Turkey and Russia Saga

2m ago17:07
Obama: 'attack on Paris, an attack on world itself'

President Obama has just started a joint press conference with his French counterpart Francois Hollande at the White House. Calling France America’s oldest ally, he pays tribute to its culture and its joie de vivre. He happy memories of being in Paris with Michelle, including them kissing in the Jardin de Luxembourg. “Nous sommes tous Francais.” He says the attacks in Paris as an assault on the world itself. He claims that 8,000 airstrikes have pushed back Isis.

10m ago16:53
Reuters is reporting that a Tunisian military bus carrying presidential guards has been hit by an explosion in central Tunis. Tunisia has suffered a couple of devastating attacks recently, including the massacre of tourists on a beach and the assault on the Bardo museum. Six people are reported dead.

Updated at 4.56pm GMT




18m ago16:45
White House: 'Russian incursion into Turkish airspace lasted seconds'


Russia’s operation in Syria will continue despite the downing of a Russian fighter jet by the Turkish air force, the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said. Meanwhile, a US official has said that initial indications are that the Russian incursion into Turkish airspace lasted a matter of seconds.




26m ago16:38
Turkish official: 'Two Russian pilots still alive'


Despite earlier reports that the two pilots are dead, a Turkish official has told Reuters otherwise.


Turkey believes the two pilots from a Russian war plane it shot down close to the Syrian border on Tuesday are still alive and is working to secure their release from Syrian rebels, a Turkish government official told Reuters. “Our units, who received the information that the two pilots were alive, are working to get them from opposition rebels safely,” the official said.




31m ago16:32


While EU president Donald Tusk appeals for calm, Russia and Turkey might choose to up the ante. Analysts Ege Seckin and Firas Abi Ali from IHS Country Risk consider the options for both.



In the medium term, Russia and Turkey both have escalation options against one another. Russia can increase the price of Russian gas, while Turkey can provide support to insurgents within Russian Caucasian republics and in Crimea. Russia is also likely to retaliate indirectly by increasing support for the Syrian-Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its Turkey-based counterpart, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).




48m ago16:15
Russian plane 'acting against militants originating from Russia'


More from the Russian defence ministry, which follows Putin’s comments (see 13.02) that the Russian jet was taking action against militants originally from Russia.



“The Russian operations were against illegal terrorist formations mainly made up of fighters from Russia’s North Caucasus region… Attempts by Russian defence ministry specialists to make emergency contact with their Turkish counterparts were unsuccessful… The ministry is currently working out a range of measures to react to this kind of incident… Military operations against terrorists in Syria will continue.”

Updated at 4.20pm GMT




1h ago15:53
On the diplomatic front, French president Francois Hollande has begun talks with Barack Obama at the White House. Hollande is seeking support for increased military action against Islamic State after the atrocities in Paris that left 130 dead. He received David Cameron at the Elysee palace yesterday. Hollande, who is to go on to Russia, has pleaded for the US and Russia to set aside their policy differences over Syria and “fight this terrorist army in a broad, single coalition”.

Updated at 4.09pm GMT




1h ago15:42
Here is some historical background on past aerial clashes between the west and its allies and the Soviet Union.



No Nato country has shot down a Russian warplane since the end of the cold war, but there have been many incidents involving the west and the then Soviet Union. In the most high-profile case, Gary Powers’ U2 spy plane was shot down by Sam-2 anti-aircraft missiles in 1960. When the US refused to apologise, plans for a superpower summit in Paris collapsed. Powers was eventually swapped for a Soviet spy.

During the Korean war, there were several dogfights between Americans and Soviet pilots flying Migs in Chinese and North Korean markings. The last recorded downings of Soviet planes by US pilots came in November, 1952 when four Migs-15s were shot down during American air strikes against the North Korean port of Hoeryong, near the major Soviet base at Vladivostok.

Captain Royce Williams, a US Navy pilot, was credited with shooting down three of the Migs, possibly the fourth as well. During the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan, Pakistani pilots flying American-made F-16s shot down at least 10 Soviet aircraft in the late 1980s.




2h ago15:30
Russian state tourism agency recommends suspension of Turkish tours


Russia’s state tourism agency Rostourism is recommending suspending sales of tour packages to Turkey the Russian RIA news agency reports.




2h ago15:24
It’s a tough day for Moscow. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports that Syrian fighters destroyed a Russian helicopter with a missile, shortly after they forced it to make an emergency landing in a nearby government-held area in Syria’s Latakia province.

A Syrian insurgent group, which receives US Tow missiles, said its fighters hit the helicopter with an anti-tank missile while it was in the air and put out a video showing the helicopter being blown up after one of its fighters struck it with another missile.


Rami Abdulrahman from the Observatory said at least 10 people were on the helicopter when it was hit but they were all evacuated when it landed and before the missile destroyed it.





2h ago15:19
Donald Tusk, EU president, has called for calm. The former Polish prime minister is due to host a EU summit with Turkey in Brussels on Sunday which was supposed to deal with the refugee crisis.




Source: The Guardian




DROP YOUR COMMENT BELOW