Is Turkey downing a Russian
plane going to spark World War 3? That’s the question everybody has been asking
today. The answer is: it’s going to spark a nuclear war, according to Russian
defense analysts familiar with the downing of the jet.
The Turkish military said it had shot down a Russian warplane early in the
morning on Tuesday, triggering a furious response from the Kremlin and
escalating the already hot tensions in the Syrian conflict.
Turkey said two of their F-16s shot down the Russian Su-24 attack aircraft after
it violated Turkish airspace, according to USA Today. The Turkish military
issued 10 warnings in five minutes before bringing down the Russian jet.
However, Russia’s defense ministry denies the warplane ever breached Turkey’s
airspace. NATO and U.S. defense officials later confirmed the Russian jet
briefly entered the airspace of the NATO member – Turkey.
“As we have repeatedly made clear, we stand in solidarity with Turkey and
support the territorial integrity of our NATO ally, Turkey,” NATO Secretary
General Jens Stoltenberg said after an emergency meeting of NATO.
So what are the chances that Russian President Vladimir Putin is going to give a
brutal response to the downing of Russia’s warplane by Turkish forces? According
to Russian defense analysts, the chances are very high.
Despite the fact that Turkey is backed by NATO’s 5th Article, which states that
an attack on one Ally shall be considered an attack on all NATO members, the
chances that Putin will unleash a nuclear war over the Tuesday incident are very
“likely,” according to Pavel Felgenhauer, Russia’s most respected military
analyst.
>> Russia ‘likely’ to start nuclear war with NATO over the jet
Felgenhauer said Turkey is seeking to protect a zone in northern Syria
controlled by its allies, the Turkmens, while the downing of the Russian jet in
the region must prompt Moscow to either accept the zone or “start a war with
Turkey,” which means starting a war with NATO.
And the only way Russia could win a war against NATO is by going nuclear,
Felgenhauer said.
“It is most likely that it will be war,” said Felgenhauer, as reported by
Mirror. “In other words, more fights will follow when Russian planes attack
Turkish aircraft in order to protect our [Russia’s] bombers. It is possible that
there will be fights between the Russian and Turkish navies at sea.”
Russia’s top defense analyst also warned that Ankara will probably shut down the
Bosphorus, and other NATO members will join this conflict, thus unleashing an
all-out war with Russia. The Bosphorus is the only way by which Russia’s mighty
Black Sea fleet can reach the Mediterranean.
“And in such a conflict Russia has very little chance unless it uses its nuclear
weapons,” Felgenhauer warned.
But a nuclear war involving NATO and Russia “would probably spell, if not the
end of humanity, the end of any possibility of a comfortable future for
humanity,” as reported by ValueWalk, citing Press TV’s interview with Don DeBar,
U.S. political analyst.
>> Most alarming NATO-Russian military incident in 50 years
Turkey downing the Russian jet on Tuesday is the most alarming military indecent
between a NATO member country and Russia in half a century. And with Vladimir
Putin warning of “serious consequences,” U.S. President Barack Obama is already
trying to avoid escalation.
After an emergency meeting in Washington, French President Francois Hollande and
Obama issued a joint statement, in which they called on Putin to avoid
escalation, according to RT.
“Turkey, like every country, has the right to defend its territory and its
airspace,” Obama said, defending the Turkish side of the conflict but admitting
that he had no details on the incident yet.
Putin called the bombing of the Russian warplane a “crime” and stressed that
Moscow will never tolerate it. The Russian President added that the Su-24 plane
crash in Syria goes beyond normal struggle against terrorism, and it is “a stab
in Russia’s back delivered by terrorist accomplices,” as reported by ITAR-TASS.
“I understand each country has its own regional interests, and we have always
respected that. But we shall never tolerate crimes like today’s one,” the
Russian leader said on Tuesday following a meeting with King of Jordan Abdullah
II.
>> Is Obama capable of leading NATO into nuclear war with Russia?
“Today’s loss is linked with a stab in our back delivered by terrorism
accomplices. I can’t characterize otherwise what has happened today,” Putin
said, accusing Turkey of financing and protecting ISIS.
On Oct. 31, ISIS claimed responsibility for shooting down a Russian passenger
plane in Egypt. A total of 224 people, including 17 children, were killed in the
plane crash.
Moreover, ISIS described how it bombed the Russian plane over three weeks ago in
the latest publication of its propaganda magazine, Dabiq, also featuring an
image of what appears to be the bomb that was placed in a soft drink can.
Putin also noted that Turkey’s contacts with NATO members after the bombing of
the Su-24 jet on Tuesday look like an attempt to make the Alliance serve
terrorists.
The question is whether Obama is capable of leading NATO at a serious time like
this one? Turkey will obviously want to feel secured and protected from Russia’s
possible military response, which is why it will be expecting the U.S. to have
its back.
But has Obama enough authority to prevent Turkey and Russia from escalating the
conflict into a nuclear war? And if he fails to do so, is he capable of leading
NATO into a nuclear war with Russia?
(Special thanks to Mr.Polina Tikhonova for this Article)