At height of Turkish coup bid, rebel jets had Erdogan's plane in their sights
Source: Reuters
"At least two F-16s harassed Erdogan's plane while it was in the air and en route to Istanbul. They locked their radars on his plane and on two other F-16s protecting him," a former military officer with knowledge of the events told Reuters.
"Why they didn't fire is a mystery," he said.
...
Fighter jets taking off from another air base at Eskisehir, west of Ankara, were scrambled to bomb Akinci and try to stop the rebels. However, the rogue aircraft were able to keep flying through the night by refueling mid-air after a tanker plane was commandeered, the first senior official said.
The tanker aircraft was taken from the Incirlik air base in southern Turkey, which is used by the U.S.-led coalition to bomb Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. The commander of Incirlik was detained on Sunday for complicity, the official said.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-security-plot-insight-idUSKCN0ZX0Q9?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=Social
uawchild
(2,208 posts)THAT is astonishing.
Democat
(11,617 posts)Why wouldn't they have shot him down?
cstanleytech
(26,368 posts)as it doesnt make any sense for them to lock on and then break off, not during a supposed coup.
ansible
(1,718 posts)The whole coup stinks, especially with the way Erdogan reacted afterwards with the ongoing purge
JCMach1
(27,591 posts)ozone_man
(4,825 posts)so he could clamp down on dissent.
roamer65
(36,748 posts)lordcommander
(215 posts)AntiBank
(1,339 posts)The Second Stone
(2,900 posts)for being complicit, you've pretty much given up on innocent before proven guilty and had planned to do so. I'm not convinced there was a coup. I'm convinced Edrogan is a dictator.
GulfCoast66
(11,949 posts)I do not trust Putin at all, but Russia's military is a shadow of the USSR.
Tell Erdogan the next time he shoots down a Russian plane he is on his own.
If course the Turkish military is no slouch and I am not certain Russia would confront them. Especially since they need to use the Dardenelle straights.