Let me be upfront. Turkey is not an ally and needs to be kicked out of NATO immediately. Turkey is led by a highly corrupt and fanatical zealot that is playing a suicidal game of chicken with the Russians. By itself, Turkey would get justifiably stomped by Russia and that would be the end of it. However, as a NATO ally, Turkey has the ability to suck the US and the world into WWIII by literally picking a fight with Russia. Most recently, Turkey invaded Iraq and so far has refused to remove its forces against Baghdad’s wishes. Iraq is now in the process of requesting Russian support to forcibly remove those forces. This, without doubt, will lead to a huge escalation that hopefully, Europe and the US will have enough sense to distance itself from. Nonetheless, Turkey’s leader Erdogan is hell bent on provoking a war as a way to solidify his waning grasp on power in Turkey. Although, I am quite confident Russia has done its homework, let me pontificate for a moment on some points for Russia to consider.
First, Russia can’t be seen as weak and being bullied by Turkey. Generally this leads directly to escalation, but I am pretty comfortable in saying Russia is the wrong country to pick in this particular game of brinkmanship. My analysis concludes that NATO will not back Turkey should Russia retaliate in a future confrontation with Turkey over Syria. As such, Russia should be diplomatic, but be ready to protect their assets with their full military might should they again be threatened by Turkey. This is a dangerous gamble, but consider that no country in Europe right now looks at Turkey favorably. Read more
