The downing of Russia’s plane by Turkish military forces in the skies over the Syrian-Turkish border has added yet another layer of complexity to the vortex of conflict in the Middle East.
Most of the prior concern had focused on the prospect of the United States clashing with Russia over the skies of Syria. But an October agreement between the two countries had seemed to address that worry. That reassuring move took everyone’s focus away from a possible Turkish–Russian clash.
But with 20-20 hindsight, a clash was almost inevitable. Here’s why.
Statesmen and Leaders?
Russia and Turkey are headed by two of the brashest , most abrasive, and swashbuckling leaders in the modern world.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin have both spent most of the last decade working hard to secure their dominance at home. Both have had to deal with major internal security problems—from the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (or PKK) in Turkey and from Islamist insurgents in Russia’s Northern Caucasus, a movement fueled by a Sunni Wahhabist ideology exported from Saudi Arabia.
Both Erdogan and Putin have responded to these persistent problems with the use of force at home coupled with assertive policies abroad.
