Syrian army officers defect to Turkey

A Syrian general and 38 other soldiers defected to Turkey, state television said, days after Syria shot down a Turkish warplane, escalating tensions between the two neighbours.

Turkey has summoned a Nato meeting for today to agree a response to the downing of its military reconnaissance jet in what it says was an attack without warning carried out over international airspace.

Turkey’s cabinet was meeting last night to discuss Friday’s attack, which lent a more menacing international dimension to the 16-month-old uprising against President Bashar al Assad. Britain said it could press for more serious action at the UN Security Council.