Turkey Moved the Border! [View all]

[newthinking]

Turkey Moved the Border!

by Joyce Nelson

http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/11/26/turkey-moved-the-border/



In the midst of claims and counter-claims over Turkey’s shooting of a Russian jet fighter on Nov. 24, Global Research.ca editor Michel Chossudovsky has reposted an Oct. 6 news item from Syrian Free Press (SFP) that reported Turkey had “unilaterally ‘moved’ the Turkish-Syrian border five miles south”.

SFP’s Oct. 6 report was originally published following an earlier dispute when Turkey claimed a Russian warplane had violated its airspace. Chossudovsky calls the SFP Oct. article “of utmost relevance in understanding the action taken by Turkey to down a Russian jet fighter over Syrian airspace” a few days ago. [1]

According to Syrian Free Press: “… the Russians fly very near to the border and bomb [the] position of some anti-Syrian fighters Turkey supports. They have good reasons to do so: The town, in a mountainous region of northern Latakla province, has been a prime route for smuggling people and goods between Turkey and Syria and reportedly has functioned as a key entry for weapons shipped to Syrian rebels by the U.S.-led Friends of Syria group of Western and Middle Eastern countries.

The Oct. 6 report continues: “One Russian plane may even indeed have slightly crossed the border while manoeuvring [in early October]. But the real reason [for claims of airspace violation] is because Turkey unilaterally ‘moved’ the Turkish-Syrian border five miles south. Turkey has maintained a buffer zone five miles inside Syria since June 2012, when a Syrian air defense missile shot down a Turkish fighter plane that had strayed into Syrian airspace. Under revised rules of engagement put in effect then, the Turkish air force would evaluate any target coming within five miles of the Turkish border as an enemy and act accordingly.”

http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/11/26/turkey-moved-the-border/