Russia and Turkey need to make every effort to keep their channels of communication open and be as calm as possible in the aftermath of the shooting down of a Russian plane by Turkish forces. Escalation is thoroughly undesirable and in no-one’s interest. Both Turkey and Russia should be working towards supporting the international coalition against terror and Daesh (the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) and the two nation states should not seek to generate more violence between each other. They have much more important things to do than defend their national pride.
This is why Russian President Vladimir Putin’s language was a mistake when he accused Turkey of “a stab in the back delivered by terrorists’ accomplices”, adding that Russia has for “long been recording the movement of a large quantity of oil and petroleum products to Turkey from Daesh-occupied territories. This explains the significant funding the terrorists are receiving”. Putin seems determined on confrontation with Turkey, particularly when he added that the “tragic event will have significant consequences for Russian-Turkish relations”.
Any fallout should be handled at a multilateral level, as many international air forces are active over Syria and more are going to join in. The international coalition against Daesh is focusing on an air-led strategy, which means that war planes from several Nato countries and other international partners will be passing Russian planes and each other at very close quarters for the foreseeable future. Air traffic control over Syria will be extremely difficult and more incidents or accidents are bound to happen.
It is also important for the Turkish government to fully commit to the action against Daesh. The long-established hints of porous borders and willingness to look the other way have to end. The danger that Daesh poses to the entire civilised world requires all nations to help end this pernicious threat.
Turkey should fully support its Nato allies and they all need to work with the Russians to both defeat Daesh and end the Syrian civil war.
