Putin Has Some Very Harsh Words For President
ErdoganHunt On For Tayyeep Bin Ardogan
Over Fighter Shoot-Down And Bosphorus Blockade
By Moon Of Alabama
December 05, 2015 "Information
Clearing House" - Today (December 03,
2015)the Russian President Putin gave his yearly
address
to the Russian Federal Assembly. In the context of terrorism and
the shooting down of the Russian fighter in Syria he addressed some
very harsh words to the Turkish President Erdogan:
[T]he Turkish people are kind, hardworking and
talented. We have many good and reliable friends in Turkey.
Allow me to emphasise that they should know that we do
not equate them with the certain part of the current ruling
establishment that is directly responsible for the deaths of our
servicemen in Syria.
We will never forget their
collusion with terrorists. We have always deemed
betrayal the worst and most shameful thing to do, and
that will never change. I would like them to remember this –
those in Turkey who shot our pilots in the back, those
hypocrites who tried to justify their actions and cover up for
terrorists.
I don’t even understand why they did it. Any
issues they might have had, any problems, any disagreements we
knew nothing about could have been settled in a different way.
Plus, we were ready to cooperate with Turkey on all the most
sensitive issues it had; we were willing to go further, where
its allies refused to go. Allah only knows, I suppose,
why they did it. And probably,
Allah has decided to punish the ruling clique in
Turkey by taking their mind and reason.
But, if they expected a nervous or hysterical
reaction from us, if they wanted to see us become a danger to
ourselves as much as to the world, they won’t get it. They won’t
get any response meant for show or even for immediate political
gain. They won’t get it.
Our actions will always be guided primarily by
responsibility – to ourselves, to our country, to our people. We
are not going to rattle the sabre. But, if someone
thinks they can commit a heinous war crime, kill our people and
get away with it, suffering nothing but a ban on tomato imports,
or a few restrictions in construction or other industries,
they’re delusional. We’ll remind them of what they did,
more than once. They’ll regret it.
We know what to do.
That was strong stuff from someone who usually
stays very cool. These were not even threats but direct declarations
that Russia will take revenge and will follow through.
What are "all the most sensitive issues" Turkey
had and on which Russia was ready to cooperate? What has enraged
Putin so much to declare Erdogan out of "mind and reason"? Was it
only the ambush of the fighter plane? Or was there another, deeper
provocation?
At the end of last week there were some rumors
that Russian ships crossing the Bosphorus between the Mediterranean
and the Black Sea were unreasonably delayed. Someone claimed that
Turkey was holding them up but the issue soon vanished again. I
filed that under "false rumor" but I was wrong. It apparently
happened:
Turkey is creating obstacles for Russian ships
without technically violating the right of free passage through
the Turkish Straits, the online newspaper Vzglyad reports.
According to an online vessel tracking system,
Russian ships moved in zigzags and circles on Nov. 29, waiting
for hours for permission to enter the Bosphorus.
For instance, the Bratsk waited for permission
from 10.00 to 19.00, and the Volgobalt from 3.00 to 17.00.
However, as stated by the Ukrainian Center for Transport
Policies, vessels belonging to the other countries passed
through the straits without a delay on that day.
The Haberler.com news website reports that the
transport ship Yauza was met by a Turkish submarine as it was
passing through the Dardanelles on the morning of Nov. 30.
The Istanbul media reported the same day that
at least two Turkish submarines were located in the vicinity of
the Moskva missile cruiser (covering the Khmeimim Russian
airbase in Syria).
Back in September Pat Lang
posted this at his site:
[T]he Russians seem intent on reinforcing the
Syrian government and the US is doing all it can to prevent
this. The US has pressured governments seeking a denial of
diplomatic overflight clearances for Russian cargo aircraft en
route to Syria. It has also sought
some means with which to deny Russian vessels passage through
the Bosporus and Dardanelles.
It seems that Obama administration had developed
the idea to delay Russian ships without directly violating the
Montreux Cenvention that covers free passage through the strait.
Erdogan used the trick last week to put additional pressure on
Russia. But there was nothing in the wider news about this standoff.
So did this really happen and how was this
resolved? Joanne Leon
asked that question today and
two
answers from knowledgeable people were offered:
Elijah J. Magnier @EjmAlrai
Turkey mentioned it and sent 2 submarines. Russia said "Turkey
can't do it" and sent 2 submarines hunters
and
Dr Shahid @DR_SHAHID
Yup.
Russia Threatened To Nuke Ankara.
Problem Solved.
Hmm ... I am not sure we know if the issue was
really resolved with a nuclear threat or by some lesser means. But
as no further ships were reported delayed the crisis seems to be
over and Russia got its way.
To delay Russian ships by military means is rude
behavior by Erdogan just short of openly declaring war. This and the
fact that he ordered to ambush and shoot down a Russian jet likely
incited Putin to use really harsh words today. Had Erdogan
apologized and blamed some minions for the fighter jet shoot down
the episode would have been forgotten by now.
But Erdogan escalated. Putin will now not rest
until he has kicked that wannabe Sultan off his throne. My bet is
that he will be more resourceful in his endeavor than Erdogan.
This for example is exceptional good trolling. Who
arranged for this very intelligent hoax to
appear in various U.S. media last night?
Pass the popcorn, please.
http://www.moonofalabama.org/2015/12/putin-announces-war-on-tayyeep-bin-ardogan-over-fighter-shoot-down-and-bosphorus-blockade.html
