NATO Envoys Urge Turkey to Show Restraint on Russian Planes

Several Express Concern Over Turkish Actions

Russian President Vladimir Putin marveled today at Turkey’s decision to call a NATO meeting after they shot down a Russian plane over Syrian airspace. After all, Putin noted, it was the Turkish planea the attacked the Russian one, not vice versa. He also expressed annoyance with Turkey contacting NATO before any attempt to discuss the situation with Russia.

And while President Obama seemed to express support for the Turkish attack, NATO envoys seemed largely uncomfortable with the incident, urging Turkey to show “restraint” in the future with planes along their border.

Moreover, some of the diplomats present at the meeting are said to have expressed serious concern about Turkey’s actions, saying there are “other ways” to deal with an incursion beyond just shooting the plane down. Indeed, the Pentagon says they can’t even confirm the plane ever entered Turkish airspace.

Joint statements from NATO nations seem to be more or less uniformly urging against further escalation on the part of Turkey, and while no one wants to overtly “blame” them for the incident, it’s kind of hard not to when they’re the ones who launched the attack, and appear to show no remorse for it.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.