Is Turkey ready or willing to go to war with Syria?
Is Turkey ready or willing to go to war with Syria? - Consul General of the Republic of Turkey
This month, Damascus showed it can't -- or won't --- contain the violence that's tearing Syria apart. Five Turkish citizens living in a border town were killed by Syrian artillery. Since then, tensions have raised steadily with continuous exchanges of fire between the two countries.
But Turkey has some powerful support in its corner. This week, the Secretary General of NATO, Anders Fogh Rasmussen assured Ankara that it's allies had its back.
Yesterday, Turkish fighter jets intercepted a Syrian passenger plane on its way from Moscow to Damascus. Turkey says the jet was carrying ammunition and military equipment from Russia. Syria calls the interception: piracy. Relations between the neighbours are at rock bottom, but there's still a big difference between talking about war - and actually going to war. And Turks are weary of the whole crisis. They already host thousands of Syrian refugees.
What appetite does Turkey have for war with its neighbour? To talk about that we were joined by Ali Rıza Güney, the Consul General of the Republic of Turkey in Toronto.
Is Turkey ready or willing to go to war with Syria? - Former Canadian Ambassador to the U.N.
Turkey can't easily be bullied of course; it has formidable military capabilities all on its own. But NATO is obliged to defend a fellow member from attack. While this is no game, there are nevertheless rules and procedures; the situation is very complex.
To help us sort it out, we were joined by Paul Heinbecker. He's a former Canadian ambassador to the U.N., and worked as a diplomat in Turkey. He is currently a distinguished fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation and director of the Centre for Global Relations at Wilfird Laurier University. He was Ottawa.
This segment was produced by The Current's Pacinthe Mattar, Sujata Berry and Joan Piloya.
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