President Obama met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Paris on Tuesday. The President emphasized Turkey's right to defend itself and its airspace, following the Turkish shootdown of a Russian fighter jet.
Russia has been attacking rebel forces allied or aligned with Turkey, true, but shooting down an aircraft crosses a line. Turkey would have been better advised to talk to the Russians and work out some kind of mutually acceptable compromise.
Turkey's Islamist government stands accused of protecting Islamist elements inside Syria who are, if not ISIS, at least aligned with ISIS.
Russia's newly declared economic war against Turkey and its introduction of provocative new S-400 anti-aircraft weaponry into the region that can take down Turkish F-16s are a far higher price than Erdogan expected to pay.
You may not like Putin and his assertive foreign policy -- I don't like his friendship with Iran and other dodgy players -- but you have to take him seriously.
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