Russians involved in downing Turkish jet by Syria, report

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Russian technicians were involved in the taking down of the Turkish fighter jet by the Syrian military last week the Sunday Times reported on Sunday.

Sourcing Middle Eastern diplomatic sources the Times reported that the decision to down the Turkish jet was intended to signal a warning to NATO to stay out of the conflict raging in Syria for over a year.

Russia supplied Syria with advanced anti-aircraft missile systems three years ago. It is believed that Russian specialists trained the Syrian forces to use them. According to diplomats that spoke with the Sunday Times some Russian specialists are still stationed at the missile battery control centers.

“We would not be surprised if these Russian experts, if they didn’t push the button, at least were beside the Syrian officers who did it,” an Israeli air force source told the British paper.

The unarmed reconnaissance jet had briefly entered Syrian airspace on June 22 as it approached land after patrolling the eastern Mediterranean, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said, but was warned by Turkish radar controllers and immediately left and turned again out to sea.

It then made another approach to land when it was shot down 13 miles off the coast in international airspace, he said, out of the reach of Syria’s anti-aircraft guns.

“According to the data in our hands, it points to our plane being shot by a laser or heat-guided surface-to-air missile. The fact our plane was not given an early radar warning, suggests it was not a radar-guided missile,” said Arinc.

Turkey shelters the rebel Free Syria Army (FSA) and hosts 32,000 Syrian refugees on its southeastern border with Syria, some 50 km (30 miles) from where the Turkish aircraft was shot down. But it denies providing arms for the insurgents.

Ankara requested a meeting of NATO’s North Atlantic Council to discuss the incident, which it has branded an “act of aggression”. Damascus said it shot the aircraft down in self-defense after it strayed into Syrian airspace.

The meeting is only the second time in NATO’s 63-year history that member countries have convened under Article 4 of its charter, which provides for consultations when a member state feels its territorial integrity, political independence or security is under threat.

“We may get a statement of solidarity with Turkey,” a NATO official said.

Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen was to make a statement around 11:30 a.m. (09:30 GMT) after the talks among NATO ambassadors at alliance headquarters in Brussels.

Analysts said Rasmussen’s message was likely to be measured, reflecting Western reluctance to commit to any military action or anything that could trigger a regional sectarian war.

“There is very little appetite from the alliance to undertake what we call a discretionary war,” said Clara Marina O’Donnell, a fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

Turkey’s choice to seek consultation under Article 4, instead of asking for military help under the organization’s collective defence provisions, known as Article 5, suggested Ankara was hoping to steer clear of inflaming the conflict.

“This is a signal from Turkey that they are not too keen to go down the military route at this stage. They are trying to de-escalate the situation,” she said.

Turkey rejected assertions from Damascus that its forces had no option but to fire on the F-4 jet as it flew over Syrian waters close to the coast on Friday.

In a letter to the UN Security Council, Turkey condemned a “hostile act by the Syrian authorities against Turkey’s national security”, saying it posed “a serious threat to peace and security in the region”.

Syria warned Turkey and NATO against retaliation. EU foreign ministers on Monday urged Turkey to show restraint, saying they would increase pressure on Assad.

Sunday Times, Haaretz

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16 responses to “Russians involved in downing Turkish jet by Syria, report”

  1. 5thDrawer Avatar
    5thDrawer

    Boys with the game-toys. All ‘action’ on a screen. And a practical demonstration by a Russian techie possibly, on an unarmed plane. (Not that Israel isn’t filled with theorists too …)
    Those who want the whole truth don’t have to send a sub down to retrieve anything … although that might happen too, for the sake of ‘forensic’ analysis.
    If Assad’s army is willing to shoot across the border to kill Lebanese reporters and farmers and boys out fishing, why wouldn’t they enjoy a chance to take out a Turkish jet with the flimsy excuse that it crossed an imaginary line, even after obviously turned away?

    1. 73Corty77 Avatar
      73Corty77

      Typical of you 5th, always blaming Syria for everything. Never once a mention from you on how much evil the Free Syrian Ass Holes are doing. Careful someone might think you are a little bias. 

      1. 5thDrawer Avatar
        5thDrawer

        I don’t remember any FSA in the first months of ‘demonstrations’. But someone wanted a war. War is hell, and people are people. I’m only surprised it took so long for a backlash to begin against snipers randomly shooting women and babies in a street – and I didn’t notice the ‘people’s army’ protecting the demonstrators, or any right to do so, while maintaining social order. When some voiced an opinion, it seemed to me mass arrests occurred instead – and some children were returned to their parents in pieces. So .. yes … I kind of agree the people – right or wrong in their quest – needed some defence.
         Voila … a few militias … evolution … named now FSA as they organize and try to protect their interests IN Syria.
        I suppose we should all be good Christians, turn the other cheek, and quietly die while sitting in a street chanting or carrying our dead to a cemetery. Seemed to me some thought that might work too. But ‘people’ are not all religious saints, are they. And Certainly, a war brings out the nature of any beast. War is Hell. And not everyone was taught that dying on a cross without a fight was a good thing.
        Some, in fact, were taught that it’s either Kill or be Killed in this world – and in that scenario it’s better to get in the first shot. Negotiating anything can get one killed, after all. Why not be like the ones you’ve been forced to live with? All you need is the guns for a little ‘equalization’, right? Go FSA!
        How’s that for bias? 🙂

  2. 5thDrawer Avatar
    5thDrawer

    Boys with the game-toys. All ‘action’ on a screen. And a practical demonstration by a Russian techie possibly, on an unarmed plane. (Not that Israel isn’t filled with theorists too …)
    Those who want the whole truth don’t have to send a sub down to retrieve anything … although that might happen too, for the sake of ‘forensic’ analysis.
    If Assad’s army is willing to shoot across the border to kill Lebanese reporters and farmers and boys out fishing, why wouldn’t they enjoy a chance to take out a Turkish jet with the flimsy excuse that it crossed an imaginary line, even after obviously turned away?

    1. 73Corty77 Avatar
      73Corty77

      Typical of you 5th, always blaming Syria for everything. Never once a mention from you on how much evil the Free Syrian Ass Holes are doing. Careful someone might think you are a little bias. 

      1. 5thDrawer Avatar
        5thDrawer

        I don’t remember any FSA in the first months of ‘demonstrations’. But someone wanted a war. War is hell, and people are people. I’m only surprised it took so long for a backlash to begin against snipers randomly shooting women and babies in a street – and I didn’t notice the ‘people’s army’ protecting the demonstrators, or any right to do so, while maintaining social order. When some voiced an opinion, it seemed to me mass arrests occurred instead – and some children were returned to their parents in pieces. So .. yes … I kind of agree the people – right or wrong in their quest – needed some defence.
         Voila … a few militias … evolution … named now FSA as they organize and try to protect their interests IN Syria.
        I suppose we should all be good Christians, turn the other cheek, and quietly die while sitting in a street chanting or carrying our dead to a cemetery. Seemed to me some thought that might work too. But ‘people’ are not all religious saints, are they. And Certainly, a war brings out the nature of any beast. War is Hell. And not everyone was taught that dying on a cross without a fight was a good thing.
        Some, in fact, were taught that it’s either Kill or be Killed in this world – and in that scenario it’s better to get in the first shot. Negotiating anything can get one killed, after all. Why not be like the ones you’ve been forced to live with? All you need is the guns for a little ‘equalization’, right? Go FSA!
        How’s that for bias? 🙂

  3. Patience2 Avatar
    Patience2

    Just remember … the ‘ski’s’ and the Syrian leadership are ‘one item’.

    1. 73Corty77 Avatar
      73Corty77

      And what a great Item they are. Gone are the days of the US and brits controlling everthing and everyone

      1. Patience2 Avatar
        Patience2

         Then what you must do is wallow in the luxury they will afford you.

  4. Patience2 Avatar
    Patience2

    Just remember … the ‘ski’s’ and the Syrian leadership are ‘one item’.

    1. 73Corty77 Avatar
      73Corty77

      And what a great Item they are. Gone are the days of the US and brits controlling everthing and everyone

      1. Patience2 Avatar
        Patience2

         Then what you must do is wallow in the luxury they will afford you.

  5. dateam Avatar

    i wish the media would make up their mind on the this…the americans have confirmed in other media outlets that it was brought down by anti aircraft fire which suggests they were close to shore and further they have stated that the pilots most likely perished…

  6. dateam Avatar

    i wish the media would make up their mind on the this…the americans have confirmed in other media outlets that it was brought down by anti aircraft fire which suggests they were close to shore and further they have stated that the pilots most likely perished…

  7. Leborigine Avatar
    Leborigine

    I knew there was something fishy going on!! Like I said before, the syrians couldn’t even load a handgun and yet down a plane??! Of course the Russians were involved! If it wasn’t for the Russians, the whole syrians armoury would be deemed useless!!

  8. Leborigine Avatar
    Leborigine

    I knew there was something fishy going on!! Like I said before, the syrians couldn’t even load a handgun and yet down a plane??! Of course the Russians were involved! If it wasn’t for the Russians, the whole syrians armoury would be deemed useless!!

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