Turkey can’t shoot down Russian jet without US approval: Analyst

Turkey cannot take a dangerous action like the shooting down of a Russian warplane without getting the approval from the United States, says Myles Hoenig, an American political analyst and activist in Maryland.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Thursday that Moscow had provided prior information to Washington of the flight path of the aircraft shot down by Ankara inside Syria near the Turkish border this week.

"The American side, which leads the coalition that Turkey belongs to, knew about the location and time of our planes' flights, and we were hit exactly there and at that time," Putin said at a joint press conference with French President Francois Hollande in Moscow.

Commenting to Press TV, Hoenig said, “If the charges by Putin are true, it’s a clear sign that the affects of US foreign and military policy is to further de-stabilize an already chaotic and distressed part of the world.”

“One can only wonder how this insanity of goading Russia into a fight with NATO has taken full control of the Obama White House,” he added.

On Tuesday, NATO member Turkey shot down a Russian Sukhoi Su-24 Fencer jet, claiming the aircraft had repeatedly violated its air space.

Putin said the jet had been attacked when it was 1 kilometer inside Syria. He warned of "serious consequences" and called it a “stab in the back” administered by "the accomplices of terrorists."

Russia has been conducting airstrikes on Daesh (ISIL) positions at the request of the Syrian government since September 30.

Jet downing shows US 'desperation' 

“Russia has pretty much stepped in where the Western powers have shown either an unwillingness or inability to end the ISIS terror,” Hoenig said, using an alternative acronym for the terrorist organization.

“This is changing the balance of power in the Middle East and the US is losing standing worldwide due to this. Yet allowing for an attack on a Russian military plane shows desperation on the part of the US and its allies. It is incredibly dangerous as the two military powers could easily destroy each other and all others on the planet,” he noted.

“US policy in the Middle East has no clear vision. It claims it wants an end to ISIS yet seems to be dancing around when it comes to going after them. Are they waging a war against ISIS? Or, are they funding and supplying them? Or is the US goal foremost to take out the Assad government, with any damage to the ISIS powers being secondary?” the analyst wondered.

“It is not hard to believe that all that Turkey has been doing has been with full knowledge of its US controllers. Its primary goals are to see an end to the Assad regime (similar to that of the US) but also to prevent any kind of Kurdish independence,” he stated.

“Turkey knows that what it does militarily will be supported by NATO so all such actions must have US approval which would draw the Russian military into a combat situation with the US or its allies,” Hoenig concluded.

US 'concerned' over S-400 deployment 

The Kremlin has announced that it is sending S-400 anti-aircraft missiles to Latakia in northwestern Syria in the wake of the shooting down the Russian warplane.

The US military is very concerned about Russia’s imminent deployment of the advanced missile defense system to Syria, according to an American official.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Wednesday the S-400 poses a significant threat. He said the planned deployment is raising “significant concerns” for the US military, which is conducting airstrikes in Syria.

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