All:
Too many assumptions and conjectures for me.
R. E. (Dick) Driscoll, Sr.
On 11/26/2015 7:02 PM, Miriam Vieni wrote:
Published on Alternet (http://www.alternet.org)
Home > Trigger Happy: Will Turkey's Downing of Russian Jet Backfire on NATO?
________________________________________
Trigger Happy: Will Turkey's Downing of Russian Jet Backfire on NATO?
By Patrick Cockburn [1] / CounterPunch [2]
November 25, 2015
Turkey must have been eager to shoot down a Russian aircraft. Even going by
the Turkish account of what happened, as illustrated by a Turkish map of the
route of the Russian plane, it would only briefly have been in Turkish
airspace as it crossed a piece of Turkish territory that projects into
Syria.
Why would Turkey do this? Probably because Ankara has become increasingly
furious, since Russian air strikes started in Syria on 30 September, that
Russian jets were routinely invading its airspace. The Turkish government
also knows that its policy since 2011 of getting rid of President Bashar
al-Assad has failed and that it has a diminishing influence in events in
Syria as Russia, the US, France and possibly, in the near future, Britain
increase their military involvement in Syria.
Specific events on the 550 mile-long Syrian-Kurdish role may also have
played a role. This year Turkey has seen the Syrian Kurds, whom it denounces
as terrorists as bad as Isis, take control of half of the frontier and
threaten to move west of the Euphrates. More recently, Syrian army units
backed by Russian air strikes have been attacking towards the other end of
the border near where the Russian plane came down and the pilots were
killed.
Nato countries will give some rhetorical support to Turkey as a Nato member,
but many will not be dismissive in private of President Vladimir Putin's
angry accusation that Turkey is the accomplice of terrorists. Turkey's
support for the Syrian armed opposition, including extreme groups like
Jabhat al-Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham, has been notorious over the last three
years. Its relations with Isis are murky, but it has been credibly accused
of allowing the self-declared Islamic State to sell oil through Turkey.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is in a strong domestic position
because of his sweeping parliamentary election victory on 1 November. But he
has seen what appeared to be a strong Turkish position in the Middle East in
2011 deteriorate year by year as leaders and movements he supported, such as
President Morsi in Egypt and the opposition in Syria, suffer defeats.
At the same time, it is damaging for Turkey to have bad relations with
Russia and Iran, two powerful neighbours close to its borders. Leaders of
Nato countries will want to prevent further Russian-Turkish hostilities, so
they can look for Russian cooperation in attacking Isis and ending the
Syrian conflict.
Patrick Cockburn is the author of The Rise of Islamic State: ISIS and the
New Sunni Revolution [3].
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Report typos and corrections to 'corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx'. [4]
[5]
________________________________________
Source URL:
http://www.alternet.org/world/trigger-happy-will-turkeys-downing-russian-jet
-backfire-nato
Links:
[1] http://www.alternet.org/authors/patrick-cockburn
[2] http://www.counterpunch.org/
[3] http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0802150276/counterpunchmaga
[4] mailto:corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=Typo on Trigger Happy: Will
Turkey's Downing of Russian Jet Backfire on NATO?
[5] http://www.alternet.org/
[6] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B
Published on Alternet (http://www.alternet.org)
Home > Trigger Happy: Will Turkey's Downing of Russian Jet Backfire on NATO?
Trigger Happy: Will Turkey's Downing of Russian Jet Backfire on NATO?
By Patrick Cockburn [1] / CounterPunch [2]
November 25, 2015
Turkey must have been eager to shoot down a Russian aircraft. Even going by
the Turkish account of what happened, as illustrated by a Turkish map of the
route of the Russian plane, it would only briefly have been in Turkish
airspace as it crossed a piece of Turkish territory that projects into
Syria.
Why would Turkey do this? Probably because Ankara has become increasingly
furious, since Russian air strikes started in Syria on 30 September, that
Russian jets were routinely invading its airspace. The Turkish government
also knows that its policy since 2011 of getting rid of President Bashar
al-Assad has failed and that it has a diminishing influence in events in
Syria as Russia, the US, France and possibly, in the near future, Britain
increase their military involvement in Syria.
Specific events on the 550 mile-long Syrian-Kurdish role may also have
played a role. This year Turkey has seen the Syrian Kurds, whom it denounces
as terrorists as bad as Isis, take control of half of the frontier and
threaten to move west of the Euphrates. More recently, Syrian army units
backed by Russian air strikes have been attacking towards the other end of
the border near where the Russian plane came down and the pilots were
killed.
Nato countries will give some rhetorical support to Turkey as a Nato member,
but many will not be dismissive in private of President Vladimir Putin's
angry accusation that Turkey is the accomplice of terrorists. Turkey's
support for the Syrian armed opposition, including extreme groups like
Jabhat al-Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham, has been notorious over the last three
years. Its relations with Isis are murky, but it has been credibly accused
of allowing the self-declared Islamic State to sell oil through Turkey.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is in a strong domestic position
because of his sweeping parliamentary election victory on 1 November. But he
has seen what appeared to be a strong Turkish position in the Middle East in
2011 deteriorate year by year as leaders and movements he supported, such as
President Morsi in Egypt and the opposition in Syria, suffer defeats.
At the same time, it is damaging for Turkey to have bad relations with
Russia and Iran, two powerful neighbours close to its borders. Leaders of
Nato countries will want to prevent further Russian-Turkish hostilities, so
they can look for Russian cooperation in attacking Isis and ending the
Syrian conflict.
Patrick Cockburn is the author of The Rise of Islamic State: ISIS and the
New Sunni Revolution [3].
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
Report typos and corrections to 'corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx'. [4]
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.[5]
Source URL:
http://www.alternet.org/world/trigger-happy-will-turkeys-downing-russian-jet
-backfire-nato
Links:
[1] http://www.alternet.org/authors/patrick-cockburn
[2] http://www.counterpunch.org/
[3] http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0802150276/counterpunchmaga
[4] mailto:corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=Typo on Trigger Happy: Will
Turkey's Downing of Russian Jet Backfire on NATO?
[5] http://www.alternet.org/
[6] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B
