Turkey-Russia spat will dent global efforts
The shooting down of a Russian fighter jet by Turkey after it allegedly entered Turkish air space and refused to heed warnings, reflects the challenges that a united assault on the Islamic State faces. The Russian plane, which was downed on the Syrian border, was part of a mission to target the IS in Syria. Ankara must have known this fact, and therefore, it is strange that it should have acted in this extreme manner, even assuming for argument's sake that the fighter jet had indeed breached Turkey's air space.
If there is such lack of trust among nations supposedly together in fighting the IS and other terrorist organisations, it will be difficult for the global community to effectively confront the threats. Perhaps realising the gravity of the action, Turkey lost no time in reaching out to members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation to present its version. On its part, Russia has ramped up diplomatic efforts to counter the initiative. Russian President Vladimir Putin sent out a chilling warning that the latter's action will have “serious consequences” for Turkey-Russia relations.
What those consequences will be, we will have to wait and see. But it is obvious that the world cannot afford spats between countries who have to concentrate their attention and energy on countering extremist organisations such as the IS, which are openly threatening peace-loving citizens across the globe. Turkey and Russia have had differences on how to deal with the Syrian crisis, and in particular the Bashar al-Assad regime, and there have been causes of tension on the borders. But those differences were not expected to manifest themselves in the form that they did with Turkey's action. The dispute between Turkey and Russia must be a matter of deep satisfaction for the Islamic State, which benefits from fissures amongst nations lined up against it.
Hopefully, tempers will cool down over a period of time between Ankara and Moscow. But that alone will not suffice. Russia and the US will have to structure a more cohesive strategy to counter IS bases in both Syria and Iraq. As of now, while their Presidents have repeatedly met and sought to narrow down their differences, the rapport is still missing. While the US has been critical of the air strikes that Russia has launched on the IS in Syria, claiming that they were meant more to boost the al-Assad regime, Moscow has been dismissive of US attempts to target the IS in Syria.
It is to be hoped that the bickering will end, at least after the terrible attacks the IS engineered in Paris only days ago, which claimed nearly 130 lives, and the impact it has had on Belgium, especially Brussels where the terror suspects are said to have links. The whole of Europe and the US, not to mention West Asia and the Indian subcontinent, has reason to be apprehensive. It's not enough to express solidarity in words; united action is the need of the hour. India has been saying this for long. It’s time the world heeds the advice.