Some blackmail ?
Russia possesses “objective observation data” concerning the downing of a Turkish jet off the Syrian coast one week ago and is prepared to present it, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a press conference in Geneva on Saturday.Since Turkey was going to start the overtproxy war on Syria, has Lavrov issued a warning to Turkey to keep their "passions" in check?
“We have our objective observation data and we are prepared to present it,” Lavrov said.
An F-4 fighter jet of the Turkish Air Force was shot down by Syrian air defenses on June 22 and crashed in the Mediterranean Sea. Syrian authorities said the jet had violated its airspace while Turkish officials claimed it was attacked over international waters.
Turkey responded by moving air defense weapons close to the Syrian border.
“The main thing now is not to allow any incident to ignite passions in one or another direction,” Lavrov said.
Thanks for this one, Freethinker!- Syria, Turkey and Russia: The Phantom of the Stealth Fleet
Is there a connection between what Lavrov is claiming about "sharing data" and the above linked story?
Updates begin here- More on the alleged Turkish Jet, today, the narrative originating with Israel.
Times of Israel-Haaretz
The story quotes an Israeli air force source as suggesting Russia had a hand in the incident: “We would not be surprised if these Russian experts, if they didn’t push the button, at least were beside the Syrian officers who did it.”
Syria’s Information Minister Omran al-Zubi said last week that Syrian soldiers who downed the plane may have thought it was an Israeli aircraft.Initial reports on the Turkish Jet included reports of it being an Israeli jet and as I mentioned in a previous comment, LVB had mentioned the jet had possibly been squawking Israeli code.
There was a curious little sentence in a DEBKA report
"This was also the first time in five years any weapons system with Israeli manufacturing input had faced a Russian weapon acquired by Syria."
You know when the last time was?
"September 6, 2007, when Israeli fighter-bombers demolished the Iranian-North Korean-built nuclear reactor in the northern Syrian town of Al-Kibar"The part about the reactor is Israeli spin from where I sit. However Israeli bombers did get through Syrian defences at that time.
Questions: Is the Israeli "source" doing some damage control? Was the Turkish jet, actually Turkish? Was it Israeli? Was it emitting Israeli code? If so would this demonstrate a level of collusion between Israel and Turkey that PM Erdogan can not afford to have public? Given his acquiescence to Israel on the Mavi Marmara?
Talks in Geneva fail:
The U.S. backed away from insisting that the plan explicitly exclude President Bashar al-Assad from any role in a new government, hoping the concession would encourage Russia to put greater pressure on its longtime ally
"There is a credible alternative to the Assad regime," she said.
Moscow had refused to back a provision that would call for Mr. al-Assad to step aside, insisting that outsiders cannot order a political solution for Syria and accusing the West of ignoring the darker side of the Syrian opposition.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov underlined that the plan does not require Mr. al-Assad’s ouster, saying there is 'no attempt in the document to impose on the Syrian people any type of transitional process."
Kofi Annan said ""I will doubt that the Syrians who have fought so hard to have independence ... will select people with blood on their hands to lead them," he said."
In reference to who exactly?
The Britain based Syrian observatory for human rights, said following the agreement that "no member of the Syrian opposition will accept to be part of a transitional government while Assad is still in power."
"Assad’s staying in power will mean the continuation of the bloodshed in Syria"
Russia: Assad not required to step down
An international conference held in Geneva Saturday accepted a UN-brokered peace plan for Syria but left open whether the country's president could be part of a transitional government.Changes in Syria's government have been ongoing and a diversity of persons are already involved in that government.
Russia's foreign minister said that the UN-brokered peace plan for Syria agreed on by major powers does not require the ouster of President Bashar Al Assad.
Regarding the death of New York Times journalist Anthony Shadid?
Came across this and thought it interesting