Daily Times

The Turks are in a fury. They have decided to come down hard on the Syrian authorities that have downed a Turkish jet fighter that had violated Syrian airspace, thus creating more bad blood between the two countries while a civil war rages in Syria. The downing of the Turkish plane on June 22 has persuaded Turkey to make the case that the incident is an attack on its security. Turkey has changed its rules of engagement and put its army on the border with Syria on alert. The relationship between the two neighbouring countries that has been defined as troubled since the conflict in Syria began is now labelled as hostile. Knocking at the doors of NATO, Turkey has asked to invoke article 4 of the Alliance’s treaty. Gathering support for its position, Turkey is stretching the issue to an extent where some believe a war could erupt between the two neighbours. Syria has argued it took the plane as an unidentified intruder. However, what if, as the Turks believe, the downing of the plane was intentional? Given the circumstances, should not Syria be suspicious of any untoward activity taking place on its land or air borders, Especially when Turkey is assisting the rebels, the Syrian National Council and what is called the Free Syrian Army openly?

The war that has already killed, according to UN estimates, more than 10,000 civilians, and is seen as the most treacherous phase in the history of the Middle East in the post-Arab Spring period, has left Syria with few cards left to play. Rallying around the US and the west, reactionary regimes in the Middle East want a change of regime in Syria. Regime change has become the flavour of the month after the events of recent years in Iraq and Libya. Bashar al Assad and his Ba’athist regime are resented for being one of the steadfast foes of Israel.

It is here that the twist lies. Consolidating Israel has been the cornerstone of US foreign policy in the Middle East. With Russia and China putting their foot down on NATO intervention to bring about regime change in Syria, the intrusion of the Turkish jet into Syrian airspace might be intended a provocation, opening the door to a full scale offensive on Syria. *