Really, it shouldn't be an issue in my mind either, however countries like Turkey really don't want non allies over their airspace, and they especially don't want Russia which Turkey has historical tensions with. However, according to Turkey's foreign minister there were two SU-24s that were heading towards Turkish airspace, Turkey issued a warning via an emergency channel, and the planes did not respond even to IFF (Identification, friend or foe). Plane 1 left Turkish airspace, Plane 2 continued into Turkish airspace. Here's where this presents a real problem: Turkey had F-16s in the air conducting air patrols, if this plane is heading into Turkish airspace, why is it going there with Turkish planes in the air? If it's not responding to an IFF request, what is its plan? Is it going to fire on these Turkish aircraft? So the F-16s issued a warning, and then fired. One example is the Gulf of Sidra Incident; Libyan MIGs approached US F-14 Tomcats in the Gulf of Sidra and made some aggressive moves, so according to our ROE we shot them down (granted the Libyan MIGs were being super aggressive and trying to get locks on the F-14s, and the F-14s shouldn't have actually been in the area since it was technically Libyan airspace).
We're not there yet, and there's still a stigma about issuing arrest warrants for "sitting heads" of government (even if they're not considered legitimate by some people).
I think the only other recognized parties are the Syrian National Council and the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces. Though the SNC pulled out of the National Coalition, the National Coalition currently holds Syria's seat in the Arab League, and it's not held by Assad or any representative of the Assad regime.
I think Turkey learned a valuable lesson about supporting terrorism.
Source? Not calling you out on anything, just genuinely curious.
Turkey has troops in the flight path of the su24 that got shot down.
Which one was the Azaz convoy? I've lost track of muh links.Source? Not calling you out on anything, just genuinely curious.
Russian ambassador says otherwise
Assuming that's true it just makes Russia look even dumber. But of course it's not true.
And you've called me an idealist
. Lol just a light hearted comment; I don't mean to disparage you. In some ways yes you are correct or more to the point you should be correct. However unfortunately it's not quite the way these things have played out.
Just whose convoys of what going where and who are they getting bombed by. Or even if you can shed more light on your statement.
And you've called me an idealist
In regards to your first comment: if the planes don't identify themselves the Turks have no idea who they are. It could be Syrian jets which did drop bombs in Turkey early on into the war, or even if the Turkish Falcons didn't fire and then were fired upon it could have been a disaster for the Turkish government. In many many ways the Turkish government is actually in the right here: they've warned Russia not to violate their airspace, they told Russia there would be consequences, and Russia has no right to Turkish airspace. Imagine what would happen if a Turkish warplane violated Russian airspace; it would most likely be shot down.
In regards to the other thoughts; 15 States decide not to recognize Obama as a leader. Okay, so what? Of course everybody still recognizes Obama as the leader. This however changes if Obama can no longer exert control over these states and they rise up in open rebellion. Just like during our own Civil War the UK recognized the CSA as a sovereign nation. We can draw parallels to also how the US does not necessarily recognize the current government of Iran since it was brought about y revolution or how for a while we didn't recognize Cuba. Assad has lost control of most of his country and there are people in open rebellion; you can't really claim that he is the legitimate leader anymore. Should his government be part of any on going talks and peace processes? I do believe so. Another parallel that can be drawn is the break up of Yugoslavia and Kosovo breaking away from Serbia.
The last bit is somewhat flawed as Turkey is backing rebels fighting Daesh, but then with the other hand they're buying Daesh's oil. It's
a complicated scenario and drawing it in black and white is a pretty naive and very short sighted. The opposition forces are fighting Assad and Daesh, while Assad fights the opposition and Daesh, while Daesh is fighting everyone. Russia by bombing opposition forces has actually allowed Daesh to make gains against them which is also more detrimental in the log run fight against them, and will make the fight harder for Assad when he goes to fight Daesh (his forces are largely ignoring them and attacking opposition forces).