The facts on the table

What kind of plane was this one, man? Has there been such an order in history where one plane was given and a country was taken? 

I am talking about Russia. I’m talking about the recent conversations in Ankara.

Let us see the greater picture without being squeezed in crises. 

Let us put the facts we have encountered in the past few months on the table, in chronological order:
 
- A Russian plane was shot down. In return, Russia took control of the airspace of a huge country such as Syria. 

- This was not enough. It made the Syrian ports in the Mediterranean Sea its military bases.

- This was not enough either. It deployed long-range missiles. At normal times, if it placed these missiles in the Mediterranean, all hell would have broken loose. 

- This was still not enough, so it came all the way to Syria’s Qamishli on the Turkish border. It is building an airport there. 

- This was again not enough. It is now supporting the Democratic Union Party (PYD) to form an autonomous Kurdish state loyal to itself to the south of Turkey.  

- And, as this was not enough, it is pushing out the Turkmens in the region, acting together with the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. 

What kind of a plane was this one, man? 

Where is NATO? 

Russia is experimenting with all kinds of tricks to provoke Turkey. It came as close as Qamishli to carve out Turkey’s southeast and it is openly supporting the PYD. It is supporting the outlawed Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) over the PYD, while the former is heinously staging attacks in the districts of Sur and in Cizre in Turkey’s southeast.

Russia and Syria are carrying out “terrorist attacks” against Turkey, which is a NATO country. In other words, they are using terrorists to push Turkey into the corner. 

Nevertheless, they designated the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the PKK as terrorist organizations, but they are only bombing ISIL. Why? 

It looks as if they are expecting Turkey, under these provocations, to attack terrorist targets across its borders. Russia is setting a trap for Turkey using the PYD. It is waiting for the opportunity to strike whenever Turkey crosses the border. 

However, as that hadn’t happened yet, it violated our airspace. At this point, the question grows bigger in Ankara: 

Are we going to keep quiet against Russia’s provocative, threatening and invading stance? Of course there is a price for this. 

Why is NATO’s voice against Russia “so low?” 

Any luck in Geneva?  

When all these facts are added up, everything is based on Syria. Al-Assad has Russia, Iran and China all supporting him. He is flirting with the U.S. and the EU under the name of fighting ISIL.  

In this case, as long as Russia and the U.S. are not in agreement, there is no importance for Geneva. 

So we are back to the same question. While terrorist leaks and logistical support are ongoing from the north of Syria under the auspices of Russia, and while bombs are pouring on top of the Turkmens in Syria, Turkey will of course have certain expectations from Syria. 

Turkey has always been loyal in every NATO duty, from Korea to Somalia and Afghanistan. For years, Turkey was the wing country against the Soviets. Would it not now expect loyalty from NATO? 

The latest statement from the White House was like a “low-tuned loyalty note.” But is that enough? We will see…