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Tensions are escalating in the already fraught battle against the ISIS in Syria, with Turkey’s downing of a Russian Su-24 bomber on 24 November and Russia’s subsequent deployment of S-400 air defense complexes to the Russian Khmeimim airbase near Latakia, Syria.

Russia has been launching airstrikes on ISIS targets in Syria since September, yet the US State Department has questioned Putin’s real intentions, alleging that Russian strikes have been directed toward rebel fighters--some of the same groups the US and NATO have been supporting.

Turkey alleges the Russian fighter jet was given 10 warnings in five minutes to leave Turkish airspace, a claim confirmed by the US State Department, while Russia says its Su-24 bomber never left Syrian airspace.

Whether there will be serious recriminations from the incident remains to be seen, but NATO members are certainly anxious, as any escalation by Turkey will involve the 27 other NATO member states by default.

In an interview with Breitbart News, a Lebanese official alleges Turkey and therefore NATO made a calculated decision to shoot down the Russian jet.

“The Turks cannot afford to shoot down a Russian plane, being a member of NATO, without asking the permission of NATO. They have to ask NATO. It’s NATO,” said Walid Jumblatt. Jumblatt is a leader of Lebanon’s Progressive Socialist Party and a member of the Lebanese parliament.

Jumblatt added that the escalation is a “new dimension in international politics.”

“From one side you have the Americans and their allies fighting ISIS. And they are at odds with the Russian policy, because Russian policy, from Ukraine to Crimea, there is tension about it. Now there is tension about Syria. Russia favors the Syrian regime. Whereby NATO, theoretically they want to topple the (Bashar) Assad regime. They want a transitional period in Syria. These are the broad lines.”

The incident has certainly sent shockwaves through the international community, especially as France escalates airstrikes on ISIS targets following a terrorist attack in Paris that left 130 dead.

Moscow has instituted economic sanctions on Turkey’s capital of Ankara and announced it will freeze visa-free travel for Turkish visitors to Russia.

Turkish president Erdogan warned Putin, "We advise Russia not to play with fire," at a speech in Ankara.

But Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu took a more measured tone in a piece that appeared in the Friday edition of The Times of London.



"While the measures to defend our territory will remain in place, Turkey will work with Russia and our allies to calm tensions...The downing of an unidentified jet in Turkish airspace was not - and is not - an act against a specific country," he wrote.

Turkey’s main intentions have been to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad while Russia remains one of Assad’s main allies.

Davutoglu added "The international community must not turn on itself. Otherwise the only victors will be Daesh ... and the Syrian regime,” reaffirming Turkey’s desires for Syria. “The focus should be to tackle, head-on, the international threat that Daesh poses, securing the future of Syria and seeking a solution to the current refugee crisis.”