Turkey shot something!

This weekend I read an article titled “Turkish military shoots down Syrian warplane” which was written and published by Al Jazeera and agencies. I found this article after searching “news in Southwest Asia/ news in middle east” and it was published on March 23, 2014. Just as the title stated, the Turkish military shot down a Syrian MIG 23 jet warplane after issuing four warnings. However, what the title doesn’t mention is how this action has strained relations between the Turkish government and Syria.

                Syria has claimed that this aircraft never left Syrian airspace and that this obvious aggression towards them shows Turkey’s further support of the rebel army. The civil war/ rebellion in Syria is a result of the Arab Spring that began as protests on March 15, 2011. These protests quickly progressed to become a war. The United States, France, Britain, Turkey, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia continue to support the rebels in this civil war, while Iran, Hezbollah, Russia, Al-Qaeda and others support Syria.

                Turkey, however, did not attack Syria without reason. There were two Syrian warplanes in Turkish airspace and Turkey was aiding the Syrian opposition in their civil war. This aircraft incident, to the Turkish, could have seemed like an attack and yet, despite this assumption, they still proceeded to give a more than customary four warnings to the oncoming jets. Syria had also attacked the Turkish before, when two years ago Syria shot a Turkish plane inside international airspace with a missile and sank it to the bottom of the sea. When only one of the Syrian jets altered course, the other plane was shot out of the sky.  

                In the end, Syrians can make a fuss if they want to about this incident, but I am more inclined to believe the Turks. Turkey had every right, reason, and inclination to do what they did and the Prime Minister, Recep Erdogan, was correct to commend them for defending their country well. As for the Syrian government, I find that the kind of military behavior that they are expressing right now is dangerous and I would like to see the rebels to make some changes to these types of actions by winning this war. I wish that all of my Muslim friends in Al- Qaeda would drop dead. I would also hope that President Barrack Obama would continue to show support to the Syrian rebels until democracy is able to stand firm in Syria.