Turkey may have shot down a Russian jet

[DFW]

5. Eastern Turkey's topography would make any invader think twice.

Same reason Hitler and Mussolini never invaded Switzerland. The Swiss weren't overly hostile to them anyway, but they made it clear that they were staying neutral no matter what, would fight if attacked, and they had their own military installations all through the Alps. It would have been like trying to chase a mechanized Taliban all through the Hindu Kush. A friend of mine from the Geneva area was in mandatory military service until he was 40 or so, and he hated the reservist duty he had to do every year up in the mountains. He was cold, got colds, and was generally miserable for two weeks, but he told me they had their installations literally everywhere and that no invader in his right mind would ever try to dislodge them. I can imagine that the Turks have similar installations in their own vast mountain ranges. It wouldn't surprise me to hear that Putin is secretly trying to get cozy with the Turkish Kurds for this reason, but seeing as how there are Kurds in Syria, too, they would probably side with the Turks in case of an invasion of their home territory. The fact that Turkey is also part of NATO might also make Putin think twice. If the Russians attacked, we either respond or declare NATO defunct on the spot. Not a pleasant choice for an American president, but not a bet I'd want to take as Russia's dictator, either.