Friday, February fourteenth, the UN says at least 22 people have been killed in a village in the Northwest region of Cameroon. Over half of those killed were children. No one has claimed responsibility for Friday’s incident but the opposition parties blame the killing on the government.
Russia to deploy long-range air defence missiles to Syria
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In a move raising the potential threat of a Russia-NATO conflict, Russia said Wednesday it will deploy long-range air defence missiles to its base in Syria and destroy any target that may threaten its warplanes following the downing of a Russian military jet by Turkey.
The incident was the first time in half a century that a
NATO member shot down a Russian plane. If Russia responds by downing a Turkish
plane, NATO member Turkey could proclaim itself under attack and ask the
alliance for military assistance.
Most observers believe that a direct military
confrontation is unlikely, but that the shooting down of the plane will fuel
the Syrian conflict and complicate international peace efforts.
The circumstances are alarming because the Russian and
Turkish presidents both pose as strong leaders and would be reluctant to back
down and seek a compromise.
The S-400 missiles, which Russian President Vladimir
Putin ordered sent to the Hemeimeem air base in Syria’s coastal province of
Latakia, just 50 kilometres away from the border with Turkey, are capable of
striking targets within a 400-kilometre range with deadly precision. The
military also moved the navy missile cruiser Moskva closer to the shore to help
protect Russian warplanes with its long-range Fort air defence system.
“It will be ready to destroy any aerial target posing a
potential danger to our aircraft,” Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said
at a meeting with military officials. He also announced the severance of all
military ties with Turkey and said that from now on, Russian bombers will
always be escorted by fighters on combat missions over Syria.
Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, director of the German Marshall
Fund in Ankara, said it is possible Russia could down a Turkish plane.
“Turkish planes violate the Syrian border daily, either
for reconnaissance flights or for anti-IS operations,” he said. “In the same
way that Turkey argues it has rules of engagement, Russia could also declare
its own rules of engagement, saying it has the right to protect the skies of
its ally.”
The Russian plane’s downing marked a dramatic turnaround
in relations between Russia and Turkey, who have proclaimed themselves to be
“strategic partners” in the past and developed booming economic ties despite
differences over Syria.
Putin described the Turkish action as a “crime” and a
“stab in the back,” and called Turkey an “accomplice of terrorists.” In a sign
of the escalating tensions, protesters in Moscow hurled eggs and stones at the
Turkish Embassy, breaking windows in the compound. Police cleared the area and
made some arrests shortly after the protest began.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has often
been compared to Putin for his authoritarian ways, said Wednesday that his
country doesn’t wish to escalate tensions with Russia.
Speaking at an Organization of Islamic Cooperation
economy meeting in Istanbul, Erdogan said Turkey favours “peace, dialogue and
diplomacy.” He defended his country’s move to shoot down the plane saying: “No
one should expect Turkey to stay silent to border violations or the violation
of its rights.”
Putin has dismissed Turkey’s claim that the Russian
warplane intruded its airspace, voicing particular annoyance about Ankara
turning to NATO instead of speaking to Russia, “as if it were us who shot down
a Turkish plane.”
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, in turn, said
that the downing of the plane “highlights the need to strengthen mechanisms to
avoid such incidents in the future.”
“We should not sleepwalk into unintended escalation,” he
wrote in an op-ed to be published Thursday and made available to The Associated
Press.
Iran, meanwhile, lashed out at Turkey, with the official
IRNA news agency quoting Presidednt Hassan Rouhani as saying Ankara is
responsible for the heightened tensions in the region.
Elsewhere, U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron said he
supports Turkey’s right to defend its airspace, after a Russian fighter jet was
shot down.
“The facts on this are not yet clear,” Cameron told the
House of Commons in his weekly question-and-answer session Wednesday. “We
should respect Turkey’s right to protect its airspace just as we defend our
own.”
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