(Newswire.net — November 27, 2015) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday that if Turkey had known the warplane was Russian, the incident would be handled differently… maybe.
“If we had known if it was a Russian plane maybe we would have warned it differently,” Erdogan told France 24 television.
The sort of excuse comes shortly after Russian media accused the President Erdogan’s son of collaborating with ISIS. According to Russian media, Bilal Erdogan’s principle business is importing cheap oil he has acquired on the black market from ISIS. Russian media reported that two Turkish Air force F-16 jets attacked Russian jet after Russian Air force destroyed oil fields in Syria, which will cost Bilal Erdogan millions.
Russian president Putin confirmed, “Suspicious relationship” Turkey President’s son has with ISIS, emphasizing that “large quantities of ISIS oil end up in Turkey.”
The exact scale of Russian response is still the subject of much speculations, however most experts have ruled out the prospect of military retaliation. That, however does not mean that Turkey will get a pass for its actions; it may suffer significantly in days ahead. The Serbian daily newspaper Kurir reported it has found out from “the diplomacy circles” that Turkey is looking at “some serious black days,” and the event almost certainly marks the end of Erdogan’s rule.
Erdogan now says that Turkey didn’t know the plane was Russian, a claim that has been met with a large measure of skeptisism.
The Turkish President disputed all the allegations and called on Moscow to prove Turkey’s collaboratation with ISIS. However, proving that Bilal Erdogan is buying oil from ISIS is the least of the problems for Turkey as Russia announced that it has stopped importing all Turkish food and goods, which will cost Turkey $billions in much needed foreign trade.
Analyzing the worst-case scenario, most experts have ruled-out military intervention, however, the Kremlin could start supporting Kurds with military equipment and weapons. Such a move could eventually lead to separation of nearly one half the Turkey, where the Kurds represent the majority of the population, into a separate state. Such a move would reflect a similar scenario to that followed by the NATO Alliance with Kosovo’s Albanians in a Serbian province when it unilaterally declared separation from Serbia.
Putin’s actions in the Crimea and Ukraine confirms that what many formerly believed to be is impossible, may actually be very plausible. If so, Turkey may become the first NATO country to lose its territorial integrity.
The downing of the Russian warplane by Turkey may not be the spark that will ignite the next World War, but the event may be a catalyzer for events that have been waiting to happen for a very long time.