Russia vs. Turkey - this is where it gets stupid

As you may have gathered from my post 10-weeks ago, the greatest concern haunting the back of my mind with the goings on in Syria is the close proximity of Turkish and Russian forces.

There are centuries of "issues" between these two people, and neither one is known for assuming the best of those who may have made a mistake.

Well, this is what I will be watching all day;

The Turkish military said it shot down a likely Russian jet fighter that crossed into Turkish air space. Russia said that one of its jets had been downed in the region, but said that it had only flown over Syria.

The Turkish military said two of its F-16s shot down the jet fighter after it crossed into Turkish airspace and ignored 10 warnings in five minutes to return to Syrian airspace.

Turkish authorities didn’t give the nationality of the jet, but Russia separately said one of its jets had been downed, likely by shelling from the ground. Television footage showed a jet catching fire and crashing into the mountains along the Turkey-Syria border.

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed its fighter was downed, adding that Moscow knew the aircraft was “certainly” in Syrian airspace, Interfax reported.

“It is a very serious incident,” he told journalists. He also said it was too early to predict what impact the downing of the plane could have on Russian-Turkish relations, which have been warm in recent years despite differences over their policies towards Syria.

The plane crashed on a part of the border where Russian and Syrian planes have been targeting Turkmen fighters, a group that has been seeking more support from Ankara in their fight against the Syrian regime.

That plane is a two person SU-24. It went down almost vertically in Syrian airspace. Here is the video of the shootdown;



The Turks have screwed up.

A few things before I head off to the paying gig;
1. Turkey initiated action against the Russians. They will run to NATO. How that will work out? Probably not in a way the Turks will like.
2. Reports differ if the Turkomen rebels have one or both Russian aviators from the SU-24. Regardless, watch how they are treated. If they are smart, they will turn them over, but being that Russia has been pounding them from the air, unlikely.
3. Russia will not leave this encounter as the "weak horse."

Interesting times.