A statement issued by the General Command of the Army and the Armed Forces said that a military helicopter was lost Monday Sept 16th , 2013 as it was carrying out a reconnaissance sortie to inspect the infiltration of terrorists across the Turkish borders in al-Younesieh area near Bidama town in Idleb countryside.

The statement said that inquiry showed that the helicopter mistakenly entered the Turkish airspace for a short distance and then it exited towards the Syrian territories after immediate orders; however, while exiting, the Turkish aircrafts attacked the helicopter and shot it down inside the Syrian territories.

The statement added that the hasty reaction of the Turkish side, particularly that the helicopter was heading back and it was not tasked with any fighting mission is evidence of the real intentions of Erdogan's government towards Syria which is seeking escalation at the borders of the two countries.