talk about shaking the hornets nest , I mean this , Syria , Isis , Russia , turkey France , NATO, and possibly Uk all in the same air space , maybe on the ground , this is getting very close to a situation that can spiral into a very different problem than just Isis ! Thoughts ?
Exactly so many dimensions now .... Could easily escalate .... Was just wondering what our thoughts are on this latest escalation ,,,,,
Indeed!! They seem to be sympathetic to Isis and I heard today that they are buying oil from them. This could get very messy!!
Col , thanks for input but when you think about it , it's not like old skoool Cold War where all party's new there place , but now there are so many variables I personally think it's very very dangerous the way events are unfolding ?
Worrying very worrying. I thought we were all on the same side...but now it seems we are not.... I suspect a rat again.... But weren't we prodding a Russian sub that was wandering around Scotland earlier this week What are they up to NOT helpful
The Turks are primarily anti Assad, for his treatment of the Turkmen ethnically Turkish minority in Syria, and anti Kurd. But they not have any love for Daesh, an Arab 'organisation' . They also hate the Armenians, Greeks and I don't think they like the Russians either. Having said that the few Turks I know are great people and Istanbul is a wonderful city. The US has bases in Turkey. Let's see if the Russians shoot down one of their planes 'by mistake'. Turkey and Russia, two countries with nationalist, authoritarian leaders. Ugly. Is the enemy of my enemy always my friend?
Just madness. Some justification to shoot down the jets I suppose but the killing of the defenceless pilots in parachutes was just murder and pretty much a declaration of war imo. Mad, crazy and foolish.
They were killed by the Syrian rebels they'd just been bombing, in Syria, which suggests to me the pilots were either shot down over Syria or at least leaving Turkish airspace
That may well be the position of the Turkish Government, but there were an awful lot of Turks in that football stadium who seemed to have a lot of sympathy with Isis.
Turkey is unique in that it sits on the cusp of Europe and the Arab world. I don't think it would take much for someone to light the blue touch paper and for something major to kick off, although I sincerely hope not.
As I understand it, and to compound matters - weren't the two pilots that had ejected from the aircraft shot dead in cold blood as they parachuted back to terra-firma ?
Yeah, just looked at that online. Seems like they just hate everybody, which I suppose makes life simple. I know that there is no love lost between Turks and Arabs, dating back to the Ottoman Empire. Just heard that Putin said something like "it's up to God to forgive terrorists, but it's up to me to send them to meet him".
and call me Dave can't get them into the EU quick enough. Just think it is going to take a miracle for this not to turn very badly
With the way things are unfolding, I am glad I live in a neutral country. That doesn't mean we won't get attacked by ISIS but the likelihood is far less. Putin is a complete nutter who is taking advantage of a weak Obama.
Seems like a perfect time for Britain to add to the whole ****ed up situation by dropping some pointless bombs of our own on Syria.