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Thoughts on the Syrian Downing of a Turkish Warplane
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There appears to be agreement on the basic
facts: a Turkish F-4 violated Syrian airspace and the Syrian military shot it
down over its territorial waters. Further, there is no dispute that the
AKP-led Turkish government has for months offered sanctuary and armed the
Syrian opposition forces in what amounts to a civil war in Syria between a
hideous, brutal tyranny and an increasingly Islamist opposition. The Turkish
leadership, even while accepting that its plane violated Syrian airspace, is growling
about retaliation. The Syrian government has done its best to tamp
down Turkish anger.
How should Western states respond to this
crisis between Ankara and Damascus, one which has the potential to grow into
a war between two states? More specifically, what if the Republic of Turkey
invokes Article 5 of the
NATO treaty, which in the case of "an armed attack against one or
more of them … shall be considered an attack against them all and
consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them …
will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking … such action as it
deems necessary, including the use of armed force"?
Because both sides in the Syrian conflict
represent hideous alternatives, I argue that Western
governments should stay out. I repeat that, with all the greater urgency,
during this crisis. The West has no interest in supporting an aggressive
Turkish government; quite the contrary, it needs to send Erdoğan & Co. a
clear signal rejecting their bellicose and quasi-rogue foreign policy. As for
Article 5, it's clearly inoperative here, what with the recent history of
Turkish aggression against Syria, culminating in the warplane's intrusion.
Again, stay out. (June 23, 2012)
Related
Topics: Syria,
Turkey and
Turks, US policy
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