Turkey Denounces Syrian Downing of Jet to Security Council, Ban

Turkey has told the U.N. Security Council that Syria's downing of one of its fighter jets poses a "serious threat to peace and security” after Damascus insisted the plane had violated its airspace.

Turkey, in a letter to the United Nations Security Council and U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon, said Monday its plane had gone down in international airspace.

"The aircraft did not display any hostile attitude or maneuver and was flying with its identification systems open. The shooting came without any prior warning," said the letter which was obtained by Agence France Presse.

Turkey's UN ambassador Ertugrul Apakan said the incident was "a serious threat to peace and security in the region, in the context of the Syrian crisis" but did not call for the world body to act against Damascus.

Syria continued to insist that its downing of the Turkish F-4 Phantom jet on Friday had been justified.

"The Turkish warplane violated Syrian airspace, and in turn Syrian air defenses fired back and the plane crashed inside Syrian territorial waters," Syrian foreign ministry spokesman Jihad al-Makdissi said Monday.

"What happened is a gross violation of Syrian sovereignty," he added.

NATO members Britain, France and the United States have all condemned Syria, with Britain saying Damascus should not be allowed to act with impunity.

Turkey has called for an emergency NATO meeting on Tuesday by invoking Article Four of the alliance's founding treaty, which covers threats to members' security.