The crossing of two U.S. jets into Turkish airspace over the border with Iraq appears to have been inadvertent, a U.S. Embassy official said Monday, a day after the Turkish military complained of the incursion. The embassy official said the incident was under investigation. The Turkish military reported on its Web site Sunday that two F-16 jets roamed into the Turkish airspace for four minutes on Thursday, over the region of Uzumlu, in the province of Hakkari which borders Iraq. It said it had informed the Turkish Foreign Ministry of the violation, and asked it to take the appropriate steps. The U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with embassy rules, said that «at this point, it appears to be an inadvertent crossing into Turkish airspace, and we will take action as appropriate once the finding is complete.» «We respect Turkish airspace; we have good relations with Turkey and take the issue very seriously,» the embassy official said. The Foreign Ministry was waiting for detailed information on the incident before taking any steps, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said.
