Downed Turkish jet prompts fears of Syrian confrontation

June 22nd, 2012

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

“Syria immediately offered a very serious apology for the incident and
admitted it was a mistake,” The Habeturk newspaper quoted the prime
minister as telling reporters on board a plane taking him back to Turkey
from Brazil.

However, after he landed on Friday night, Mr Erdogan appeared to backtrack,
saying he could not clarify the exact circumstances in which the plane came
down, indicating that he needed to receive a more detailed briefing from
senior military staff. He also said he had “no firm information”
on a Syrian apology.

While the exact circumstances surrounding the aircraft’s disappearance
remained far from clear, any indication that it was brought down by Syrian
fire could have major international repercussions.

As a member of Nato since 1952, Turkey could call on the alliance to support
and perhaps even participate in any response it chooses to make.

It would almost certainly invoke Chapter IV of the Nato treaty, which allows a
member to convene an emergency summit of the whole alliance if “the
territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the
parties is threatened”.

Turkey reportedly came close to invoking Chapter IV in April after Syrian
forces opened fire into its territory, wounding two Turkish nationals and
two Syrians at a refugee camp close to the border. It was persuaded not to
by the United States.

An accurate picture of what exactly happened could become clearer after
Turkish officials were quoted as saying that both pilots were rescued from
the Mediterranean after they safely ditched from the stricken aircraft.

Turkey has been at the forefront of regional efforts to oust Mr Assad and has
given sanctuary to rebels seeking his overthrow. With thousands of refugees
pouring across its borders, it also led calls to impose a buffer zone inside
Syrian territory but was rebuffed by Western powers.

Instead, Turkey has become a key conduit for the passage of Saudi and Qatari
weapons to the Syrian rebels.

Officials in Ankara have expressed unease that this policy would leave the
country vulnerable to Syrian retaliation and some will see yesterday’s
incident as evidence that their fears have been realised.

The United States gave Turkey strong assurances that it would not leave the
country “hung out to dry” should it experience a backlash from
Syria, a Western official in Washington told The Daily Telegraph last week.

The Obama administration could now come under strong pressure to deliver on
its pledge, despite a deep reluctance in the West to become involved in any
military action in Syria.

Turkey is unlikely, however, to be able to invoke Chapter V of the Nato
treaty, which determines that an attack on one member should be viewed as an
attack on all, because the clause only refers to hostile action taken on
European or North American soil.

The incident came as the Syrian government accused its rebel foes of carrying
out a “massacre” of Mr Assad’s supporters after the emergence of
grisly video footage showing more than a dozen bloodied and mutilated
corpses.

A pro-opposition human rights group confirmed that rebels were behind the
killings, but said that the victims were members of the pro-Assad Shabiha,
the feared Alawite militia accused of murdering hundreds of Sunni civilians.

Although the rebels have been accused of atrocities in the past, the latest
killings will raise fears that Syria is swiftly becoming locked into a
unbreakable cycle of revenge killings and sectarian hatred.

Meanwhile, in a sign that the regime was losing control over its former
strongholds, government troops killed at least ten people in Aleppo, Syria’s
largest city, after opening fire on a demonstrators with heavy machine guns,
according to opposition activists.