Stuart J. Hooper
21st Century Wire
Consider Turkey whipped.
Watch a video of this report here:
According to Turkey’s letter to the United Nations Security Council regarding the shooting down of a Russian jet that it alleges breached its airspace, the Turks have astonishingly claimed that they have absolutely no idea it was a Russian jet.
“This morning (24 November) 2 Su-24 planes, the nationality of which are unknown, have approached Turkish national airspace in Yayladaga/Hatay region.”
Turkey’s President Erdogan tried to defend the incident as “fully in line with Turkey’s rules of engagement,”
“We did not want this situation to happen, but everybody has to respect Turkey’s right to defend its borders.”
What was more than likely a planned provocation by Turkey has apparently backfired in Erdogan’s face. The surviving Russian pilot has said that the jet was not warned even once by the Turks, and that the jet suffered a ‘sneak’ attack.
This direct denial of knowledge that the plane was Russian is obviously ridiculous, but it also reveals something far deeper.
It suggests that Turkey may have been acting alone in this provocative act, perhaps hoping for a ‘hot’ Russian response that never came in order to drag NATO into the fray in an attempt to repel Russia from an area that the Turks consider their own sphere of influence.
NATO commanders, well aware of the strong Russian position in Syria, more than likely began quite literally pulling their hair out after hearing about this reckless Turkish act. We might see the letter’s content as the outward expression of a behind-the-scenes international whipping that Turkey received from leading NATO states.
The time was looking right for a truly international coalition to form against ISIS, and this incident has surely set that back. Many Turkish officials are thought to have ‘direct financial interests’ in oil dealings with ISIS, so perhaps they instigated this incident to keep ISIS, and therefore their bank accounts, healthy for a little while longer.
While many feared World War III it appears that is not (thankfully) on the cards right now.
Washington is certainly still looking to oust Assad, but as yet, do not appear willing to start a war with Russia to achieve that goal.
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READ MORE ON THE SYRIAN CRISIS: 21st Century Wire Syria Files
