Cyprus-Forum.com

[Kikapu]

New dimensions in the jet crisis

Taraf columnist Ahmet Altan gives a brief summary of what happened following the incident: The General Staff waited three days before it made an official statement. Turkey then announced that our jet was downed by a Syrian missile over international waters. Syria admitted shooting down the Turkish jet, yet said it was downed with an antiaircraft weapon in Syrian airspace. Turkey denied this. The Wall Street Journal wrote a report saying the jet was shot down over Syrian waters, and our prime minister denied the report and called the newspaper despicable. Finally, the jet was found in Syrian waters, and on top of that some General Staff officials have recently admitted that there is nothing on the wreckage of the jet that indicates it was shot down by a missile. This has all turned into a joke; if we had not lost our two pilots, what is happening now would be vaudeville, says Altan, and adds that one cannot know whether to be sad for the dead pilots, be sad for Turkey becoming an object of mockery or be sad at the fact that our country was the last to know exactly how our jet was downed. It has been a long time since Turkey was this confused, he says, and “congratulates” the prime minister and foreign affairs minister for their foreign policy skills.

http://www.todayszaman.com/columnist-28 ... risis.html

Yes, how very true. No wonder VP is also confused.

[Get Real!]

All I know is that the 4ft 8” midget moves in mysterious ways…

[kimon07]

Unfortunately, it's hard not to laugh at this live comedy. The story changes by the minute now.

Yes. But it is tragic to know that the leadership of this country, which wants to be assigned a key role in this turbulent area and even to control and dictate developments, falls to total a confusion when it comes to handling even the slightest crisis. Their eagerness to be in the center of developments and to be recognized as a major player may drive them to very dangerous moves in deed. Fortunately, it seems that their boss has realized this and has started shortening the leash.

[Viewpoint]

NATO ships grouping outside Syria looks serious???

[B25]

Well that another for the cells, soon there will be no journalists in turkey just government mouthpieces.
They could always borrow a few from this forum

[kimon07]

NATO ships grouping outside Syria looks serious???

Don't tell me you think they do it because of the downing of the Turkish F4? Please don't.

[Viewpoint]

NATO ships grouping outside Syria looks serious???

Don't tell me you think they do it because of the downing of the Turkish F4? Please don't.

Nooooooooooo dont want you to bust a vein or have to use your brain.

[kimon07]

NATO ships grouping outside Syria looks serious???

Don't tell me you think they do it because of the downing of the Turkish F4? Please don't.

Nooooooooooo dont want you to bust a vein or have to use your brain.

Even worse! I may shoot myself in the head or even more worse, come and settle in the north and thus condemn myself to a turkish hell on earth.
I mean there are limits to the shit talk a person can withstand. Please have mercy on us all in this forum. Thank you in advance.

[kimon07]

Oh boy! It gets better and better every hour. Poor VP

Jet incident confusion may harm Turkey’s status in NATO
13 July 2012 / TODAY’S ZAMAN, İSTANBUL

Confusion about what happened to a military jet that went missing off the Syrian coast on June 22 has already sparked criticism at home towards the government for the way it has handled its process of investigation. But the ramifications may not be solely domestic as the confusion also puts Turkey’s international credibility, including within NATO -- which rushed to express solidarity with Ankara after the incident -- at stake.

In a statement on Wednesday, the military signaled revision in its version of the events, referring for the first time to the RF-4E Phantom that went missing as “our aircraft that Syrian authorities have claimed to have downed.” This means the plane may not have been downed by Syria at all and that it may have crashed into the water as a result of malfunction or piloting error or – assuming that the Syrians did attack the plane – faulty maneuvering while trying to escape from attack.

Soon after the jet went missing over the Mediterranean, Turkey said the aircraft was shot down by the Syrian forces with a missile in international airspace, calling it a “hostile act.” Ankara then summoned an emergency meeting of NATO under Article 4 of the alliance’s charter, which allows a NATO ally to request such NATO consultation if it feels its territorial integrity or security has been threatened.

“If it turns out that the Turks, who were among the first members of the North Atlantic Alliance, were less than honest with their NATO partners, it is going to put a major strain on the relations,” wrote Steven A. Cook, a Hasib J. Sabbagh senior fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, although he said this cannot be the case because Turkey “would never risk its status within the alliance.”

But even in the event that there was no deliberate attempt to hide facts from NATO allies, the way the government has handled the process still raises questions of trustworthiness. “Of course this risks Turkey’s credibility,” said Duygu Sezer, a professor of international relations at Doğuş University, commenting on the confusion that emerged after the military statement.

More funny staff here:
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-286477- ... -nato.html

Hey VP. Do you still believe NATO forces are concentrating their forces there to punish Syria for downing your plane?

[kimon07]

Boy Oh boy. Did I say it gets better by the hour? I should have said b y the minute:

Army: Jet downed by Syria, but not with anti-aircraft fire
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

A Turkish jet downed on June 22 was definitely not shot down by anti-aircraft fire as suggested by Syrian officials, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) said on Friday, while also making clear once more that the jet was shot down by Syria.

Question: Does it really matter HOW it was shot down? Shouldn't the WHERE be the question? Don't the US, UK and Russia have a 24 hour real time picture of the whole region?

More popular jokes here:

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/army-j ... sCatID=359