Western military leaders will meet Tuesday at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, to huddle with Turkey over the downing of one of its military jets by Syria.
The "consultations" are being held at Turkey's request under Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's founding charter.
"Under Article 4, any ally can request consultations whenever, in the opinion of any of them, their territorial integrity, political independence or security is threatened," NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said in an email to CNN.
During the consultations, there is a chance Turkey will demand a collective military response.
The notion comes from Article 5 of NATO's founding Washington Treaty, which states that should a member nation - such as Turkey - be attacked, each member will assist the party under attack by taking "such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area."
Article 5 has been invoked just once since NATO's founding: the military response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
FULL STORY
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
| Advertising practices | Advertise with us | About us | Work for us | Help
Any excuse to use Syria to make more money. However Russia, a criminal state, will block this, all the while seeking more sessions to asad
When did Russia join NATO?
The way the word games are played today in regards to what are and are not declarations of war boggles the mind.
Turkey is arming and supplying forces trying to overthrow the Syrian regime but is not making war upon Syria.
That Turkey is the belligerent party acting for its' own, aged fued with Kurdish elements in Syria, NATO, and other ME interest can then be popularized by american media as a victim of Syrian aggresion shows just how far lawlessness has become the norm in international politics and by their populaces as well.
Philip...
They're not dogs are they?
Well I guess they finally figured the way to get world involvement in Syria. Turkey is now saying they will retaliate for the downing of their aircraft, which just happened to be messing around the Syrian border. It's going to be a t it for tat kind of skirmish until Turkeys fellow members step in to back them up. Does this sound to anyone else like a set up ?
Yes, I have to admit my skeptical self has kicked in today. But how convienent does all this seem ?
Meant to say, Turkeys fellow NATO members.