Syria downs military jet; Turkey vows action

ANKARA, Turkey -- Syria said Friday that it shot down a Turkish military plane that entered Syrian air space, and Turkey vowed to "determinedly take necessary steps" in response.

It was the most dramatic escalation in tensions between the two countries, which used to be allies before the Syrian revolt began in March 2011. Turkey has become one of the strongest critics of Syrian President Bashar Assad's brutal response to the country's uprising.

Late Friday, Syria's state-run news agency said the military spotted an "unidentified aerial target" flying at a low altitude and at a high speed. "The Syrian anti-air defenses counteracted with anti-aircraft artillery, hitting it directly," SANA said. "The target turned out to be a Turkish military plane that entered Syrian airspace and was dealt with according to laws observed in such cases."

Turkey issued a statement Friday night following a two-hour security meeting led by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, saying Syrian forces downed the plane and that the two Turkish pilots remain missing.

It said Turkey "will determinedly take necessary steps" in response, without saying what those actions would be.

"Following the evaluation of data provided by our related institutions and the findings of the joint search and rescue efforts with Syria, it is understood that our plane was downed by Syria," the statement said.

Relations between Turkey and Syria were already tense before the downing of the F4 plane on Friday.

Syria and Turkey have expelled each other's ambassadors and Syria has accused Turkey of supporting the Syrian opposition and even allowing Syrian rebels to operate out of Turkish soil. Turkey strongly denies the allegations.