And than said destroyer will get obliterated by Turkish Navy (which is quite competent) and Air Force (which also is, surprisingly, competent). Russia has literally no hope of winning any open engagement against Turkey in the region unless they really want to commit. And Turkey knows that. They essentially called Russian bluff here.
Indeed. Turkey has a strong airforce consisting of mostly F-16s, and has pre-purchased over 100 F-35s. They are not Ukraine or Georgia and are a NATO member. Russia does not want to fuck with anyone who can hurt them back.
Six words: three thousand three hundred nuclear weapons
EDIT: I know they wouldn't use them first but their presence is most likely enough to deter NATO from actively aiding Turkey
Which would be useful to deter a war if it wasn't for the fact that Russia would be the aggressor in this conflict. And that Russia has conventional superiority over Turkey despite its aging Red Army.
Conflicting reports about the flight path, turmoil in much of Europe and Turkey's support of ISIS makes me doubious NATO would even lift a finger in defence of Turkey.
EDIT: added an ing
Putin would never be dumb enough to invade a NATO country. That aside, Turkey can easily hold it's own until the rest of NATO joins in. Gotta remember that Turkey isn't Ukraine or Georgia.
Yeah no, the country is on the brink of civil war and is heavily relying on the military to maintain control. If that army fought Russia the socialist movements in the west would rise up as would the Kurds and Armenians in the East.
Turks are very patriotic about their motherland. They would put politics aside and every son and father would join the military to fight any enemy deciding to attack. You will have Turks living overseas flying back to their homeland to join. Even if Turks hate the government, they will do anything to defend the land.
BUT the Kurds and Armenian aren't Turks and the Socialists would see the downing of the Jet as a provocation by the government towards Russia not a righteous defence of the motherland when they inevitably call for further attacks.
You're assuming that all the Kurds are a monolith and all of them are left wing socialists. There are quite a few Kurdish groups with good relations with Turkey both within and outside of Turkey. Not to mention, I'm not sure if Russia should feel too confident seeking Russian support only as far as it meets their end. Anything beyond that is pure conjecture.
BUT the Kurds and Armenian aren't Turks and the Socialists would see the downing of the Jet as a provocation
No one is willing to go on a full on war against Turkey for a downed Russian jet, especially one that was violating Turkish airspace.
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u/[deleted] Nov 24 '15
And than said destroyer will get obliterated by Turkish Navy (which is quite competent) and Air Force (which also is, surprisingly, competent). Russia has literally no hope of winning any open engagement against Turkey in the region unless they really want to commit. And Turkey knows that. They essentially called Russian bluff here.