Russian Airstrike on Turkish Troops

[mack7.62]

I thought they were best buds now.

'Oh my gosh': US ambassador stunned by report of attack on NATO ally Turkey

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/p...to-ally-turkey

A long-developing proxy clash in Syria between Russia and Turkey is “very much moving into crisis mode,” a senior American diplomat said amid reports that Turkish troops were attacked in an airstrike.

“Oh my gosh,” Kay Bailey Hutchison, the U.S. ambassador to NATO, exclaimed Thursday when she learned from journalists that more than 20 Turkish service members reportedly have been killed.

[BWT]

I am not excited about anyone losing their life, but this does bring up the question after buying rockets from the Russians.

Who’s side is Turkey on, and do we want them on ours?

I will be interested to see how this pans out.

God Bless,

Brandon

[ABNAK]

I would definitely advise the U.S. to NOT step in on Turkey's behalf. NATO "ally"? What a joke.

Fvck Turkey. They denied the 4th ID from landing there by ship and invading Iraq from the north during OIF I. Ever since it isn't like they've been best buds or anything. Secular my ass; sure, maybe not as extreme as some others in that region but their Muzzie inclinations have shown through.

[Diamondback]

IIRC Turkey only wanted in for "enemy of my enemy," and we only let them because we needed forward basing for smaller bombers like B-47s and the limited-range missiles of the day.

Long past time to rethink that now that we have ICBM's/SLBM's/long range cruise missiles and even a modern FIGHTER is more capable than those first jet bombers, close up shop at Incirlik/Batman and relocate it all to RAF Akrotiri on Cyprus.

[Alpha-17]

I've been watching Turkey for several years now based on my eschatological beliefs. They've definitely been sliding into the Islamist camp for a while and getting more militant and aggressive as well. Their proxies are losing, so they've decided to step up their game. I wouldn't be terribly surprised to see a Turkish invasion and occupation of at least parts of Syria. With Iran and Italy struggling with Corona, and tensions between the Turks and Greece ramping up again, they really can expand in almost any direction.

[BoringGuy45]

Turkey is a very powerful country that many people take for granted. They have a huge population, a large, well trained, and well equipped military, and a decent amount of natural resources. The really only get ignored because they haven't been in a major war since they were the Ottoman Empire during WWI and they are an "ally" so we don't have to deal with them. If they were to ever turn on NATO, they would be a huge pain in the ass to deal with.

[Whiskey_Bravo]

Turkey, being the loyal member of NATO that they are....

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/202...age-to-europe/

[alx01]

Regarding the engagement with Russia - don't forget that Turkey shot down a Russian bomber plane 2 years back after it allegedly intruded into Turkey's territory for about 10-15 seconds (basically flying in Syrian airspace over the Turkey's territory bulge). Turkey claimed they did not know who's plane it was. Then, Turkey-backed rebels shot down a rescue helicopter (don't remember the casualties).

What I'm really surprised about is that Turkey seemed okay with Syria for a long time (20-40 years at least). Maybe not best friends, but not the enemies either. Since the war started in Syria all the sudden Turkey became an adamant supporter of various factions fighting against Assad. Turkey has basically declared an open war on Syria. Had Syria been in a different situation it would have been another major country to country conflict (ala Iran-Iraq war).

I wonder what has changed in Turkey's politics in order for it to openly fight Syria's gov? I suspect they probably want a major land grab from Syria to have a population loyal to Turkey living there plus establishing a buffer zone from Kurds or even expelling Kurds from Turkey into Syrian's territory (again controlled by Turkey or not).

[yoni]

Turkey's military is not what it used to be, due to generals and colonels getting arrested and disappearing forever.

[Averageman]

If there was ever a bunch of folks who want to play the game both ways, it's Turkey.
Pull our Nukes out, kick Turkey out of NATO and let them deal with Russia and Syria alone.