The shooting down of a Turkish warplane by the Syrian armed forces could have easily led to heightened tension in the region at a very critical time. It is remarkable that both the Syrian and Turkish governments had the good sense to draw back from outright confrontation.
That offers a small element of hope in the gathering chaos that is about to envelop Syria, as it moves inevitably towards civil war with dangerous consequences for the region.
It was fortunate that the Turkish pilots survived the downing of their plane and it is a measure of Syrian contrition that the Syrian navy is helping the Turks look for the wreckage of the plane in the Mediterranean Sea. It is also a measure of good sense on the part of the Turkish authorities that they were quick to admit that their plane was indeed in Syrian airspace.
This assault comes at time when the Turkish government has been deeply critical of Syria’s brutal killings of thousands of its own people. The Turks have had to cope with a growing flood of refugees running away from the brutality of Syria’s armed forces.
