Ankara knows perfectly well that the Russian Su-24 bomber did not violate Turkish airspace and by no means posed any threat to the country, geopolitical analyst and former World Bank economist Peter Koenig, pointing to the fact that Washington has demonstrated its solidarity with Turkey.

Since the very beginning of the Russian military operation in Syria, Russia's mission was absolutely clear to the international community: Moscow joined in response to the official request from Damascus to fight against terrorism as well as to protect the sovereignty of the Syrian nation.

"Russia's mission was clear to all the 19 nations which attended the G20 meeting some 10 days ago in Antalya, Turkey, when the entire group unanimously decided to cooperate in fighting the Islamic State (IS — or Daesh, according to its Arabic acronym)," geopolitical analyst and former World Bank economist Peter Koenig emphasizes in his recent piece for Global Research.

However, Ankara is now spreading barefaced lies about an alleged violation of Turkish airspace by the Russian Su-24 bomber and insisting that the treacherous strike against the Russian jet was an act of self-defense.

"If today there will be another violation of our airspace, we are capable of the same kind of response," Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday.

Remarkably, Washington has demonstrated solidarity with Ankara: Turkey "has a right to defend its territory and its airspace," US President Barack Obama said in the wake of the incident in the Syrian airspace.

"It might well be that Turkey got marching orders from Washington to know no mercy for Russia and Russian fighter planes. Never mind that past Turkish-Russian relations have been good," Koenig notes.

#SYRIA #Rudskoy Syrian Air Defence Forces and objective monitoring data confirm: Rus aircraft did not cross the Turkish borderline — Минобороны России (@mod_russia) 24 ноября 2015

​The analyst reminded that Turkey had been expressing its willingness to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, led by China and Russia, along with Central Asian former Soviet Republics, India and Pakistan.

However, after weighing the pros and cons, Ankara has apparently decided that the EU and "Madame Merkel," in particular, would "offer more."

It's actually the Turkish F-16 who violated Syrian airspace here — at least that's how it looks. pic.twitter.com/CUeSd9hDSb — Olivier Fehr (@OliFehr) 24 ноября 2015

Turkey's stab in Russia's back could have been a thought-out preplanned action.

"Washington needs a large-scale war. Its masters, the military industry, Wall Street, Big Oil — and not to forget AIPAC, the all-powerful Israeli lobby — ask for it… If Russia were to retaliate within Turkey's borders, it could be construed as an aggression against a NATO country which under the rules of the Trans-Atlantic alliance is a free pass for NATO to wage war against the aggressor," the analyst elaborates.

According to Koenig, if Russia fell in this trap, it would become the beginning of the third world war in the Middle East. In the event of such a war the whole MENA region (Middle-East and North Africa) would be turned to ashes, prompting the new wave of refugees flooding Europe.

As a result, the analyst continues, Europe would be reduced "to a wasteland of serfs."

"Waiting in the wings are already the TTIP and other atrocities instigated by the Zionist led elite that directs the Washington war-machine," he remarks.

"For example, the western dollar-based monetary assault on Europe — a forced cash-free society, banks imposing negative interest on peoples' savings and planned bail-ins for failing banks — would leave the European populace powerless — ready to be stripped of any economic and financial assets — worse than what the troika did and continues doing to Greece," the analyst explains.

Koenig envisages that Washington's subservient media sources would continue to portray Russia as an "aggressor" and a party responsible for the flood of asylum seekers in Europe, "right before winter, when it is most difficult to absorb them with safe and humanitarian shelter due to lacking infrastructure."

The Western political establishment cannot forgive Russia its successful anti-ISIL military campaign in Syria. Indeed Russia's military involvement in Syria has put the spotlight on many inconvenient and disturbing truths regarding US-led anti-ISIL coalition actions in the region.

Washington neocons are at pains to implement their Plan for a New American Century, in other words, "Full Spectrum Dominance," and they have no scruples about "playing dirty" in order to provoke Russia.

"But Vladimir Putin, the brilliant geopolitical chess player, won't fall for it," Koenig stresses.