Demotix/Thorsten Strasas. All rights reserved.Turkey’s downing of a Russian fighter jet near the Turkey-Syria border on 24 November heralded talk in some circles of a new Cold War. Others mulled over the reawakening of the centuries-long jostling for supremacy between Russia and Turkey, former imperial powers in Eurasia.
A renewed Cold War may not have been kick-started but a war of words has erupted, with pundits on opposite shores of the Black Sea hurling abuse and allegations. Meanwhile Moscow appears intent on sabre rattling, a Russian soldier recently brandishing a rocket launcher aboard a navy vessel as it passed through the Bosporus in Istanbul.
Leaving aside the diplomatic fallout between Russia and Turkey, the shooting down of the jet highlights the conflicting interests of regional and outside powers in Syria and in the struggle against ISIS. This event has illustrated that neither Russia’s nor Turkey’s interests automatically chime with those of the west. Perhaps more tellingly, in many instances they do not coincide with the interests of the diverse and divided peoples of Syria.
