The official Ankara was the one to benefit from the incident with a downed Turkish plane, which could help weaken Syrian leadership’s position, according to a Turkish Studies expert.

As Levon Hovsepyan told a news conference, the incident may be construed as a provocation on Turkish side.

“Even though the official Ankara hasn’t declared a war against Damascus, Turkey is still interfering with Syria affairs through supporting anti-regime rebels,” the expert said.

According to the expert, Syrian air defenses shot down the aircraft in response to Turkey’s multiple violations of Syria’s airspace.

A Turkish jet was shot down by Syrian forces while flying solo and unarmed 13 miles off the coast of Syria in international airspace last week. However, Syria still maintains the aircraft was in Syrian airspace when it shot down the plane.