Endangering the NATO alliance shooting down a Russian SU-24 fighter jet Nov. 24, Turkey did not satisfy NATO’s rules of engagement. Flyover breaches occur daily in war zones around the Mideast without incident. Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yalon confirmed that flyover breaches with Russia and other countries occur without incident because there’s no real threat to the country’s airspace or borders. Turkey’s F-16 surface-to-surface shootdown resulted in the deaths of two Russian servicemen. Violating the Geneva Convention, Turkey’s Turkman ground miliitia shot-and-killed one of the Russian pilots after ejecting and parachuting from his disabled SU-16 fighter jet while helplessly dropping to earth. Another Russian serviceman died rescuing the surviving pilot. Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Prime Minister Almet Davutoglu refused to apologize to Moscow.
Refusing to meet with Erdogan on the sidelines of the Paris Global Warming Summit today, Russian President Vladimir Putin registered his protest with Turkish government. “Protection of Turkish airspace, Turkish borders, is a national duty, and our army did their job,” insisted Davutoglu at NATO meeting today in Brussels. Turkey’s Oct. 24 shootdown of a Russian jet had nothing to do protecting its airspace or borders, knowing the past strong trading relationship between Moscow and Ankara. Announcing draconic economic sanctions today, covering a wide range of agricultural and trade goods, Puin made it clear there would be no business-as-usual with Turkey. “No country can ask us to apologize,” said Davutoglu, getting NATO backing but raising concerns about Turkey’s judgment. Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev demanded a formal apology from Turkey.
Red flags should be raised in Brussels over Turkey’s Oct. 24 shootdown. Claiming technicalities about airspace and borders is no reason to jeopardize NATO, getting dragged into a conflict with Russia. Turkey’s sensitivity to face-saving or offering a heartfelt apology, admitting it made a mistake, prevents Ankara for taking responsibility. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg hasn’t helped matters telling Turkey it was within its rights to shoot down the Russian fighter jet. Most NATO members see Turkey as highly reckless, jeopardizing the entire alliance. “The airplane was in Turkey, it was engaged in Turkey, it had been warned repeatedly, and it was not the first incursion into Turkish airspace by Russian aircraft,” said Douglas Lute, U.S. envoy to NATO. Lute does exactly the opposite of Secretary of State John Kerry urgently defusing the crisis.
White House officials can’t figure out appropriate diplomacy dealing with the most serious NATO breach sionce1962 in the height of the Cold War. Meeting with Putin on the sidelines of the NATO summit, President Barack Obama hoped to help mend fences with Moscow since meeting Nov. 16 at the G20 Summit in Antalya, Turkey. White House and NATO officials still haven’t gotten over Putin’s March 1, 2014 takeover of Crimea, prompting harsh economic sanctions against Moscow. Turkey’s Nov. 24 shootdown highlights the need for better and relations between the U.S. and Russia. Speaking to Putin today in Paris, Obama urged Moscow to back Damascus regime-change, something Moscow thinks would cause more chaos in the region. Why Obama’s more concerned about replacing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad than fighting the Islamic State is anyone’s guess.
White House and NATO officials need to keep the Nov. 24 shootdown separate from other issues with Moscow. Neither the White House nor NATO shows any respect to Moscow when they talk about Turkey’s technical rights defending its airspace and borders. No one in NATO believes that Russia represented a threat to Turkey. “Protection of our airspace, our border is not only a right but a duty for my government and no Turkish premier or president . . will apologize [for] doing our duty,” said Davutoglu today in a joint press conference with Stoltenberg. “If the Russian side wants to talk, we rare ready. If they want more information, we are ready. If they want to normalize relations, we are ready to talk,” said Davutoglu, throwing more gasoline on a growing inferno. Turkey’s refusal to tone down its rhetoric shows that it’s not worthy of NATO membership
Putin put his credibility on the line accusing Turkey to receiving illicit oil from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. Before the Nov. 24 shootdown, Pentagon officials questioned whether or not Turkey was serious about dealing with ISIS. “We have every reason to think that the decision to shoot down our plane was dictated by the desire to protect the oil supply lines to Turkish territory,” Putin told a Paris press conference. Instead of defending Turkey’s actions, NATO needs to urgently look into claims that Erdogan’s son, Bilal, runs a black market oil business buying-and-selling cheap ISIS oil for obscene profits. Showing no contrition for the Russian shootdown, NATO and the Pentagon must look carefully into Putin’s charges. After decimating about 1,000 ISIS tankers, Turkey shot down the Russian fighter jet. If Putin’s charges prove true, NATO must take serious action on Turkey’s membership
