Turkey Is the Aggressor

by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem

The Western states could not conceal their impudence over the downing of the Turkish aircraft by Syrian forces. They described Syria in the ugliest terms, threatened it with a great many statements, and are still in the process of searching for an appropriate response to what happened. Turkey, for its part, makes no mention whatsoever of its own direct interference in Syria’s internal affairs, and continues its media and diplomatic assault on Syria on the premise that Syria committed a blatant act of aggression against a Turkish aircraft.

If we set aside the conflict raging between the Syrian regime and its opponents, external interference in Syrian affairs cannot be accepted, whether from states supporting the regime or states opposing it. This is an international principle that states accept, at least in theory — the Western states accept it and repeat it endlessly for the world to hear. How much uproar the Western states raised, over long years, against the Syrian military presence in Lebanon. If there is any recognition of what is called “international legitimacy,” then everyone who believes in it must abide by its rules, especially the rule against interfering in the affairs of others. It would serve the United States, in particular, well to learn how to abide by what it always preaches.

Turkey is interfering in Syria’s internal affairs, as are other Arab and foreign states, through opening borders, smuggling weapons and money, and supplying intelligence and security information, and this interference has prolonged the crisis in Syria. Instead of a gradual transition toward a free political system, Syria is now witnessing continuous destruction, whose price is being paid by all Syrians, and which delights the Zionists and those among Arabs, Franks, and Muslims who have pledged allegiance and loyalty to them. And despite this destructive, ongoing interference, not a single Western voice has been raised calling for the Syrians to be left to fight it out, or reconcile among themselves, however they see fit, without interference. How, then, is blatant interference not aggression, while the downing of an aircraft that violated Syrian airspace is aggression?

Turkey’s foreign minister says the aircraft was shot down in international airspace, not inside Syrian airspace. He says the aircraft was flying 13 nautical miles from the Syrian coast, while its wreckage fell eight miles from the coast. This is an insult to the intelligence of the listener. The aircraft is an F-4, a heavy type. It is not a paper plane, a kite, or a balloon, but a reinforced type not easily scattered by the wind. And the aircraft is a warplane, not a reconnaissance plane, though it may not have been carrying combat equipment.

The aircraft was flying at low altitude, and there is no way whatsoever that wind could have carried it from a distance of 13 miles to a distance of eight miles while at that low altitude, especially since the aircraft’s parts are heavy and fall quickly under gravity. This is a matter left for physicists to judge scientifically on the Turkish claim.

The Turkish side admits that the aircraft entered Syrian airspace for a short time, but says this does not constitute a justification for downing the aircraft. But it is important for the Turkish side to remember that it issued Syria several warnings because some Syrian bullets fell on Turkish territory as a result of internal clashes in Syria. Which is more dangerous: an aircraft violating airspace, or bullets crossing a border?

My assessment is that the aircraft was conducting a probe to test Syria’s reaction to its entering Syrian airspace, and that this was not a purely Turkish action, but was coordinated with NATO command. Until now, NATO has been unable to intervene because of its fear of Syria’s air defense capabilities, and it perhaps wanted to verify this in practice, in a way that would help it reach a decision on military intervention. The Turkish claim that the aircraft was flying as part of a test of Turkish radar is not supported by the scientific requirements, since testing radar does not require going so deep into the Mediterranean Sea and so close to the Syrian coast. The Mediterranean is vast and deep, and there is ample room for such tests within international airspace, leaving no room for doubt.

And what conclusively refutes the Turkish claim is that Turkey received the wreckage from Syria through an official record.

As Arabs, we may disagree about the situation in Syria, but we must not disagree about external interference in Syrian affairs.

Source: Translated from the original Arabic, “تركيا هي المعتدية” by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem.