Just heard on the news that the Turkish Air Force shot down a Russian fighter that was doing bombing runs over an area of Syria adjacent to the Turkish border. The Russian plane apparently crossed the border so was in Turkish air space, at least briefly. It must have been mere micrometers over the line, though, because when the pilots ejected they landed in Syria.
This could get really messy.
Of course, it was messy to begin with. And it does highlight (again) the question of just whose side Turkey is on. One of the reasons Daesh (aka ISIS or ISIL) is able to function as well as it does is because they're selling oil and looted artifacts, most of which is apparently flowing pretty freely through Turkey. And now Turkey's gone one step further, from turning a blind eye to the smuggling to actively assisting Daesh. The icing on the cake? Turkey is part of NATO. So much for being able to count on our allies in eliminating hotbeds of terrorism in the Middle East.
The news report said that people on the ground in Syria cheered when the Russians got shot down, and they were claiming to have shot and killed at least one of the pilots as he or she was drifting to the ground after ejecting. That may be the last time they get to cheer for awhile. I have a hunch the Russians are about to carpet bomb that area into gravel. On the other hand, the local residents are ethnic Turkmen; they shouldn't have any trouble getting into Turkey as refugees. After all, if Turkey is willing to protect them by shooting down Russian planes, Turkey should be more than happy to take them in when their villages are totally destroyed.
NATO reportedly is holding an emergency session to try to figure out what to do. What can they do? Figuratively throw Turkey up against a wall and demand to know just how fucking stupid they are? It's blunders like this one that lead to real wars. The big question is probably whether or not Turkish leaders are willing to grovel enough to placate Putin. Based on what I've read about President Erdogan I don't think that's likely to happen, but you never know.
Always been wars on this rock, but now we have better news and weapons.
ReplyDeleteLife gets tedious, don't it? Turkey is on anyone's side who is against the Kurds. And I bet Russian pilots will be a great deal more careful about crossing into Turkey on their bombing runs. They had been warned before when Turkey shot down a drone.
ReplyDeleteThe bullets keep flying and the bombs keep dropping. It never ends.
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