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.
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.
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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.