Could downing of Russian jet over Turkey lead to a wider war? (Maybe, but probably won't)

[LuckyTheDog]

The dangerous skies over Syria have now earned their reputation. On Nov. 24, 2015, the Turkish foreign ministry confirmed that its forces had shot down a fighter aircraft on the Turkish border with Syria. The Russian foreign ministry confirmed soon afterwards that it has lost an SU-24 over Syria.

The situation remains tense: two pilots were filmed ejecting from the stricken aircraft; one is reported to be in the hands of pro-Turkish Turkmen rebels along the border but the fate of the other is unknown – early reports from Reuters said it had video of the second pilot seemingly dead on the ground.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, called the incident a “a stab in the back, carried out by the accomplices of terrorists.” He said the shooting down would have “significant consequences, including for Russia-Turkish relations." Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, is understood to have cancelled a planned trip to Turkey and NATO announced there would be a meeting of its North Atlantic Council in Brussels to discuss the shootdown.

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It is important to keep in mind that while shooting another country’s plane down could be see as an act of war, it has rarely precipitated a larger conflict. The last time a NATO member shot down a, then Soviet, fighter aircraft (MiG-15) was in 1953, destroyed by the United States (US) during the height of the early Cold War tension and towards the stalemate that would end the Korean War.

MORE HERE: http://yonside.com/downing-russian-jet-turkey-lead-wider-war/

[Agnosticsherbet]

1. At thsi time, a wider war is not in Russian or NATO interests.

But they will complain like hell.

[magical thyme]

2. the rebels also shot down the Russian search & rescue helicopter sent for the pilots

and the rebels shot at the pilots while parachuting down, and killed one of them. Word is the other was injured and taken hostage by one rebel group or another. No word on whether pilot of the helicopter (which was forced to land and then blown up after landing) made it out of the helicopter after it was blown up.

[LuckyTheDog]

3. So basically...

... this is a shit storm.

[magical thyme]

4. an escalating shit storm. It was a Turkish fighter jet that shot down the Russian plane, but

Turkish rebels that live in Syria that shot at the pilots and downed the helicopter, using weapons provided by the US.

The border is irregular in that stretch, with a narrow (<2mile wide) strip that juts into Syria. Hard to say which side of the border the plane was even on. The pilots landed on the Syrian side. I think the plane landed on the Turkish side.

[Cayenne]

5. The wreckage is 4 km inside Syria

[magical thyme]

6. Just found the Putin video. He says it was hit 1km outside of Turkey as well.

He also calls Turkey an associate of the terrorists...

http://www.vox.com/2015/11/24/9791158/putin-plane-russia
Putin, clearly, is quite angry. He calls Turkey's actions a "stab in [Russia's] back," and blames the country for enabling ISIS's "barbarous, heinous ways" by allowing it to sell oil in Turkish territory. Most ominously, he threatens "serious consequences" for relations between Russia and Turkey...