"Did Russia Just Bomb A Turkish Convoy In Northern Syria?" Topic

"A U.S. defense official says the Pentagon is monitoring reports that a convoy of humanitarian vehicles was hit in an airstrike Wednesday near Azaz, Syria, about 6 kilometers south of the Turkish border.

Reuters video shows aid trucks on fire at the Bab al-Salam border crossing. It was not immediately clear to which group the trucks belonged. Media and a monitoring group say three people were killed and at least 6 others wounded when airstrikes near Azaz hit an aid convoy.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports that the warplanes bombing in the vicinity of Azaz are believed to be Russian…"

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Full article here
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According to reports no aid organization is claiming that this "aid convoy" was sanctioned by them. We should also remember that Turkey has been caught shipping weapons to Syrian rebels before ….
"Turkish newspaper editor in court for 'espionage' after revealing weapon convoy to Syrian militants (RT)."
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As to Russia being responsible for this air-strike …. it would not surprise me…pay back!

Amicalement
Armand

Violating borders without permission can have consequences, as we have seen, so………..

Arms shipments to anti-Assad rebels disguised as humanitarian shipments?

Fake humanitarian convoy eh…?

That would be an interesting turn of events … Putin will not take an Turk , if this is true ? Plus IIRC, the Turks do a lot of business with Russia. That could change as well.

Already read reports of Turkish trucks being held up on the Russian border for paperwork.

Russia will not be happy until they shoot down at least one Turkish jet, most likely from ground-fire from some cat's paw in Syria or Iraq where Turkish jets often play.

Turks has announced today that they're stopping their flights over Syria. Don't think it's just a coincidence ;)

I suspect the newly installed S-400 missile systems in Syria may have some bearing on that new policy.

also…

Turkey arrests editors over reports Ankara supplied weapons to Syrian fighters
The journalists were arrested, accused of assisting a terrorist organisation because of footage published apparently showing the state intelligence agency sending weapons into Syria

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Sending weapons over the border, arresting journalists on trumped-up charges… I'm amazed they don't get on better with Putin.

Yeah, but since they're sending the weapons brought there by US/Saudi/Qatar they're doing just fine…

They'll be annexing part of Syria and claiming it was 'always a part of Turkey' next… All they need to do now is shoot down an airliner and they'll have the set. ;)

Actually that's their intention (I mean annexation) as it was part of Ottoman Empire , and in case of Syria partition Turkey would like to get the border region….

You can also add shooting protesters in the capital and using army against them…however as Erdogan is the West SOB, and Yanukovich was Russian, they're getting different press ;)

I don't think they are – Turkey gets plenty of bad press. Turkey and Russia thoroughly deserve each other. ;)

Yanukovich was Ukrainian, born in Donetsk and Ukrainian nationality.

Putin granted him Russian citizenship (according to Ukrainian officials, but never actually confirmed by Russia) after he fled Ukraine.

Ok, you know there's a bleepomatic intsalled on TMP? What I'm saying, that Yanukovich was thought to be pro-Russian son of a bitch (in fact he cared only about his own business interests) while Erdogan, and other Turkish leaders before him were getting green light on pretty much everything they were/are doing. While some of the press was pointing what Turkey really is, nobody of real power in the West paid atention to it. As long as this son of a bitch was useful for geopolitic purposes it could occupy a part of another european country, bomb its own citizens, etc. etc.
I guess my point is clear now?

Edit: strange, bleepomatic doesn't work on b word ;)

Being an old Cold War vet … this may sound strange. But I [almost] trust the Russians more than any of Islamic states in the region. Again, I say Islamic as the Turks and Persians are not considered Arabs … Regardless … a lot of bad things going on there …

A Turkish "convoy of humanitarian vehicles" really make me laugh

I trust the Russians to be Russians. I understand their strategic thought processes.

The Middle East? Not so much.

Turkey Jails Two Journalists Who Disclosed Turkey's Involvement In Arming Syrian Rebel Groups

"The respected editor of a prominent Turkish newspaper and one of his key reporters have been detained, jailed and accused of espionage for a controversial story about an alleged arms shipment from Turkish intelligence to Syrian rebels.

Turkish authorities on Thursday imprisoned Can Dündar, editor in chief of Cumhuriyet, and Erdem Gül, the newspaper's capital correspondent in Ankara, on charges of spying and aiding a terrorist organization, the newspaper's attorney said. If convicted, the two men would face life in prison over the charges.

The arrests are part of a renewed crackdown on Turkish media since the political party founded by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan regained one-party rule earlier this month…"
Full article here
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There is also the case of American reporter Luke Rudkowski who exposed the Turkish government's ties to the Islamic State, and was murdered right after her report …

" American Journalist Murdered By Western Ally For Exposing ISIS Ties (YouTube)."
YouTube link

Amicalement
Armand

Yanukovich was thought to be pro-Russian sob (in fact he cared only about his own business interests)

Absolutely. His level of personal financial corruption was almost obscene even by Ukrainian standards and the whole thing was about which side buttered his personal bread best, which makes Russia's involvement on the basis of protecting ethnic Russians even more ridiculous, tragic and disgusting – it was all about protecting Russian (financial) interests and spite that the people thought they could be financially better off trading with Europe. Putin has created and perpetuated a war in Ukraine out of spite that they dared to consider trading elsewhere. He could have stopped it, by simply sealing the border and preventing Russian citizens and servicemen from entering, but he wanted to teach Ukraine a lesson, which it has, in lives.

This is very different. Turkey was a founding member of NATO, and I agree that status appears to have allowed it to get away with multiple atrocities over the last 50 or so years. I think it was admitted more because it served western interests to prevent Soviet Russia from being able to move south, to permit NATO forces easy access to the med and give them Russia's southern border. I have no doubt that some things have been overlooked that would not otherwise on the basis that NATO (and mainly the USA) would rather have the convenient access of Turkish bases than not, but I have no doubt there have been a lot of discussions about Turkeys other side and (much like the multiple 'aid' convoys Russia has sent to Ukraine) I have little doubt that Turkey was playing a little fast and loose with exactly what aid was being supplied, to whom, and to what end.

The

The Turks dealing with and in turn "defacto" supporting of Daesh as well as their murdering Western Journalists, the Turks becoming less secular and more Islamic, etc., etc., …
Certainly should put their NATO membership in question. NATO is an "Alliance" … if you can't depend on allies … they are in "defacto" … Not allies …