Late on January 5, Turkish forces resumed their attacks on the town of Ain Issa in the northern countryside of Syria’s Raqqa.
The Turkish Armed Forces shelled the town and its outskirts. At the same time, militants of the Syrian National Army launched a ground attack at the nearby village of Mu’alk. The attack was, however, repelled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which destroyed at least one vehicle.
While Ain Issa is controlled by the US-backed SDF, the Russian Military Police and the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) maintain some positions around the town.
By the morning of January 6, the Turkish Armed Forces and their proxies stepped up their shelling on the town and its outskirts.
According to the Hawar News Agency, a base of the Russian Military Police was hit. No losses were reported. Turkish forces also struck an electricity station near Ain Issa, cutting power off from the town and its outskirts.
In the last few months, a number of similar attacks targeted Ain Issa. Media reports revealed that Russia had warned the SDF from a Turkish plan to invade the town. The group was reportedly asked to hand over the town to Syrian government forces.
The SDF allowed the SAA to establish three new posts around Ain Issa. However, this limited measure has clearly failed to deter Turkish forces. The US-backed group will have to make some serious concessions soon if it really wants to protect the town and its residents.
Another gulenist dickmuncher on CIA payroll trying to f up things…
Love seeing dead and roasted ruskies
so why waiting? come and get it b i t c h…
Why what did they do to piss you off? i mean its not like they destroyed half the middle east.
Exactly, the U.S put the whole middle east on fire, along with Israhell.
So you are some sort of terrorist?, your kind always end up in body bags :) Also, no one was injured, and the source isnt trustworthy, keep that in mind little creature.
Hi adolf… Thought you were dead…
Source: Hawar News Agency=YPG/PKK Unreliable
Watch out, Russia creates new 7km-range sniper rifle It is set to be the longest-range special forces weapon in the world firing hypersonic bullets, and will serve all branches of the military. (the current record of 4.217 km also belongs to the Lobaev Arms company with its SVLK-14 Sumrak rifle) https://www.rbth.com/science-and-tech/332377-russia-creates-7km-range-sniper-rifle
Since Russia has a significant edge in hypersonic technology, they will miniaturize it and make smaller weapons firing hypersonic speed munitions. Of particular interest are air to air missiles launched from aircraft for beyond visual range engagements.
OK as long we agree that this sniper is only having hypersonic speed bullet – and not being”hypersonic weapon” itself.
I said hypersonic speed munitions.
indeed, my bad.
Russia’s airforce will remain weak compared to the U.S for one reason: Range!
Air force is becoming obsolete like aircraft carriers. Today’s top military weapons are the smart missiles.
We have not seen any USSA jet challenge the S-400 for air dominance.
Jets and carriers against smart missiles is like the Polish cavalry against German tanks in world war 2
Actually the Polish military at the time was better equipped, bigger, and stronger than Germany’s military. German’s were using panzer III, and IV. Polish had better armor. It was Guderians “blitzkrieg” tactics that decided the outcome. The cavalry charge was just foolish. That, and the Poles refusal to declare Warsaw an open city. The Germans told the Poles declare Warsaw an open city, and we won’t attack. More than once. They refused, German’s attacked. Polish military equipment was high quality, I had my hands on a Polish 9mm automatic pistol recently. It had the German markings stamped on it, as inspected, and accepted for use. The manufacturer was taken over by Germany, and continued production. German’s paid for the guns, also for the Ford, and GM plants in France to build trucks for the German military. Trading with the enemy. Standard Oil of New Jersey sold the Germans aviation octane during the war. Chase Bank, and AT&T too. The history the people are given is lies. Nothing is true. US brags it beat Germany. Total lie. US stole the credit, Russia beat the Germans. Very expensive education for Russia. The Germans taught Russia how to fight.
Hitler was a creation and servant of the Rothchilds.
Yes, so what ?
Jewwwww
Nottttt. Stupid
What range? Ever heard of the North Pole?
I know that there are a few Russian planes with ranges of over 10,000 km. I’m not saying there is no such plane at all. When I say Russia has a problem of range, I mean Russia does not have the capability to wage war on distant countries like the U.S does. All of the Russian bombers of 10,000+ km range and even below are highly vulnerable to AA systems due to the non-stealth nature of those planes. Also, what’s left of these planes were handed down to Moscow by the Soviet Union. Russia simply doesn’t have the money to built more long-range bombers like that, let alone a stealthy on. So a few long-range bombers without any stealthiness is not a great advantage and cannot win Russia any wars. If Ukraine can acquire anti-Aircraft systems of 300+ km range, all Russian long-range bombers become sitting ducks. Just check out the picture below to see how very old-fashioned some best Russian long-range bombers are. There is nothing stealthy about this plane, and it’s a sitting duck for AA systems of suitable range. https://nationalinterest.org/sites/default/files/styles/desktop__1260_/public/main_images/1920px-tupolev_tu-95ms_at_the_maks-2013_01.jpg?itok=HoTpHmK2
The Tu-95 is younger than the B-52 fleet…. Tu-160 is back in production and it was stealthy enough to bypass the NORAD radar grid in Northern Canada multiple times. Conventional stealth is useless against state of the art military radar systems. These, are cruise missile platforms by the way so you can add 4000+km to the planes range. The Tu-160 is state of the art. They also have tactical bombers still with a pretty good range like the Tu-22M and the Su-34. Russia waged war in Syria they did pretty good. I wouldn’t brag about U. S. success overseas after NAM, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria.
“Russia waged war in Syria they did pretty good”: they fought against a poorly armed adversary – no airforce, AA systems, Naval forces, precision missiles, etc. Were the Syrian rebels to be supplied by just 300 km precision missiles, Russians would die in the thousands in Syria. Also, if they had any decent air-defense systems, Russian planes would have a much harder time fighting them. Even at that, it took Russia years of intense bombing to help prevent the fall of Assad. Don’t forget that Russia still hasn’t won the war, because ISIS is still much alive and active. How many such long-range bombers (which are mainly for nuclear war) does Russia currently field? Which ones have Russia tested with stealth capability? As far as I can tell, Russia’s stealth technology is still very much premature.
Those groups were supprted and armed with state of the art weapons by the U.S., UK, Israel, France, Turkey and saudisis arabia. So the SAA, Russia and Iran beat that coalition of evil. Isis is pretty much defeated, more people fzie each weekend in shootings in the U.S. than SAA losses, 80+% of the country is under SAA control. Turkey ditched the U.S. and Israel in Syria. Russia did more in 5yrars with the fraction of the gear and manpower than the U.S. in 20years. Fact. Bomber numbers are in parity more or less. And the upgraded Tu-160 entered full grade production. Like I said conventional stealth is obsolete against state of the art military radars. Conventional stealth means shaped radar dispersive form and RAM coating. Russia already employs these on the Su-34 and Tu-160. Among others… They also employ active radar cancellation (electronic stealth) and plasma stealth. They arent behind but ahead. U.S. became too lazy while Russia was working non stop to develop new techs, they had 20+years and now the results are showing, radars, SAMs, hypersonic weapons, stealth, directed energy weapons plasma weapons included. Even according to the Pentagon the U.S. will need at least 10yrars to catch up under optimal conditions.
One of their very best achievement have been destroyed by Turkish drones. If you dispute, I’ll provide video evidence. Russian weapons are overhyped.
U.S. weapons are overhyped* Mist the video footage over Idlib was CGI, some straight from call of duty. Fact is SAA won. Eventho they dont have the latest Russian gear.
Syrian terrorists often called in isis air force… Till Russia closed the airspace.
Ukraine has advanced S-300 SAMs and BUK by the way.
Russian Air Force did more with 70jets and helos in a couple of years in Syria than the U.S. with a thousends of jets and helos for 20years in the region. Even the Pentagoons were shocked how effective Russian jets and helos are. Let that sink in…
Actually I think Russia had only around 30 winged aircraft at any one time.
In Imperial Russia under the Czar prior to WWI?
I was referring to the Russia airbase in Syria.
If they need some serious bombers, they have some really big supersonic ones and they are there in a jiffy.
Yes of course, but they were not all based in Syria
No need to base them there.
Not with their huge range. Have a great day
There were that many Tu-22, and Tu-95 operating from an airfield in Iran.
The U.S had never truly fought ISIS
True.
But US did create it, though. al CIAeda, and Taliban, too.
Yeah, they created ISIS, and they supported the Taliban during the soviet wars. They probably also created Alqaeda. Iran is doing the same too, creating non-state violent actors across the Muslim world it claims to want to protect.
Fact.
Lol, that is why carrier borne aircraft cannot compete with anti shipping Russian missiles?
Some American planes don’t need a carrier to strike at long ranges. for example, the B-series bombers. Russia doesn’t have the economy to build such planes. Again look at the aerial refueling tankers. Russia still can’t field those air assets. All these don’t need a carrier.
Execpt Tu-95, Tu-160, Tu-22, and a few long range MiG-31. Russia has no problem with in-flight refueling. You should’ve seen/heard US having apoplexy when that pair of “White Swans” dropped in for a visit in Venezuela. Then went sightseeing around the Caribbean. Caused a bigger stir than a US Navy carrier group visiting the port of some tiny Island nation. US Navy attack carriers are an impressive sight in person. They’re also an immense target. Tu-160 can fly out at over 2.0 Mach to a location far outside redar, and air cover’s range. Launch hypersonic weapons that move a minimum 9.0 Mach, US military can track, but can’t defend against these weapons systems. Tu-160 comes about, hit’s afterburners, and gone. Faster than most Western fighters. MiG-31, the perfect escort. Russia fields air assets. Russia’s missile defense systems, trump US air assets, and carrier strike groups. There’s no where on earth a carrier can hide, that a Russian advanced weapons system can’t strike. That’s the facts, JACK !
Your argument would have been impressive had you stated the ACTUAL RANGE of these Russian planes you listed. For example, say one of the planes has a combat radius of 1000 km, 2000 km, etc. Again, Russia’s aerial refueling capability is VERY LIMITED because it cost plenty of dollars to build Aerial refueling tankers, and Russia ain’t got much money. With a well-armed adversary, the Russian airforce would be crippled within weeks of hostilities. Like I said, Russia’s greatest weakness is range. And this weakness makes Russia’s logistics highly vulnerable to long range precision missiles.
Again you are lying. Given the fact that you have no supporting evidence to back any of your bullshit claims, I do not feel compelled to provide data that is easily found online, from OEM sources. Karen.
I was talking about Russia’s severe limitation in range. You were trying to prove that certain Russian planes don’t have that problem. But you failed to state their range. Which means you either don’t know, or the planes are a flop. Now here are some facts you can confirm through google for all the Russian planes you listed: 1) Tupolev Tu-22 was retired in the year 2000, which means it simply could no longer deliver. 2) The Tu-95 Bear Bomber is nearly useless against an enemy with even some modest air-defense systems, so it’s range is of little advantage in the modern battlefield. It’s also a very noisy plane. Another thing is that Russia inherited that plane from the Soviet Union, and the current Russian economy just isn’t capable of building better planes of that range. 3) the Tu-160 is a similar giant vulnerable plane like the Tu-95, but even bigger. They are both very vulnerable to even modest air defenses, hence, their range in a high-tech modern battlefield counts for little. You also seem not to know that these big Russian planes were built for nuclear war, not conventional battles. 4) Finally, the mig-31 has a range of just 200 km.
“I do not feel compelled to provide data that is easily found online”. Obviously you didn’t know that the Mig-31 has a 200 km range.
The AmeriCunts Carrier Group strategy/tactics are so 1940s AKA outdated + ancient they use it ONLY for their World-Terrorism/War-Of-Terror against literally the rest of the World, because of their ‘AmeriCunt Exceptionalism‘ Braindamage and Delusions of ‘Full Spectrum Dominance‘.
So what? Sniper rifles will do little to change battles space landscape of the future, which would be a high-tech battlefield. Russia’s major weakness is that it lacks allies that are willing to take part in its wars or aggression around the globe. Again, it has a comparatively weak economy to the United States. Go stick the barrel of your new sniper riffle up Putin’s asshole and pull the trigger.
Its the USSA that rapidly collapsing,. When the dollar goes to 0 with hyper inflation in 2 or 3 years max, possible any day now there will be widespread famine in the USSA.
CSTO+SCO Russia has friends and allies. U.S. has slaves and vassals.
U.S. economy is non existent at this point, its smoke and mirrors. Germany alone exports more than the whole U.S. Add the exorbitant debt, trade deficit and unemployement and you have a perfect storm. U.S. is toast. Even the Wall Street journal thinks that buying Rubles at this point and gold and silver is a wise decision. Let that sink in too…
“”” Russia’s major weakness is that it lacks allies that are willing to take part in its wars or aggression around the globe”””
Russia is not interested to wage wars of aggression around the globe.
“”” Again, it has a comparatively weak economy to the United States.”””
And what does the American economy consist of? It’s a consumer economy fueled by dollar printing machine. Their deficits are 1-4 trillion a year, while Russia shows a trade surplus every year of 150 billion plus.
All the same, they are currently screwing Russia’s economy. Russia too should prints its currency and compete if it could. That’s where the power imbalance lies. Russia is fighting in more than 10 countries as we speak. I can name them if you want. Some of their involvement are hidden, but I’ve been tracking it.
Yes, Russia through the new constitution cut off the links with the Fed, and is able to print all the paper money it chooses to. Russia is not involved in wars of aggression, they are powerful enough to counteract any situation that is counter productive to them.
What Russian aggression ? List these events, show tangible factual evidence of each event of Russia taking “aggressive” offensive action in the 30+ years Russian Federation has existed. You can’t shut up about this Russian aggression, yet you present nothing that shows this has ever occurred. Russian Federation has started no war, not on earth. Russia is not at war against any country. No military forces occupying any country. Russian military forces presence in foreign countries, are in those countries at the invitation of each countries Government. You are lying. Russia has plenty of allies that possess capable modernized military forces, and one very strong regional military power, US military can’t defeat. The fact Russia doesn’t engage in wars of aggression, requires no willing allies to take part. Again, you are lying. Russia is not taking over the world, it’s economy is not comparable with US economy. Russia’s economy has grown at 3% + a year consistently. The country owes no debt, pays not 33% compounded interest on a 30 trillion dollar, and growing debt. US economy took a 30% hit in 2019. Russia 3% with steadily growing reserves. Russia’s military is 80%+ modernized, is not deployed thinly worldwide at the end of long ass lines of easily disrupted communications. Yet again, you are lying. Certainly a unique means of self humiliation.
Thermobaric counter fire.
Turkey under Erdogan just keeps on doubling down – but they over estimating their capabilities and under estimating the long-term hostilities they are attracting from myriad of regional powers.
love him or hate him but Erdogan is not only loser….we might dislike what and how he does things, but he is wining sometimes also… he is playing dangerous game I give you that…
I disagree with you. Erdogan has really played his hands well. The U.S today respects Turkey more than it did in the past, and henceforth, U.S-Turkey relationship would be based on mutual respect, not like the master-servant relationship between the U.S and Gulf Arab countries and even European countries. That is pretty clear by now.
Russia and France have been traditionally hostile to Turkey. Erdogan knows when to move, stop, and back off. He pushed his luck with America’s tolerance over the S-400 issue for about four years, until the U.S imposed some mild sanctions. Now he’s started a joint Turkish/US group to discuss the issue – most likely, Turkey will agree to not activating the S-400. That should get the sanctions off. With more diplomatic push, Turkey can even rejoin the F-35, which will bring billions of dollars in arms sales to Pakistan and other countries, and also in production of certain components of the F-35. I don’t give a fuck whether the F-35 is good or not. What I care about is the economic benefit for Turkey in manufacturing hundreds of different components.
As for Russia, it’ll lose in any future arms sales to Turkey, and will most likely lose Turkey’s cooperation in Syria. A Turkey fully aligned back with the West would be more aggressive in Syria. Again, Turkey’s NATO membership is unshaken. Turkey will lead NATO’s high-readiness force in 2021. Russia would think twice before igniting a war with Turkey.
Lies, lies, and more lies. Turkey is despised by NATO countries, more in EU than others. US Government does not back Turkey, is considering tossing it out of NATO over it’s loose cannon ways. Turkey is about the only country in NATO that’s willing to work with US, except under duress. When a country treats it’s allies as it treats it’s enemies, it soon has no allies. EU will sometimes go with US idiocy against the infinitely more honorable Russia, as it fights back against US lunacy in it’s futile attempts to stop the Nordstream II project, and somehow force Germany to give up it’s investment’s in the nearly completed project that the German economy, and EU run their countries on. A reliable, affordable gas supply. Something Russia has proven endlessly to be the only, and number one choice of suppliers of gas. Russian gas continues, regardless of German stupidity, treachery, and low-down backstabbing ways. There’s no way in Hell US can match that in any way. EU is completely dependent on it’s gas supplier simply to survive winter. EU economy is powered by gas. US is knowingly, willfully using everything it’s got against Germany’s future. EU countries destroyed their economies standing with US illegal sanctions against Russia. Each country lost billions of Eurobucks a year in lost trade with Russia, permanent losses. While Russia became more self-sufficient, and stronger. Manufacturing, and producing the previously supplied EU products. Finding countries less able to be influenced by US Government pressure to produce Russia’s needs. With mutually beneficial trade alliances. US, EU, created huge increases in direct competition of these products on the world market. Demand for Russian military technology worldwide is astronomical. Demand for US, and Western military technology tanked. High pressure sales to it’s traditional allied buyers doesn’t generate a lot of revenue. With it’s NATO partners rejecting new equipment. Instead building their own. Or, buying Russian. As US continues to lag far behind it’s chosen enemies in developing military technology. US Government is being destroyed from the inside by it’s Zionist Khazar masters, and providing excellent assistance to it’s masters in facilitating it’s own destruction. The number one participant in the genocide of it’s own population. Brilliant.
Erdogan is creating serious long term hostile relations with many regional players – Syria/Greece/Armenia/Iran/Egypt/Saudi Arabia (who push the boycotting of Turkish goods across Arab states) – and of course, Russia. Russia does not need to start any major war with Turkey – Russia can bomb Turkish proxies and actual Turkish forces inside Syria at will – in occupied Idlib – to punish Erdogan for over-extending his ambitions. And Erdogan has put himself in that position.
“Russia can bomb Turkish proxies and actual Turkish forces inside of Syria at will – in occupied Idlib – to punish Erdogan for over-extending his ambitions.” Russia did exactly that in February 2020 even though the strikes were carried out by the SAA. I think you know what happened to after that.
Erdogan is rash and emotional – Putin plays the long game – wait and see.
Even if true…few stray mortars… It’s war boys and girls and Russian army knows how to take care about themselves, no worries. Nobody is bitchi’n….if you kill Russian they’ll pulverize hundreds of rats as an answer.
“if they kill Russian than Russian’s will pulverize hundreds of rats as an answer” Russia would have pulverized them since if it were that easy. They should eliminate ISIS first. No Russians died, otherwise the news would make headlines by now. There’s a limit to what air-forces can achieve. To have the kind of victory you are looking for, Russia must robustly deploy ground forces to wage this war. But that would lead to thousands of body-bag flying to Moscow every year. And Putin would lose any public support to continue the war. Russia CANNOT restore Assad.
Assad has been restored for years. Isis was mainly eliminated by Russia. Turks lost in Idlib and had major losses. You shouldnt get your news from Clown News Network…
“Assad has been restored for years” then why is he still fighting? Why are his soldiers dying by the hundreds every year? Why is Syria’s oil wealth outside his control?
“Isis was mainly eliminated by Russia.” ISIS was weakened by Russia, not eliminated. Syrian soldiers are still being slaughtered in dozens by ISIS.
“Turks lost in Idlib and had major losses.” Then why are you complaining that Turkey is occupying Idlib? Why are you not airstriking the Turkish forces in Idlib like you did in February of 2020?
“You shouldnt get your news from Clown News Network…” This advice would serve you better, not me. I don’t swallow propaganda. I research, think, calculate, observe, and imagine.
Because the U.S. and Israel keeps sending in more.
More terrorists due each year, a lot more along with cuza black ops advisers.
Russia/SAA took out around 80% of isis, rest was Iraq, Iran, SDF. U.S. only did friendly fire to sweep evidence under the carpet.
Turkey gave up most of idlib and is in the process giving up the rest so why bomb them? SAA gives them a lil reminder from time to time.
Haha, sure, you have a good sense of humor…
Turkey gave up most of idlib and is in the process giving up the rest so why bomb them? You really think so?
Gulenist dickmunchers on CIA payroll still trying create chaos with little sucess.
The Russian military commander who thinks that way shouldn’t be a the Russian military commander, in fact he should be tried for treason and put in jail. Putin’s got no right to use Russian lives as expendable tools for his geopolitical ambitions, losing soldier in a conflict is understandable but losing them for [non existent] political gains isn’t. Russian mothers and fathers are probably bitching about it when their children come home in bodybags, especially when they find out exactly how and why their sons died. Russia does respond to attacks ‘occasionally’, but not all the time, but responding to the attacks is the absolutely the worst option for a military commander, deterring the attacks is the best option, that’s what the Russians should be doing, not risking their soldiers lives by pandering to Erdogan’s demands and bad behavior, they should be giving Erdogan a very good reason to never do it again.
I’ve said it before, you’re not really pro Russian at all, just pro Putin, and believe it or not they’re not really the same thing, not anymore.
it’s all a game.turks russians and syrian gov. have an agreement on this.this is the only way to get syrian land back
“The US-backed group will have to make some serious concessions soon if it really wants to protect the town and its residents.”
Do they really have to make concessions soon, no they don’t, in 2 weeks time the US president who did everything he could to get out of Syria is leaving office, and soon the new president taking his place will be doing everything he can to stay in Syria, and the Kurds know it, and so do the Turks and Russians.
And I always think of the proud Russian soldiers who have to sit with their hands tied behind their backs when the Turks attack their bases/positions, they can’t respond to the artillery strikes, they just have to put up with them, sadly Putin’s geopolitical concerns inhibit an appropriate response. But I know what I’d do if the Turks were attacking my soldiers positions, I can tell you now they’d never ever do it again after the first time, not unless they wanted to start a full scale war, poor Russian soldiers, they’re obviously expendable in Putin’s opinion, ‘they’re just a small price to pay for a bigger geopolitical gain’. It’s lucky he gave himself a lifetime immunity from criminal prosecution, he’ll probably need that in the future.
And I’ve been wasting my breath reposting articles and telling everyone about the deal the US side and the Turkish side have come to, a power sharing arrangement between the Turkish backed SNC and the US backed SDC, and warning everyone this was the first link in a political arrangement between the US and Turkey, and today we have this new announcement,
“Îlham Ehmed, the co-chair of the Syrian Democratic Council, the political body of the SDF that controls NE Syria, calls for the establishment of “a joint project with the Syrian opposition. to turn north & east Syria into the epicenter of shared democracy”
LOL, an “epicenter of shared democracy”, is that what it’ll be, I can think of another term for it and democracy isn’t a word I’d be using to help describe it. But they won’t achieve this next year during the Syrian presidential elections, resolution 2254 has failed to deliver a new rewritten constitution in time, so that’s off the agenda, now they’ll have to wait until the parliamentary elections to get what they want.
“Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky, Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone, Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die, One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.”
Resolution 2254 is the ring that binds them all, and if that ‘one ring’ doesn’t work they just end up having 2 autonomous administrations, and sadly the Syrian Government will be left playing piggy in the middle, that’s what will probably happen according to this latest statement from the SDC. This should make Erdogan at least a little happier than he has been, and it better make him happier because the Kurds can’t bend over any further backwards than they already have, they’ll fall on their asses if they do. Erdogan’s got something everybody except for Assad wants, he’s got them all eating out of his hand and he’s acting more and more like Sauron every day. So someone has to destroy the one ring before it dominates everything and everyone. But who’s brave enough to first find it and then take it from Erdogan/Sauron, and finally travel to mount doom to destroy it. The Arab League Hobbits are trying to but they haven’t been too successful yet, so maybe someone else should start helping them, where’s Gandalf when you need him.
I agree with much of what you say except for one thing: You tend to think that a war between Russia and Turkey will save Assad. You are Wrong. It’ll topple Assad within weeks! If Russia were to act by your proposition, there’d be a much bigger war in Syria bay now. You seems to have forgotten that Turkey made it pretty clear to Russia what the cost of killing Turkish soldiers would be. Recall the incident of February 2020. Turkey killed at least hundreds of SAA soldiers, bombed a lot of equipment and buildings, all in retaliation for the death of JUST 33 Turkish soldiers. It was the SAA that later backed down despite taking heavy and disproportionate casualties. I can provide video proof for this if you want. In case you did not get the message of that disproportionate Turkish retaliation, I’ll explain it to you here.
What happened was much more than a clash between two militaries (Turkish vs Syrian). Turkey made it clear that it would target and destroy much of what’s left of the SAA and its militias, including Hezbollah and others. Turkey does not need to kill Russian soldiers directly. It can do so indirectly. For example, if the SAA and Iran’s militias are severely decimated by Turkish forces, Russia would be forced to fight the rebels and ISIS itself. Russian forces can no longer hide behind SAA and Shiite militias. Russia’s role is currently limited to air support, which is why there isn’t much Russian casualty in Syria. But should Turkey decimate Russia’s proxy foot soldiers (SAA and Shiite militias), Putin will face two VERY bad options: Fight Turkey and risk a war with NATO (highly unlikely). Or deploy more ground troops to fight the rebels and ISIS in Syria (this option will lead to an immediate spike in Russian casualties). Should more Russian body bags start flying out of Syria, Putin is CERTAIN to lose public support to continue the war in Syria.
This is the primary reason why neither Russia nor the SAA will deliberately ignite a fight with Turkey. Let that sink in.
The last thing I want is a war between Turkey and Russia, that would serve no useful purpose at all, it would just make the situation worse for absolutely everyone, so war is to be avoided at all costs, but measured Russian responses to unprovoked Turkish attacks are justifiable and they’re the only thing that will stop Erdogan in his tracks, so that’s what’s really needed, just calculated measured Russian responses. But if a war was to break out between Russia and Turkey I have no doubt the Russians are capable of sending the Turkish armed forces back to the stone age in just a matter of weeks, they’d obliterate most of Turkeys vital infrastructure with ballistic missiles and high altitude bombers, so there’s be no drone control towers left anywhere in Turkey, no communications networks, no military factories or bases [not US bases], no intelligence centers, no government administration centers, and no way for Erdogan to keep control of his own domestic opposition forces. Not many Russians want to depose Putin [they should] so he’s pretty safe if a war breaks out, but half the Turkish population want to depose Erdogan and the AK Party and put them in jail. So there my friend is the key to all Erdogan’s woes, if a war breaks out he won’t get the sort of domestic support most leaders usually get when faced with a similar situation, he’ll be fighting both the Russians and his own domestic opposition forces, coup d’etat all over again. Most Turks are opposed to the war in Syria and I think they’d be even less supportive of a war against Russia. 80,000 Turks are in jail now because of that coup, do you really believe all of them were actually involved with the plot, I don’t, and many Turks don’t believe it either, and they want their loved ones freed from Erdogan’s captivity. Did you say something about proxy fighters, have you forgotten most of the Arab League Nations are totally opposed to Erdogan and the Muslim Brotherhood, how may proxy fighters do you think they could provide, and how much financial assistance do you think they’d give Assad if he asked them to help him. Assad so far has refused all their offers of help because of the way they treated him in the past, but that could change under the right circumstances, all Assad has to do is ask for their help and they will give him all the help he needs. Egypt, the Saudis, UAE, Jordan, Kuwait and others, can and will provide mercenary forces at Assad’s request, and they’ll train equip and pay them, so Assad can get a hold of plenty of mercenaries if he really wants/needs them, all he has to do is swallow his pride and ask for them. So I’d like you to let those 2 point sink in, Erdogan doesn’t have the internal support he needs to mount a war, and could possibly and probably end up with an internal rebellion if he started one. And Russia and Assad can put more proxy forces on the ground in Syria than Erdogan ever could, all courtesy of the Arab League Nations who are currently fighting the Muslim Brotherhood at every chance they get in every arena they can find. All Assad has to do is ask for their help.
The distance from Turkish border towns to Moscow is approximately 1500 km. Turkey had a missile of 1500 km long before Iran got its first 1300 km missile in 2014. As early as 2012, Erdogan (then prime minister) ordered the Turkish military to start development of a 2,500 km missile. That program was largely suspected to be completed by 2016. Turkey NEVER publicizes the range of its newer missiles because Turkey is a member of the missile non-proliferation regime, which prohibits missile development of more than 300 km range. But Erdogan had since rejected that limitation, and Turkey’s missile and space program is far more advanced than most people think.
I’m telling you this so you know that Russia is NOT immune to the kind of damage you described it can inflict on Turkey. Moscow and many other Russian cities are squarely within range. They can inflict as much damage on these cities as Russia can on Turkish cities. The only time Russia would inflict significantly more damage is if they use nukes. Again, the new Turkish 1000 km anti-ship guided missile is a game-changer, according to international analyst. A sufficient number of such missiles deployed on Submarines and ships will certainly stop the Russian navy dead in its track.
The few Russian long range bombers you referred to are mostly sitting ducks. These are giant soviet-era planes with no stealth, and many are even retired. They can’t beat the modern Turkish jets unless they use a fighter escort. But fighter escorts of Russian air forces are limited by range – which means they can’t escort those giant vulnerable planes from long ranges. Which means no escort. Turkey’s F-16 and air-defense systems will defeat these giant vulnerable planes.
You lie big time when you said Assad has only to ask for help from the GCC. Why? Because of Assad’s ties with Iran, any help provided by the GCC would be conditional on Assad severing ties with Iran. Saudi Arabia, Israel, and America will never assist ANY country allied with Iran. If you doubt, give me an example.
In a war, the Turkish public will rally around Erdogan. No politician will beat Erdogan as long as he continues to advocate and implement pro-Islamic policies. In fact, the entire Muslim community, including the Saudis and Emirates will Support Erdogan and Turkey. ONLY there leaders are against Turkey, not the public.
Assad cannot have more proxy forces fighting for him simply because he asks the GCC for it. No or very very few Sunni proxy forces will fight for Shiites. The Saudis will have a hard time convincing their morons to go fight for a Shiite tyrant. They were able to recruit many headchoppers because they presented the cause like a religious one to an uneducated (islamically uneducated) Arab youth. Turkey on the other hand can recruit hundreds of thousands to fight Assad in Syria. The ONLY limitation being “money” and “equipment”. ONLY Iran can provide Assad with the kind of proxies he needs to cling to power. That is why Assad will not severe ties with Iran to please the GCC.
There is no information that corroborates what you’re saying about the new 2,500 km range missiles being in active service presently, so it’s not something we can count on in our argument, even if they do exist and are operational there won’t be many of them. I haven’t checked but I suspect Russia has 20 times the number of conventional ballistic missiles compared to Turkey, maybe 30 or even 40 times the number, and they’re usually better, have longer ranges and Russia can deliver them from a huge arc of attack, so they’d be the vanguard of any assault against Turkey. They’d take out as much of Turkey’s air defense and radar systems as they could, then their bases, government infrastructure, and anything else they thought important, then send in those new high speed T-160’s to mop up what ever was left. TU 160 – 2,220 km / h / 1,380 mph / Mach 2.05 long range, F-16 – 2,121 km/h / 1,318 mph / Mach 2.05 short range, Catch me if you can. Turkish AA systems are second rate compared to the Russian systems, all but one of their system are low altitude and short range systems and none of them are comparable to the Russian equivalents. So it’s a matter of the Russians having more and better AA systems than the Turks even have ballistic missiles to deliver, which means the Russians could easily swamp the Turkish defense systems and they could easily defend against the Turks retaliatory strikes.
Mercenaries fight for money not ideology, and the Saudis have a lot of money to spend on a good cause, and self preservation is always a good cause, that’s why they’d help Assad. And Egypt could even send it’s own army to help Assad, not just send in proxies/mercenaries, they can just about skin Muslim Brotherhood fighters/agents alive in Egypt and get away with it. I’m figuratively speaking to make a point. So the real war as you well know is the war between the Muslim Brotherhood and the Arab monarchies, Syria’s just one of the battlefronts in their war, but they’re also fighting each other in Yemen and Libya too, so don’t doubt for a second they’d put just as much effort into Syria if Assad permitted them to. But as you said the bottom line is Iran, everything is dependent on Assad’s acceptance of their strategic goals, but if he ever decided he was better off aligning to the rest of the League, then he might change the current dynamic and switch completely to the League for their help. Just because I think it’s a good idea to ask for League assistance it doesn’t mean Assad thinks the same thing too, in fact I’ve never read anything anywhere that’s suggested he’s close to changing his stance on League help, he hates them now as much as he ever has, but as I keep saying he should swallow his pride and get assistance from any avenue available, even if it’s help from the very same people who were trying to have you killed 3 short years ago.
The Muslim Brotherhood had a lot of people training in Shia Iran last year, so Sunni and Shia can get along very well when they want to, but strangely the Sunni’s training in Iran were all Muslim Brotherhood followers, the very people currently trying to destroy Assad’s Government, so Assad’s enemies are training in his allies country, and you say, “That is why Assad will not severe ties with Iran to please the GCC.” I’m not so sure, there will come a time when Assad has to ask the Iranians, are you still really my friends or are you just using me, because if you are just using me I’m better off siding with the League, we have a common agenda in Syria now, they don’t train Muslim Brotherhood fighters in Egypt or Saudi Arabia, they chop their heads off, which is what I want to do too. I know what I’d do if I was Assad, and I’m pretty sure Russia wouldn’t complain, at least not too loudly.
“Catch me if you can” You missed the point entirely. We are not, or at least I am not comparing Turkish vs Russian weaponry. Read my previous comments and you won’t find anywhere I compared Turkish and Russian weaponry. I only concentrated on the PRACTICAL EFFECT of such a war on Russia, even if Turkey lay in ruins. Do you know why Putin has refused to engage Russian ground troops to fight the Syrian opposition and ISIS? Try to figure out why, and you would be able to see the bigger picture. On the question of Assad and Iran, you also missed everything here. Iran has Assad where it wants him. If Assad should ditch Iran, the Syrian government would immediately split in two: those who support the Shiite axis from Iran down to Lebanon. VS those who support Assad, which will only be limited to Syrian Alawites. Don’t forget that Iran has thousands of militias in Syria, estimates put their number at 120,000. The Sunni Muslims of Syria are certain to support Turkey. A recent report puts Erdogan’s popularity among Syrian Sunnis at over 70%. That’s already a majority of Syrians. So what we’ll have in the event of Assad embracing the GCC is a split Syrian government battling both Sunni and Shiite opposition forces. Russia cannot do a damn thing without deploying significant Russian ground troops, which means a higher casualty for Russia – something it hasn’t the capability to put up with for long.
Lastly, when you say Sunni mercs will fight for Shiite Assad if well-paid, it is clear you have a limited understanding of this ancient Sunni-Shiite divide. To prove this to you, I’m gonna ask you to do one thing: Give me one example where an ideological Sunni group is fighting for a Shiite government or ruler anywhere in the world.
The Iranians do have Assad exactly where they want him but the Russians are currently trying to rectify that imbalance, among other things the IRGC is no longer taking over Syria’s telecom network and Rami Malouf is just one step away from a prison sentence.
I don’t think the Iranians still have 120 to 150,000 active militiamen left in Syria, more like 75,000 to 100,000 at most, and most of those militias are local NDF militias and not Hezbollah forces, and that’s because a fair chunk of Hezbollah’s forces have already gone home And at least half of the NDF militias are Sunni militias, so there are plenty of Sunnis who fight under Iranian orders and receive Iranian paychecks and equipment, and so does one of the Druze militias in As Suwayda as well. So there’s at least a few examples of Sunni militias fighting for Iran and at least one example of a Druze militia doing the same. You’ll find most of Syria’s National Defense Forces are paid for and given orders by Iran, Assad only has a few of his own NDF militias that obey his orders, and some of them just barely obey his orders, Russia also pays for a few militias too. There’s a few Sunni militias working for Iran in southern Deir ez Zor, and now possibly/probably a few in the Darra and Quneitra as well, and even a Druze militia in As Suwayda is working for the Iranians, I wonder what the Israelis think about that. Here’s a few facts that help explain why the situation in Syria isn’t as clear cut as some people think it should be, One of the Muslim Brotherhoods main goals is to unite both Shia and Sunnis under one united Islamic Caliphate, they want to join both faiths for a common purpose. Assad married a Sunni woman and made her the mother of his children, so the Alawite faith isn’t as important to Assad as some people assume it is. And most orthodox Shia think the Alawite faith is not only heretical, but also downright wacky, so the Shia don’t really like the Alawites at all, and orthodox Shia’s only make up 5% of Syria’s total population, Alawites about 11%.
But I have to take issue with this part of your comment,
“A recent report puts Erdogan’s popularity among Syrian Sunnis at over 70%. That’s already a majority of Syrians.”
That has to be a mistake on your part, no media outlet even a pro AK Party site would make that claim, maybe if they’d said 70% of the Syrian Turkmen ethnic group were pro Erdogan I could believe that, but 70% of the Arab Sunni population definitely don’t support Erdogan, that has to be a mistake on your part, as I said no news site of any worth would make that sort of claim. I suggest you reread the article again. Even the HTS terrorist oppose Erdogan politically, they control 75% of the occupied territories in north eastern Syria, They booted out the Turkish affiliated groups and took over, so you can’t even count on your own opposition groups being pro Erdogan. 75% of the opposition groups in Syria actually opposes Erdogan, which must mean according to your accepted report, the rest of the Government controlled territory must be more in favor of Erdogan then the HTS terrorists are, and that would mean in Government held areas Erdogan’s popularity would have to be even higher than 70%, just to make up for his loss of popularity in HTS controlled territory. Mmmm, I don’t think so. We may be on different sides but I usually like what you have to say and very often agree with you, but on the odd occasion I don’t, and sometimes I even think you have your facts wrong, and Erdogan’s actual popularity in Syria would be one of times I think you’ve got your facts wrong.