Posted on 02/28/2020 6:52:17 PM PST by Zhang Fei
Ankara’s official death toll stood at 33 on the morning of Feb. 28, with 60 other troops wounded, among them 16 with serious injuries. It was still unclear whether any soldiers could be still trapped under the rubble. According to unconfirmed information obtained by Al-Monitor, the actual death toll is somewhere between 50 and 55.
What caused Russia to react so violently and provocatively while a Russian delegation was holding talks in Ankara in a bid to ease the tensions in Idlib?
The battlefield had grown highly explosive since Feb. 20, when two Turkish tank crewmen were killed in an air raid on Turkish M60 Sabre tanks in southern Idlib. The situation escalated further on Feb. 25-26, when — amid ongoing operations by Syrian government forces, backed by Russian airpower, in southern Idlib — SNA forces, supported by the Turkish military, launched a counterattack in the Nayrab-Saraqeb area, taking control of Nayrab and marching on to Saraqeb, which lies at the junction of the strategic M4 and M5 highways, while managing to block the M5 at several points only days after the road had been reopened.
Things came to a head on the morning of Feb. 27, when according to Russian media, Russian aircraft flying over southern Idlib became the target of intensive fire from man-portable air-defense systems, known as MANPADS, from Turkish military outposts in the area. Simultaneously, MANPADS and drone attacks reportedly threatened the Khmeimim base, Russia’s key military facility in Syria. Russian sources, contacted by Al-Monitor, claim that more than 15 MANPADS attacks, carried out directly by Turkish troops, targeted Russian and Syrian jets conducting air raids in southern Idlib after 1 p.m. that day. Some Russian aircraft allegedly suffered damage as they maneuvered to escape the fire. As the attacks on the planes and the Khmeimim
(Excerpt) Read more at al-monitor.com ...
I guess I am out of touch. This is the first I have seen of this.
I hope the warmongers don’t talk President Trump into getting involved, despite that Turkey is SUPPOSEDLY a NATO ‘ally’.
I’d feel better if NATO had kicked them out years ago... But at least Bolton is gone.
Basher Assad is a brutal dictator. He was no threat to us and a minor threat to Israel. Obama and Hillary Clinton destabilized that nation during the “Arab Spring” in an attempt to remove him. They sent guns and support to radical Islamic groups. I have no idea what they desired as a replacement for Assad. They did the same thing in Libya. They set the Mid-East on fire.
Obama’s and Clinton’s actions have resulted in the death of many and a total humanitarian crisis of millions of innocents.
We have no vital national interest in Syria and no reason to get involved.
I hope the warmongers don’t talk President Trump into getting involved, despite that Turkey is SUPPOSEDLY a NATO ‘ally’.
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Any consequences that Islamist Turkey suffers as a result of THEIR illegal invasion of a neighboring country is solely on them. No NATO ally owes them any help dealing with the consequences.
Can’t wait until Turkey finds that those top-of-the-line Russian S400 Anti-Aircraft missiles (and they’re damn good!) have a kill switch that renders them inoperative against Russian aircraft.
Whoops.
Being a Jihadi can be risky.
same switch probably homes them in on Turkish radar sites or the launch origin GPS coordinates. Popping popcorn now!!
Turkey is on its own, as an aggressor in Syria - NATO has no obligation to it.
The Assad Regime/Russians/Iranians should arm and unleash surrogates to bleed the Turks dry - just like the Turks armed and unleashed their jihadi surrogates into Syria.
Kurds could be pretty effective, given the right tools.
Agree. The day Erogan managed to decimate the General Staff a few years ago marked the end of any hope of a democratic Turkey. Too bad, Izmir was a decent assignment in the early 70s.
I am so glad Trump pulled out forces from Syria, in spite of all the catcalls from the demons and neocons
If Turks over ran Russian Base, the Russians would answer in many horrible ways and defy NATO to do anything. Russians have nasty weapons that are not nukes.
If Turks over ran Russian Base, the Russians would answer in many horrible ways and defy NATO to do anything. Russians have nasty weapons that are not nukes.
If Turks over ran Russian Base, the Russians would answer in many horrible ways and defy NATO to do anything. Russians have nasty weapons that are not nukes.
[Whoops could go the other way if Turkey chose to over-run all of Russia’s forces in Syria. They can’t be supported effectively if Turkey does not allow it and it seems doubtful Russia would make a nuclear response. Russia does not have many allies right now, so it is tough to predict how they would react if Turkey really punched them in the nose. Turkey and Russia have about the same population aged 15-30, but Russia needs to keep an eye on Ukraine, Poland, the Baltics, and the Far East. Russia sending 500,000 troops though the Caucasus and then fighting through the mountains in Turkey is not a credible threat. Putin wins if things stay small, but Erdogan has geography on his side if things escalate.]
No invasion of Turkey by ground troops, but airstrikes from Russia, if the Turks move further into Syria, endangering the Russian air base. However, I seriously doubt the Russians want to start trading aircraft with the Turks, because they’re pretty expensive, but it could happen, if Erdogan ups the ante. The issue for Putin is that the Turkish air force is a lot more capable than what the Ukrainians and Georgians had, both equipment- and personnel-wise. NATO standards are fairly high, and Turkey is one of the better-armed NATO members.
Probably some of the ones taken during the Libya raid where HRC and BHO murdered 4 Americans
Um, no? Turkey has plenty of MANPADS they bought over the counter from us and other NATO nations. In addition to their own indigenous production. They would have no need to scavenge them from Libya.
They’ve been handing out their own and NATO made MANPADS to their buddies in the area for a while now.
I am glad you know none of these reached Turkey.
I am not so convinced
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