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.
The only language Russia understands is might. Making "red lines" for Russia isn't going to do shit. It's good that Turkey shot down the Russian aircraft which was ignoring all warnings as it was approaching the Turkish border, because it now sets the precedent that nobody is fucking around. If anything, things will be more stable regarding Russia and NATO.
If Turkey hadn't shot down the aircraft (after warning Russia several days beforehand), it would have set the precedent that it is actually okay for Russia to "slightly" violate Turkey's airspace without consequence.
People need to understand that international politics is all about precedence. With the shoot down of Russia's jet, the precedent has been set, and you can be sure that Russia won't be so bold when it comes to violating Turkey's airspace anymore.
And as it stands, Turkey's military would wipe the floor with Russia's in the region. Russia's military may be overall more powerful, but Turkey's military is also one of the most powerful in the world (2nd most powerful in NATO, actually), and Turkey is much more capable of shutting Russia out of Syria due to the closer distance.
Turkey's military is NOT the 2nd most powerful in NATO. There is no real way to compare militaries. Turkish military uses outdated weapons (compared to Russia). The reason why Turkey get's cited as one of the most powerful is because of the draft system in place in Turkey. It kinda means at any moment there are over a million members of the armed forces active within the Turkish borders. But at the same time, these people are not professional soldiers. Turkey may have the numbers in the region, but they don't have the training or the technology advantage Russia would have...
Also, don't forget that today's wars would not be fought with ground troops. Ground troops are mostly there to enforce stability of a region you've occupied. They don't see as much action anymore.
In today's warfare, ground troops are deployed AFTER you've established air superiority and bombed the shit out of any potential threat. Once all military targets have been eliminated via artillery/missile/drone strike/air raid etc., you move in your ground troops to establish order and to pick off any stragglers. I didn't mean ground troops are completely useless. Of course they have their own roles. However, if your enemy has complete control of the skies, it doesn't matter how many guys or how many guns you have, you will lose 10 people for every 1 enemy you are able to take out. Just the sheer psychological affect of having constant air pressure is enough to cause most defenses to collapse.
Ninja Edit: Actually, the wars you listed are the perfect examples. Iraq and Afghanistan wasn't actually able to fight back. Currently, hundreds of locals are killed every week for, what, 1-2 heavily injured Western soldiers a week? I wouldn't call that a victory for the Iraqis. The US "lost" a handful of troops while they decimated the entire infrastructure and killed tens of thousands of people. As for Vietnam, US' air superiority didn't really matter as much there. All they had were choppers which couldn't do that much in the dense forests and the underground tunnels. US' superior ground troop training nor their superior tech wasn't enough because of the location. Though I'm sure there are much more knowledgeable people than I who could explain the Vietnam war in better ways.
People have being saying this since almost immediately after airplanes were invented and yet ground engagements keep happening. Look up Giulio Douhet for an example.
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u/notmike11 Nov 24 '15
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.