But it's a Turkish war crime if "Turkish-allied" forces kill a prisoner, right?
Turks Splash a SU-24
- Thread starter Tecumsehsbones
- Start date
In actual fact, the Russians have been very effective against ISIS, and have severely weakened them. This has led to some analysts saying that the Russians could defeat ISIS within hours, as reported recently in The Daily Express - Islamic State: ISIS so weakened by Russian bombs its Caliphate could be defeated in hours | World | News | Daily Express
Not only that, but the Russian bombing of ISIS has shown that the Russian military, particularly its navy and air force, is far stronger than many Western analysts previously thought.
The Russians are flying a significant number of sorties with recognizable successes. Current estimates range from 48 to 96 daily. This is a lot—as a recent New York Times article put into perspective:
"Russia’s fighter jets are, for now at least, conducting nearly as many strikes in a typical day against rebel troops opposing the government of President Bashar al-Assad as the American-led coalition targeting the Islamic State has been carrying out each month this year (emphasis added).”
In the process, they have hit a significant number of targets among the anti-Assad rebels. There are reports, for instance, that Russian airstrikes killed First Coastal Division Chief of Staff and former Syrian Army Captain Basil Zamo, a notable rebel leader, on October 19. The commander of the Nour al-din al-Zinki Brigades was also killed in separate fighting.
Can Russia sustain this level of air campaign? Maybe. Almost none of our NATO allies could match what Russia has done so far in the skies. This was an unfortunate lesson of both NATO air campaigns in Kosovo and Libya.
Russia’s military is proving Western punditry wrong | Brookings Institution
Turkish and Greek jets engaged in tense jockeying after Turkey violated Greek airspace
Jeremy Bender
Jul. 16, 2015
A formation of Turkish fighter jets violated Greek airspace a total of 20 times on Wednesday before being chased off by Greek aircraft, Kathimerini English reports.
A total of six Turkish fighter jets flying in formation carried out repeated violations of Greek airspace, according to the newspaper, which is one of the most respected in Greece. The reported violations took place in Greek airspace over the north, central, and southern Aegean Sea.
Citing Greek defense officials, Kathimerini reports that two of the Turkish jets were carrying armaments and that a tense close-quarters confrontation occurred between the neighboring countries' jets.
Turkish and Greek jets engaged in dogfight - Business Insider
‘They know how it’s done’: Turkey violated Greek airspace 2,244 times in 2014 alone
RT
25 Nov, 2015
FILE PHOTO: A Greek Air Force officer operates the radar of a Patriot air defence missiles at Tatoi air base, north of Athens © Yiorgos Karahalis / Reuters
Turkish claims that the downed Russian Su-24 jet “violated” its airspace have sparked outrage among Greeks, who took to social media to say it is a clear-cut case of double standards as Turkish jets breached Greek airspace 2,244 times in 2014 alone.
They wondered what would happen if Greece had authorized engagement of Turkish aircraft, which breach the country’s borders on a regular basis.
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Aud رمز @CodeAud
Turkey violating Greece Airspace 40 times a day @tpel78 @TouchMyTweets @JohnJwso @ArRuple
https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/05ATHENS1505_a.html#efmAlIAod …
7:45 AM - 25 Nov 2015
47 47 Retweets 26 26 likes
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.@rgenci57 @WhosFibbing Turkey know all about flying into other nation's airspace. They have form in this regard Turkish Fighter Jets Test Greece's Territorial Claims | GreekReporter.com …
9:30 AM - 25 Nov 2015
8 8 Retweets 5 5 likes
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Harry Theocharous @TheocharousH
#Turkey has been violating #Cyprus for 41 years, #Greece airspace 15 times daily. No problem? @NATO @WhiteHouse
5:30 AM - 25 Nov 2015
80 80 Retweets 49 49 likes
On Wednesday, the Protothema newspaper released the numbers of breaches saying the Turkish Air Force is usually reluctant to share any details when it comes to such violations.
The newspaper quoted University of Thessaly statistics based on the Greek military’s count - there were 2,244 violations in 2014, an increase from 636 in 2013.
“The Turks are trying to enforce sovereignty over disputed islands and bring Greece to the negotiating table,” Thanos Dokos, the director general of the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy, told the Politico news website in July. “What’s worrying are the low-altitude flights, often by helicopters, over these islands.”
Turkey fails to respect the 10-mile airspace surrounding the Aegean Islands, which causes numerous dogfights between Greek and Turkish aircraft invading the area. From January to October 2015, the country’s airspace was violated 1,233 times including 31 flights over Greek territory itself, according to the Greek Air Force’s headquarters. Greek media noted the Turks are taking advantage of the country’s economic hardships.
“In the case of air incursions, you have to react,” Thanos Dokos said. “It’s very hard to unilaterally pull back from a situation of military aggression. It’s a tragic situation, because the money we’re spending on dogfights with Turkey is money that we could have spent on other areas of defense.”
https://www.rt.com/news/323429-greece-turkey-airspace-violations/
You'd love to hand it for Obama.
Obama getting the word that the Turks splashed a Russian...
They haven't been effective at all. The SAA has taken little ground and have lost ground. The Russians could not even defend itself against the Turks... THE TURKS! Then they could not mount a legit rescue mission.
So the Russians could defeat ISIS within hours... but here we are two months later and they've done nothing but embarrass themselves.
