dagblog - Comments for "Syria Appears to Have Shot Down Turkish Military Jet"

LOL looking at Google News

A Guy Called LULU — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 15:04:27 +0000

In reply to LOL looking at Google News

LOL looking at Google News just now! Sorry, but I couldn't help it, this story is just getting too over the top absurd:

Sorry, but I can't help asking. This is a serious question, though not serious in the sense that there is any important necessity of it being answered, but serious in the sense that I would like to understand what you mean. It can be embarrassing to not get a joke but, because I like a good laugh too, I hope you will humor me and expand on your comment a bit.
I wish you would explain what is so funny that you laughed out loud when you read this story. Is it this particular story that is too absurd to consider seriously as legitimate reporting or is it that the story reveals absurdity?
What is the top that has absurdly been gone over? Is the very idea that Assad actually made the statements as claimed absurd? Is it because if Assad actually made the statements claimed that he has shown himself to be absurd? Is it absurd to even pay attention to, and consider, what Assad's stated view on a potentially explosive incident , which no doubt already included an explosion, is? Is it absurd to report his statement because we already know some other truth ? Is it absurd that we even follow a story that could be one of the early chapters in another chronicle of another front on another war? Does the fact that the Jerusalem Post published this story make giving it any credence absurd? Is it absurd that any attention is still being given to this incident? I mean, what could come of it anyway that makes it newsworthy? Another absurd justification for another absurd war possibly?

LOL looking at Google News

artappraiser — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 09:19:09 +0000

In reply to Syria Appears to Have Shot Down Turkish Military Jet

LOL looking at Google News just now! Sorry, but I couldn't help it, this story is just getting too over the top absurd:

Assad: I wish downed Turkish jet had been Israeli

Jerusalem Post - ‎52 minutes ago‎

By REUTERS In interview with Turkish paper, Assad apologetic over interception of plane, says incident happened in corridor oft used by IAF.

NATO backs Turkey as PM vents

artappraiser — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 11:38:55 +0000

In reply to Turkey PM Erdogan issues

NATO backs Turkey as PM vents fury at 'heinous' Syria

By Fulya Ozerkan (AFP) – 3 hours ago

ANKARA — Turkey's prime minister vowed on Tuesday to retaliate against Syria for its 'heinous' downing of one of its warplanes, as the head of NATO said such an attack on one of its members was unacceptable.

Amid reports of clashes around elite Republican Guard posts in Damascus, Ankara raised the heat on the Assad regime by accusing it of shooting down the jet last Friday while it was in international airspace, and without warning.

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, once a close ally of President Bashar al-Assad, has become one of the Syrian leader's biggest critics and his reaction to the downing of the jet represented his fiercest outburst to date.

"They acted without warning. This is a hostile act... a heinous attack," Erdogan told a parliamentary meeting of his ruling AKP party.

The premier admitted the Turkish plane had violated Syrian airspace but said it was only for a short time and "by mistake". He insisted it was not in Syrian airspace by the time it came under attack.

"Turkey will exercise its rights, born out of international law, with determination, and take the necessary steps by determining the time, place and method by itself," Erdogan told the lawmakers.

"The rules of engagement of the Turkish Armed Forces have changed given this new development," Erdogan added [......]

Turkey Warns Syrian Forces Not to Approach Border
By PAUL GEITNER and ALAN COWELL, New York Times, June 26, 2012

BRUSSELS — Warning Syria not to test its resolve, Turkey sought support on Tuesday from its partners in the NATO alliance at an emergency meeting of envoys in Brussels called after Syria shot down a Turkish warplane over the Mediterranean Sea.

The crisis between the two neighbors showed no sign of abating as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey threatened a military response against Syrian forces approaching his country's long border with Syria in a threatening way and said Turkey had revized military rules of engagement.

"Every military element that approaches the Turkish border from Syria in a manner that constitutes a security risk or danger would be considered as a threat and would be treated as a military target," he said in a speech to lawmakers and Arab diplomats in Ankara.

"From here onwards, we warn the Syrian regime not to make any mistakes, not to test Turkey’s decisiveness and wisdom," Mr. Erdogan said [......]

Turkey PM Erdogan issues

artappraiser — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 11:26:29 +0000

In reply to Syria Appears to Have Shot Down Turkish Military Jet

Turkey PM Erdogan issues Syria border warning

BBC News, June 26, 2012, 7:02am EDT

Turkey says its military rules of engagement have changed after Syria shot down a Turkish plane that strayed into its territory.

PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan told parliament that if Syrian troops approached Turkey's borders, they would be seen as a military threat.

Meanwhile Nato has expressed its condemnation of Syria's attack as well as strong support for Turkey [......]

Mr Erdogan spoke of Turkey's "rage" at Syria's decision to shoot down the F-4 Phantom on 22 June. "A short-term border violation can never be a pretext for an attack," he said. The Turkish jet was on a training flight, testing Turkey's radars in the eastern Mediterranean, he said.

He made it clear that Turkey was adopting a "common sense" attitude, although that "shouldn't be perceived as a weakness". [......]

It wasn't us who dun it, it

artappraiser — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 06:54:53 +0000

In reply to Syria Appears to Have Shot Down Turkish Military Jet

It wasn't us who dun it, it was our automatic anti-aircraft guns; you have to expect this when your damn kids don't stay off our electrified lawn:

Syria: Turkish jet downed in our airspace
Al-Akhbar English (sourced as Al-Akhbar & AFP,) June 25, 2012

Syria on Monday denied claims that a Turkish fighter jet was in international airspace when it was shot down.

Foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi said the plane had been shot down by anti-aircraft guns, rather than missiles, and therefore could not have been outside Syrian territory.

He said that a report had been sent to Turkey confirming that anti-aircraft guns, which have a limited range, had been used.

"The Turkish warplane violated Syrian airspace, and in turn Syrian air defenses fired back and the plane crashed inside Syrian territorial waters," Makdissi told a news conference, adding he would "refute the lies" of Turkish officials.

He added that the Turkish jet had been flying at little over 100 meters altitude, saying that "even if the plane was Syrian we would have shot it down."

Makdissi also called for a calm response from Turkey, stressing that Syria wanted a "neighborly relationship."

Turkey and Syria, once allies, have seen their relations sharply deteriorate since the Syrian uprising began in March 2011.

Turkey, initially silent over the uprising, is now firmly backing Syria's opposition, hosting several rebel groups, and drawing accusations that it is also training and arming anti-regime fighters [....]

Geography is destiny

jollyroger — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 13:57:19 +0000

In reply to Hmmm. The Turks and Saudis

Geography is destiny

Jonathan Head from the BBC

Bruce Levine — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 13:12:08 +0000

In reply to Al Jazeera: Syria confirms

Jonathan Head from the BBC Istanbul bureau draws two conclusions from Turkey's low-key response: (1) Syria's Russian anti-aircraft defenses work and they ain't afraid to use them; and (2) Turkey has no interest in elevating this into a full scale confrontation with Syria:

BBC News, Istanbul

The Turkish response to the downing of one of its fighter jets by Syrian forces has been strikingly low-key. Official statements have been terse. Turkey is not challenging the official Syrian account of what happened, but nor is it yet accepting it.

The Syrian military said the F4 reconnaissance jet was shot down as it flew low and fast towards the city of Latakia, just one kilometre from the coast. Turkey's President Abdullah Gul suggested that it was routine for fast-flying military jest to stray into other countries' air space, but the Syrian account puts this aircraft deep inside its territory, raising big questions about what it was doing. Had it gone badly off course, or was it on some other mission? There are questions too about why Syria shot the aircraft down, rather than try to ascertain its purpose.

Two impressions are left by what we know so far from this incident. First, that Syria's sophisticated, Russian-supplied air defence systems are effective, and Syria is willing to use them. Second, that Turkey is taking great care not to be drawn into a military confrontation with Syria.

Hmmm. The Turks and Saudis

moat — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 00:57:11 +0000

In reply to Saudi Arabia plans to fund

Hmmm. The Turks and Saudis working together. It sounds like they are ready to get over that whole Ottoman Empire thing.

Saudi Arabia plans to fund

artappraiser — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 23:56:26 +0000

In reply to Syria Appears to Have Shot Down Turkish Military Jet

Saudi Arabia plans to fund Syria rebel army

Exclusive: Command centre in Turkey organising weapon supply to opposition

By Martin Chulov in Beirut, Ewen MacAskill in Washington, John Densky in Idlib province
guardian.co.uk, Friday 22 June 2012 13.03 EDT

Saudi officials are preparing to pay the salaries of the Free Syria Army as a means of encouraging mass defections from the military and increasing pressure on the Assad regime, the Guardian has learned.

The move, which has been discussed between Riyadh and senior officials in the US and Arab world, is believed to be gaining momentum as a recent flush of weapons sent to rebel forces by Saudi Arabia and Qatar starts to make an impact on battlefields in Syria.

Officials in the Saudi capital embraced the idea when it was put to them by Arab officials in May, according to sources in three Arab states, around the same time that weapons started to flow across the southern Turkish border into the hands of Free Syria Army leaders.

Turkey has also allowed the establishment of a command centre in Istanbul which is co-ordinating supply lines in consultation with FSA leaders inside Syria. The centre is believed to be staffed by up to 22 people, most of them Syrian nationals [....]

Al Jazeera: Syria confirms

artappraiser — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 23:04:29 +0000

In reply to Syria Appears to Have Shot Down Turkish Military Jet

Al Jazeera: Syria confirms shooting down Turkish warplane
Turkey to decide on official response once all details become clear, as search under way for two missing pilots.
Last Modified: 22 Jun 2012 22:38

Al-Manar, the source cited by the tweet that caused bslev to post, is affiliated with Hezbollah. Al Jazeera is owned by the state of Qatar (or, alternately, as Angry Arab News Service likes to rant to us, is a tool of Sunni royal scum.) So now, everyone but the state of Turkey is sure this is what happened?!