world

Turkey recovers body of pilot from downed Russian jet

13 Comments

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

© (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015.

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

13 Comments
Login to comment

Sunday’s worst strike killed 43 people in a crowded market in Ariha,

What? Were they selling figs, threatening to insert them in a donkey's behind and make Putin remove it with his teeth? Those damned fruit sellers had to be stopped! Besides the figs, they may have sold other fruit to ISIS, and that could only mean they support them!

Bah! Anyone with half a brain just has received yet another reason why, when Russian bombers in full war mode cross your border, you shoot that SOB down before he starts killing your civilians.

Turkey recovered the body of a Russian pilot from northern Syria

This is very curious. If the body was in northern Syria, as opposed to southern Turkey, why didn't the Russians recover it themselves in 5 days? Or even the rebels? How exactly did Turkey get the body?

-5 ( +2 / -7 )

How did Turkey get the body? In the second half of this paragraph:

"Turkey is one of the neighbors most affected by the 4-year-old civil war in Syria, having hosted 2 million refugees while calling loudly for the downfall of Assad. It has been angered by the Russian military campaign in Syria, complaining in particular in recent weeks about Moscow’s targeting of ethnic Turkmen rebels in the border area, who are close kin with Turks.

Ethnic Turkmen rebels shot the pilot as he parachuted down, and took out their frustrations with him on the ground, I have heard. The repatriated body may not be exactly what Russia was expecting. RIP.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

@nandakandamanda If you are going to quote a question of mine, then answer it. FFS.

Ethnic Turkmen rebels shot the pilot as he parachuted down, and took out their frustrations with him on the ground, I have heard.

Oh. You think they might have been a bit frustrated they could not hit the guy doing mach 2 as he dropped tons of bombs on them? I can't imagine why! And the second they got a chance to actually hit him back, they took it? They really should take some anger management courses or something, shouldn't they? I mean, you know, guys in jets drop bombs on my friends and family with impunity, I just get, ya know, a bit chafed. I have a cup of tea, and then I am right as rain. Haven't managed to hit any planes with rifle fire, but if one of those guys parachuted out, I would surely offer him some chocolate when he came to the ground and promptly escort him back to his own base. After all, I am sure he has family and friends too, and he is just doing a job.

I wonder, can you actually hear yourself think, or do the words just appear and you hit "submit"?

-7 ( +1 / -8 )

Er, OK, I will rephrase, again removing any hint of sarcasm or personal vitriol, even though I do get frustrated with repetitive posts like Burning Bush's above, who wishes to mix up all anti-Assad rebels into one frothing Jihadist mob .

To answer your question. The border is porous. There are Turks on both sides of it. Would it not be easy and natural for Turkey to request the body from their kinfolk over the border, even insisting that they dig it up, and even if they cannot now find his eyes?

Oh, and just to be clear, I can see all sides of the argument here, so I have no particular axe to grind.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

I wonder, can you actually hear yourself think, or do the words just appear and you hit "submit"?

There are something in the world called Geneva conventions. Of course, you can do not care about rules of war, but one day fortune will unfavourable to you and you'll became prisoner of war. And don't be shocked that there will be no mercy, because of your war crimes.

And also, "turkmen rebels" commander, which killed russian pilot, actually is turkish ultranationalist, profesional mercenary, who also fought in Iraq.

So he is not that type person, who will say "oh, russians bombed my house and I will revenge them". He probably will say "kill the infidels" or "rus(fransız, amerikalı) kafirleri öldürürüz".

5 ( +6 / -1 )

So Turkish soldiers are operating in Syria, and "recovering" people from jets shot down over Syria. In other words, Turkey admits they are actively working with the Jihadists in Syria.

It is a amazing how the Reuters writer tried to put lipstick on this pig and to avoid the issue.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

There are something in the world called Geneva conventions.

You are speaking of Protocol I of the 1949 Geneva conventions, but were actually added in 1977. But aren't you utterly flummoxed that while nations got together to make such clear and specific rules about pilots parachuting out of disabled military aircraft, there STILL are no specific rules concerning aerial bombardment? I mean, what is that? I think its obvious that technologically advanced nations are hijacking the Geneva conventions for their own purposes.

We have to go back to more general rules of war to cover aerial bombardment. Here: Int'l law from wiki: "An attack or action must be intended to help in the military defeat of the enemy; it must be an attack on a military objective, and the harm caused to civilians or civilian property must be proportional and not excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated." Article 25: The attack or bombardment, by whatever means, of towns, villages, dwellings, or buildings which are undefended is prohibited.

And "Articles 51 and 54 outlaw indiscriminate attacks on civilian populations, and destruction of food, water, and other materials needed for survival. Indiscriminate attacks include directly attacking civilian (non-military) targets, but also using technology such as biological weapons, nuclear weapons and land mines, whose scope of destruction cannot be limited.[6] A total war that does not distinguish between civilian and military targets is considered a war crime."

Now, I ask you, are oil tankers military targets? Of course not. They are economic targets. Was the bombing by the Russians of the cities of Hama, Homs and Idlib in October legit according to these rules? Heck no. And that is why the White House condemned them.

If Russia cares so much about the rules, I suggest Russia obey them. If YOU care so much about the rules, I suggest you cease defending a country that undermines them.

All that said, it is utterly ridiculous that a man can fly a such a weapon that is untouchable by the helpless people he is attacking and killing in droves, and then the second he finds himself helpless, he is untouchable. Utterly, completely and profoundly PREPOSTEROUS! Further, a pilot cannot determine and discriminate between those who are armed, not armed, healthy, sick or wounded and neither can the bombs he drops or missiles he fires. But he bombs and fires away! And he gets support. Meanwhile, the militants on the ground can't tell if a parachuting pilot is armed with hand grenades, or a sub-machine gun, or even if he is right now radioing in coordinates for a carpet bombing. He can shoot from his parachute just like any paratrooper (legit target BTW). They don't know if he will even surrender once on the ground! But if they kill him in the air, they are the bad guys! CRAZY!

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

refugee:

" Now, I ask you, are oil tankers military targets? Of course not. "

Oh really? Oil tankers of a terrorist organization that is committing genocide, carrying stolen oil? No targets? Seriously?

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Then, how will peace prevail in Syria if USA, Russia and Turkey choose to use that country to express past differences their conflicting interests? Pathetic!

0 ( +1 / -1 )

@WilliB Seriously. Those are the rules. I didn't make them. Oil tankers are not military targets. They are not used for attack. Neither are the oil wells and rigs both Russia and America have been attacking.

The rules are fairly obvious, but people will try to twist the words despite the obvious intent to try and justify it, and for rich and powerful nations, its working. No one is getting war crimes charges for it. It is however and anyway, pathetic and embarrassing and not at all good for common people like myself or my children. I would not say that these obviously illegal aerial bombardments are justification for terrorism, but it sure can seem that way if you are getting bombed in violation of the rules of war these countries who ratified them violate them at will.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

the refugeeNOV. 30, 2015 - 05:53PM JST @WilliB Seriously. Those are the rules. I didn't make them. Oil tankers are not military targets. They are not used for attack. Neither are the oil wells and rigs both Russia and America have been attacking.

You don't make the rules but you're darn selective with which ones you want enforced. Shooting defenceless parachuting pilots is perfectly understandable for you (said pilot attacking ISIS), but attacking oil tankers (that are making money for ISIS) is a big no-no. One has to wonder, refugee. Really.****

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites