At
UN, "Not First
Time Turkey
Flies Into
Syria,"
Skeptic
Says, Ban
Silent
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
June 25 -- The
Turkish jet
and tomorrow's
NATO meeting
on
the subject
were all the
buzz in front
of the UN
Security
Council on
Monday
morning.
While
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon
declined to
comment as he
went in, to
read a speech
about
protection of
civilians,
Inner City
Press asked a
Western
spokesman and
a more
senior
non-Western
diplomat and
got very
different
answers.
The
Western
spokesman, not
unlike the
anti-Assad
diplomat Inner
City Press quoted
on June 22
that "it
should be over
by July,"
seemed excited
by the
shoot-down of
the jets. Ask
Turkey when
they want to
bring it
to the
Council, he
said.
French
Permanent
Representative
Gerard Araud
point out it
is not (yet)
under NATO
Article 5,
coming to
common
defense, but
only Article 4
consultations.
The
non-Western
diplomat was
decidedly more
sceptical. He
exclusively
told Inner
City Press
this is not
the first time
Turkey flies
into Syrian
air
space.
We need to
know the
purpose of
those flights,
he said, and
what exactly
shot the
Turkish jet
down.
He said NATO
is "not
ready" for
military
intervention,
so why come to
the Council?
Why indeed.
Watch this
site.