The first tweet I saw on March 23 was from @RedHack EN: “Erdogan could not shoot down Twitter bird so he took his revenge from Syrian jet. Say no to dirty wars.” The sarcastic tweet was a response to the latest news that Turkey shot down a Syrian plane near the border. The Turkish government argued that the Syrian plane had crossed into Turkish airspace. In line with the latest rules of engagement, Turkish armed forces (TAF) reported warning the pilots four times, then shooting down the plane that violatedTurkish airspace while the other Syrian aircraft disengaged and left the area.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul promptly called and congratulated Chief of General Staff Gen. Necdet Ozel. At the same time, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was at another campaign rally, told the crowd, “Another assassin violated our airspace, then what happened? Our air force shot the plane down. If you violate our rules, our slap will be hard.” Erdogan went on to praise the Turkish general staff and Turkey's “brave” pilots and courageous soldiers. He used the term hashashi, "assassin," the word he has been using to refer to the movement of Islamic leader Fethullah Gulen. Oddly, just before his comments on the plane incident, Erdogan denounced “the man in Pennsylvania,” meaning Gulen himself.