Russian-Turkish alliance against ISIS

19.01.2017

Russia and Turkey held their first joint operation yesterday.

Details

The Russian and Turkish air forces conducted their first joint air operation to eliminate an ISIS grouping in the suburbs of the village of al-Bab, Aleppo province.

The air operation, coordinated with the Syrian side, involved 9 attack aircraft from Russia’s air forces, including four SU-24M’s, four SU-25’s, and one SU-34 bomber, and eight Turkish aircraft, namely four F-16’s and four F-4’s. 36 targets were attacked.

The targets and operation were all agreed upon in advance by the general staffs and air force commands of the two countries.

Coordination

Jan. 9 was signed a memorandum between the defense ministries of Russia and Turkey is a sign of the new level of bilateral cooperation.

The document defines the mechanisms of coordination and cooperation between Russian air-space force (the Russian air force) and the Turkish air force's strikes on terrorist targets and actions with the aim of incident prevention, while airplanes and unmanned aircraft are in the airspace of Syria.

In reality, this about more than just Syria. Consultations between the two delegations at the Ministry of Defense of Russia demonstrates an improved atmosphere of trust. Despite attempts by Atlanticists to ruin bilateral ties (the latest incident was the murder of the Russian Ambassador to Turkey in December 2016), the leadership of the two countries are doing everything possible to neutralize the external threats and provocations. In Turkey, the Pro-American lobby and the FGTO continue to try to organize attacks. In Russia, the situation is more favorable, although some organizations and media deliberately distort the facts in order to impose on the public a negative opinion of Turkey and its leadership.