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View Full Version : Syrian War Spreading to NATO?



mundame
06-22-2012, 03:39 PM
Syria shoots down Turkish Fighter Plane...........................Maybe, maybe not.

Reports in Turkey initially stated that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed that Syria had apologised for shooting down the plane. "Syria (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/) immediately offered a very serious apology for the incident and admitted it was a mistake", Haberturk daily newspaper quoted Mr Erdogan as saying onboard a plane on the way to Turkey from Brazil.

However, Mr Erdogan later told a news conference that he could not confirm reports that Syria had shot it down and had apologised.


He said he had no word on the fate of the pilot and navigator on board.

"The chief of general staff has made the necessary statement about the missing plane. I am not saying it was brought down at the point it fell. It is not possible to say this without knowing the exact facts,"

The incident prompted the calling of an emergency security meeting to be led later on Friday by Mr Erdogan and attended by top military and intelligence chiefs.



http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02256/Turkish_plane_shot_2256636c.jpg

A Turkish military F-4 Phantom , similar to the one lost over Hatay in Turkey

The F-4 Phantom, a fighter bomber with a pilot and navigator on board, disappeared over the Mediterranean. All radar and radio contact with the aircraft was lost shortly after it departed from Erhac air base in Turkey's southern province of Malatya.

Turkey is a member of Nato, meaning that it could invoke Article V of the North Atlantic Treaty and summon the aid of all 28 countries in the alliance if it comes under attack. Turkey's government is a strident critic of President Bashar al-Assad's regime and tension has risen along the land border between the two neighbours.
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Okay, Turkish president Erdogan first lied flatly as soon as they knew the fighter was missing, that Syria shot it down and that they had immediately apologized profusely. Then he took that back!

I hope NATO --- that's us --- isn't supposed to get involved in all this; like with Libya. Could this be an excuse to get NATO forces into the civil war as they did with Libya?

Kathianne
06-23-2012, 12:57 AM
I'm not overly concerned NATO tends to be focused and not prone to getting into something not in their interests. I wish the UN were the same.

mundame
06-23-2012, 09:34 AM
I'm not overly concerned NATO tends to be focused and not prone to getting into something not in their interests. I wish the UN were the same.

NATO dragged us into the Libyan war, however. And there has been a lot of pressure to stop the Syrian butchery and get rid of Assad.

I think the quick and implausible reversal Erdogan made is because NATO decided to think about using this as an excuse to go in. As of this morning, they seem to be still thinking about it.

If NATO does go in, we have to do all the shooting because apparently Europe doesn't have planes and tech that really work at this point. That's how it was with Libya, anyway.

I don't like the idea.

Gaffer
06-23-2012, 11:44 AM
The turks want to take action in syria for whatever reason. They want to do it under the blessing of NATO or the UN. So they don't look bad in the eyes of the world. This sort of incident makes them look like the victims.