CFR Update: Turkey Downs Russian Warplane

November 24, 2015 Daily News Brief

TOP OF THE AGENDA Turkey Downs Russian Warplane Turkey shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border on Tuesday after it allegedly violated Turkish airspace (NYT). Moscow denied that the jet had left Syrian air space (Reuters), saying that the act was conducted by “accomplices of terrorists.” The incident marks the first time (Guardian) Russia and a NATO country have exchanged direct fire over the crisis in Syria, and comes a day before Russia’s foreign minister is slated to travel to Turkey amid strained relations over Russia’s involvement in the Syrian conflict (BBC).

ANALYSIS “It suggests that the much discussed arrangements to avoid incidents between warplanes over Syria are inadequate. The Turkish authorities will no doubt claim that such arrangements do not cover the approaches to their own airspace where tried and tested procedures should apply,'” writes Jonathan Marcus for BBC. “Nato had already warned Russia over previous border infractions, and the US took ‘deconfliction’ steps to minimise the risk of accidental conflict. Now the Nato alliance and the US-led coalition in Iraq and Syria find themselves facing exactly the kind of unplanned but inflammatory confrontation with Moscow they had been urgently striving to avoid,” writes Simon Tisdall for the Guardian. "Although the central issue of what happens to Mr Assad has not been resolved — and has been put aside in the diplomatic talks — western officials said Russia had been supportive of the ambitious timetable for seeking a transitional government and a ceasefire. The coming days would be a ‘testing period’ to see how serious Russia’s intentions are, said one British diplomat," write Sam Jones and Geoff Dyer for the Financial Times.