Turkey’s Shootdown of Russian Jet: What You Need to Know

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2015/11/turkeys-shootdown-of-russian-jet-what-you-need-to-know.html

From War News Updates:

Turkey And Russia Have Released Competing Maps On The Flight Paths Of Their Jets Before Russia's SU-24 Was Shot Down

(Click on Image to Enlarge)

(Click on Image to Enlarge)

Business Insider: War of the maps: Turkey released a map showing where Russia violated its airspace, and Russia countered

Turkey and Russia have released competing maps showing where a Russian warplane violated — or steered clear of, depending on the point of view — Turkish airspace before it was shot down early Tuesday.

Shortly after the jet was downed, the Turkish military published a radar map demonstrating the reported flight path of the jet it shot down, which Ankara is using as proof that the pilots violated the country's airspace:

The blue line is the Turkish border, and the red arrow is pointing to the spot at which the warplane reportedly entered Turkish airspace.

WNU Editor: What I found interesting about the maps is that the Turkish map shows their jet approaching the border .... and it stops there .... they erased the flight path on where the plane was going next. Hmmm .... you have to wonder if the Turkish jet entered Syrian airspace. As to the Russian map .... their definition of where the border runs is slightly different from the Turkish map. It's a small difference, but for high flying fast jets .... that small difference could mean being on one side of the border (or not).

Update: This is not going to help Turkey's case .... Russian jet hit inside Syria after incursion into Turkey: U.S. official (Reuters).

How Has Russian Media Covered The Shooting Down Of A Russian Jet By Turkey

REUTERS/DENIS SINYAKOV

IBTimes: How Russia's Media Covered Turkey Shooting Down A Russian Fighter Jet

Russian state-owned television portrayed Turkey on Tuesday evening news bulletins as a supporter of the Islamic State group that had been angered by Russia’s allegedly successful air campaign in Syria, while commentators expressed fear that the Kremlin's response could lead to Russian jets becoming entangled in dogfights with their Turkish counterparts. “There are many cases when a plane of one country violates the airspace of another country,” said a reporter on state-owned Channel One. “To shoot a plane down you have to want to shoot it down.”

Most state-owned Russian media stressed the Russian ground attack aircraft that was targeted had been flying over Syrian territory when it was shot down by Turkey Tuesday. They speculated over Turkey’s possible motivation for such an act of aggression.

WNU Editor: For this story I watched and listened to U.S., Canadian, British, and Russian media .... and I found very little if any difference in the coverage. Russian pundits were more worried on escalation .... but even U.S. conservative talk show host Sean Hannity was giving the benefit of the doubt to Russia. Overall .... I guess I can say that opinion was mixed. Russian social media .... that is a different story. It ranged from launching retaliatory strikes against Turkey .... to getting the hell out of Syria.

NATO Adopts The Cautious Approach To The Russian - Turkey Crisis But What Happens If Events Go Out Of Control?

Paul Roderick Gregory, Forbes: If Turkey And Russia Continue Fighting, It May Threaten NATO's Existence

We all knew it would happen, whether off the coast of Alaska, over the Baltic Sea, or in the Middle East. Russian President Vladimir Putin has been routinely challenging the NATO airspace for months, well before entering the Syrian conflict. Military experts warned that Russian aircraft flying in crowded airspace with transponders off is a recipe for disaster.

That disaster has occurred, only not in the form of the anticipated accident. Rather the Kremlin misjudged Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who responded to Russia’s provocations by shooting down a Russian fighter plane over its territory, after warning the Russian fighter to leave its air space 10 times. An enraged Putin responded with threats and accused Turkey of being “an accomplice to terror” and “stabbing him in the back.” Turkey has vigorously defended its actions, declaring that it gave ample warning to the Russian jet to leave its air space. Russia’s controlled media released a withering barrage accusing Turkey of being the main sponsor of ISIS and Islamic terrorism.

WNU Editor: NATO is not going to back Turkey if things get out of hand. The response from NATO ambassadors on Tuesday is very telling (from Reuters) ....

.... NATO ambassadors called on Ankara to show "cool-headedness" on Tuesday following an emergency meeting in Brussels, after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border, diplomats said.

Diplomats present at the meeting told Reuters that while none of the 28 NATO envoys defended Russia's actions, many expressed concern that Turkey did not escort the Russian warplane out of its airspace.

Not exactly what I would call a vote of confidence in Turkey.

Interestingly .... in many of the commentaries and opinions that I am now reading .... many pundits (both right and left) are adopting a very hostile view towards Turkey. Case in point .... Turkey Brings NATO to the Precipice of War With Russia (James Carden, The Nation) .... and .... Will reckless Turkey draw NATO into war with Russia? (L. Todd Wood, Washington Times) .... and .... NATO Should Tell Turkey: ‘This Thanksgiving, You’re Dumped’ (Raheem Kassam, Breitbart). When Breitbart and The Nation see eye-to-eye on an issue .... that is something that everyone should take notice.

More News On NATO's Response To Tuesday's Incident Of Turkey Shooting Down A Russian Military Jet

NATO head urges 'calm, de-escalation' after Russian plane downed -- AFP
NATO urges calm after Turkey shoots down Russian plane -- CBS
NATO Expresses Solidarity With Turkey After Russian Jet Shooting -- WSJ
NATO Backs Turkey But Seeks to Lower Tensions With Russia -- VOA
Security leaders: NATO, Russia need to talk -- Politico
Nato and UN seek calm over Turkish downing of Russian jet -- The Guardian
NATO faces new Mideast crisis after downing of Russian jet by Turkey -- Washington Post

Update: Russia is not impressed with NATO's response .... Russian envoy: Ankara forced NATO to excuse the downing of Russian Su-24 (TASS)