In the grounding and confiscation of part of the cargo of a passenger jet flying from Moscow to Syria and the beating of passengers and crew, many say Turkey committed an illegal act of air-piracy. Has Ankara now decided to take on Moscow? Not likely, but things are not always as they seem, and the hand of NATO and the US are more than just discernable here.  

Did NATO push Erdogan into a “Saakashvili”?

by John Robles II  for The Voice of Russia http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_10_15/Did-NATO-push-Erdogan-into-a-Saakashvili/

Turkey’s forced grounding of a Syrian Air Airbus A320, with approximately 30 passengers on board has been called an act of air-piracy by the Syrian authorities and Russia has stated the search and seizure of part of the cargo were illegal. Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said the incident endangered the lives of Russian citizens aboard the plane. Lavrov has also reiterated that Moscow is still waiting for an official explanation from Turkey as to why it refused to allow Russian diplomats aboard the plane to meet with the passengers and crew.

For Turkey it is one thing that it continuously occupies Northern Iraq and that it has decided to launch attacks into Syria but it is a whole nother game when it decides to openly take on the Russian Federation, which like it or not is still a powerful superpower and one which Turkey depends on for everything from gas to tourism.

Russia is also not indifferent to Turkey and has worked with Turkey for years on a number of fronts including plans for a section of the South Stream gas pipeline and plans to assist Turkey in building its first nuclear power plant, both very important projects for both countries and not likely to be affected by this single incident, according to statements officials on both sides, including Foreign Minister Lavrov.

What is troubling is that Turkey would so openly and blatantly commit such a provocative act right in front of the eyes of the entire world as if daring Russia to react and seeming to challenge the authority of the superpower. What one has to wonder is what has emboldened Turkey to such a point. Could it be that Turkey was pushed into doing so by NATO to test the waters for the invasion of Syria that they so crave? That is one possibility.

Another possibility as to the reasons behind the attack which the world’s press has not looked at but which to me seems quite possible is that Turkey and NATO were after the technology on the plane. It is critical to recall that NATO believes it was Russian Pantsir-S1 surface-to-air defensive missile technology which uses the latest cutting edge system of phased-array radar for both target acquisition and tracking, which was responsible for taking out the Turkish American-made F-4 Phantom on June 22nd.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has stated and media outlets are reporting that there was dual-use radar equipment parts on the plane, all shipped legally and not in any violation of current international conventions. We can postulate, that perhaps the Turkish side and their NATO and CIA intelligence contacts believed that these parts were for air-defense systems being used or upgraded by Syria. This would explain why Turkey took such a risk.

If NATO and the US are preparing for an invasion of Syria, then one of the first things they need to knock out are the country’s radar and air-defense systems. If the F-4 Phantom was a test run, then Western technology proved to be impotent in evading Syrian air defenses and the Russian technology.

The fact that Turkey so openly and blatantly committed such an illegal act, points to the fact that there are other hands behind this than what we are all privy to and as we know NATO and the US are for the most part calling all the shots in Turkey, shall we once again recall Obama and his baseball bat?

Underlining the illegality of Turkey’s actions and the fact that they knew they were acting illegally are several events that occurred on the plane and several facts surrounding the incident. 1: the crew and passengers were beaten, 2: the Turkish side attempted to force the passengers and crew to sign documents saying the plane made an emergency landing, 3: the documents did not mention that the military aircraft were used to ground the plane and the crew and passengers were ordered not to mention them, 4: Russian diplomats were not allowed onto the plane to provide assistance to Russian citizens and 5: the plane was released without part of the cargo on board, which amounts to an act of air-piracy and theft as the parts were being shipped legally and were properly documented.

Depending on what exactly was on board it might take days to weeks for the parts to be copied, studied or tampered with depending on what the goal of the operation is, and have no doubt this was an “operation”. Everything from Erdogan’s statements about “intelligence”, to military personal who beat passengers, to military air-craft being used to force the Airbus A320passenger jet to the ground, to the already prepared witness statements, point to a carefully planned operation.                  

Logic tells us that it is highly-unlikely that Turkey, independently would take on Russia. Turkey in this case is clearly being manipulated and used by the US and NATO, both now and as the fall-guy for the upcoming invasion of Syria. We should recall that arms, mercenaries and terrorists are being spring-boarded into Syria from Turkish bases, and even the mortar that recently killed the Turkish citizens on the border allowing Turkey to begin shelling inside Syrian territory was NATO issue.

Obama and his baseball bat made it clear to the world who is pulling the strings in Turkey, and like in Georgia, the West’s military intentions for the region are clear. Turkey, like Georgia, has become emboldened and reckless in its bid to please its western “partners”, maybe it is time for the Turkish opposition and the Turkish people to step up to the plate and decide they will not be the fall-guy and the patsy in another resource invasion by Washington? Or maybe not.