NATO’s Message To Turkey: Remain Calm

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, left, and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu attend a a meeting at the presidential palace in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2015. Turkey shot down a Russian warplane Tuesday, c... Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, left, and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu attend a a meeting at the presidential palace in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2015. Turkey shot down a Russian warplane Tuesday, claiming it had violated Turkish airspace and ignored repeated warnings. Russia denied that the plane crossed the Syrian border into Turkish skies. Russia said the Su-24 was downed by artillery fire, but Turkey claimed that its F-16s fired on the Russian plane after it ignored several warnings.(AP Photo/Presidential Press Service, Pool ) MORE LESS

NATO ambassadors are urging Turkish officials to resist escalating tensions with Russia after downing a Russian warplane.

In a private briefing, Reuters is reporting a handful of NATO allies expressed frustration the Turkish government chose to act so aggressively when it might have tried an alternative response like sending a plane to direct the Russian aircraft out of Turkish airspace.

“There are other ways of dealing with these kinds of incidents,” one diplomat told Reuters.

Reuters, however, is reporting that no one “defended” Russia’s alleged aggression as they asked Turkish officials to retain “cool-headedness.”

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  1. This is just begging for an SNL skit based on the dialog from Pulp Fiction in the coffee shop robbery…

  2. I doubt Erdogan would appreciate being called Honey Bunny, however.

  3. “Remain” Calm? All indications are that this shooting was premature and not warranted. That was not “calm”, so how do they remain calm. They need to calm down.

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