed given this new development,” he said.

Any security or military risk posed by Syria on the Turkish border would be “considered a threat and treated as a military target”.

“This latest development shows that the Assad regime has become a clear and imminent threat to the security of Turkey, as well as for its own people,” he said.

After a request from Turkey, Nato’s secretary-general Anders Fogh Rasmussen hosted talks with ambassadors of the alliance’s 28 members in Brussels.

“Allies have expressed their strong support and solidarity with Turkey,” he told reporters after the meeting, which lasted about 90 minutes.

“We consider this act to be unacceptable and condemn it in the strongest terms.

“It is another example of the Syrian authorities’ disregard for international norms, peace and security, and human life.

“Let me make this clear. The security of the alliance is indivisible. We stand together with Turkey in the spirit of strong solidarity.”

Turkey requested the consultations under Article 4 of Nato’s founding treaty, enabling any of the allies to call for talks should they consider their territorial integrity, political independence or security to be under threat.

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