The Syrian army confirmed Monday that Turkey shot down its military helicopter which "mistakenly" and "briefly" entered Turkey's airspace.

The statement, carried by Syria's state-run TV, said that "a military helicopter was lost Monday afternoon while conducting one of its reconnaissance sorties to monitor the infiltration attempts of terrorists across the Turkish borders at the Yunusieh area near the countryside of Latakia city."

"After checking, the gunship seemed to mistakenly enter the Turkish airspace for a short distance and then left toward the Syrian territories after receiving orders" from the Syrian side, the statement said.

Shortly afterward, the helicopter was shot down by Turkish air forces after leaving the Turkish airspace, the statement said, stressing that it crashed inside the Syrian territories.