Syria News: World Leaders Trying To Avoid 'Nightmare Scenario'
There is a very real fear that a bigger war is brewing.
On Wednesday, world leaders were scrambling to defuse tensions over Turkey's decision to shoot down a Russian fighter jet flying over the Syrian-Turkish border, for concerns that the conflict in the war-ravaged country could escalate to a larger war.
CNN reported that a NATO member said it repeatedly warned the Russian warplane not to cross borders, shooting it down after it ignored warnings and violated Turkish airspace.
Russia, on the other hand, rejected that version of the events, with rescued co-pilot Capt. Konstantin Murakhtin saying that "there were no warnings - not via the radio, not visually."
He added, "If they wanted to warn us, they could have shown themselves by heading on a parallel course," Murakhtin said, according to the official Sputnik news agency. "But there was nothing."
The concern of a regional war is not paranoia, considering that many countries are now involved in the conflict in Syria - Russia, Iran, Turkey, US, and their coalition partners as well.
US Secretary of State, John Kerry, reportedly spoke with Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, stressing that both sides should "not allow this incident to escalate tensions."
According to VOA News, the US is determined to avoid turning the Syrian conflict into "a hot war with Russia," as noted by Stratfor military analyst, Omar Lamrani. He added, "But we do have to think of a scenario of a regional war."
The French and US fight with the Islamic State are clear in their objectives; however, on-ground, it is more complicated than that. Lamrani explained, "We have a situation where people are fighting against the Islamic State and having deals with them as well. The United States does not do that, but certainly many actors on the ground, from the Assad regime to Turkey to the rebels, do that."
Findings from the Institute Study of War stated that Russia has been found to have repeatedly harassed US and Turkey in the past. They noted, "Putin aims to disrupt NATO fundamentally as part of a larger effort to recoup Russia's losses following the collapse of the Soviet Union."
However, it seems that it's not going well for Russia. American Foreign Policy Council expert, Stephen Blank, said that the country only just realized how expensive it is to get the military involved in the war.
He explained, "I think the Russians were trying to warn the Turks not to support Syria, and I think they got a very serious lesson that you do not start up with the Turkish military. And this should be a lesson to Moscow that intervening in Syria has cost above and beyond what they had anticipated."