Russian Warplane Shot Down near Syria-Turkey Border

UPDATE: The Russian Defense Ministry has confirmed the Russian Su-24 military plane was shot down by a Turkish F-16 over Syrian territory. The plane was attacked while returning to Khmeimim airbase, said the Ministry, adding that the plane did not violate Turkish air space.

Report compiled by a reader

Turkey says it shot down Russian warplane

Excerpts from various reports

Turkish military: The Russian pilot had been warned at least 10 times  over five minutes the plane had violated Turkish airspace. Two of F-16 fighter jets shot down the plane.

Turkish PM Ahmet Davutoglu: Turkey has the right to respond to violations of its airspace.

Russian President Vladimir Putin: Turkey has stabbed Russia in the back by shooting down our warplane. They have acted as an accomplice to the terrorists. The plane was flying 1 km away from the Turkish border and posed no threat to Turkish national security.

Russia noticed of the flow of oil from Syrian territory under the control of terrorists to Turkey, Putin said.

Apparently, IS now not only receives revenue from the smuggling of oil, but also has the protection of a nation’s military, Putin said. This may explain why the terrorist group is so bold in taking acts of terrorism across the world, he added.

The incident will have grave consequences for Russia’s relations with Turkey, Putin warned.

The fact that Turkey did not try to contact Russia in the wake of the incident and rushed to call a NATO meeting instead is worrisome, Putin said. It appears that Turkey want NATO to serve the interests of IS, he added.

Putin said Russia respects the regional interests of other nations, but warned the atrocity committed by Turkey would not go without an answer

Russian Defense Ministry: A Russian Su-24 fighter has been shot down in Syria. The aircraft was flying at the altitude of 6,000 meters within the Syrian airspace.

“Today an aircraft from the Russian air group in the Syrian Arab Republic crashed on the territory of Syria supposedly shot down from the ground.”

“During all the flight time, the aircraft was flying only within the borders of the Syrian territory. That was registered by objective monitoring data.”

MSM: Footage posted online allegedly shows Russian pilots from the downed jet laying motionless, possibly dead on the ground and surrounded by Syrian Turkmens.

UK Foreign Office: “Clearly this is a very serious incident, but it would be unwise to comment further until we have more certainty on the facts.”

Internet: Turkish PM has requested extraordinary NATO council meeting to inform members of downing of Russian jet. Meeting scheduled for 5pm Brussels time.

History: This was the first time a NATO country has shot down a Russian or Soviet war plane since the 1950s.

Added by Moderator

Francois Hollande: Was it something I said? The French President had called for both Washington and Moscow to set aside their policy divisions over Syria and “fight this terrorist army in a broad, single coalition.” Unknown to him, those “policy divisions” are clearly irreconcilable.

Obama Itching to Accelerate Global Collapse

Who needs a liveable planet!

Russian President Vladimir Putin has challenged the US to present to the UN Security Council evidence that Syria attacked the so-called rebels with chemical weapons near Damascus, saying the idea that Syrian government has used chemical weapons on its own people was “utter nonsense.”

US President Barrack Obama said on Friday the US was planning a “limited, narrow” military action against Syria after intelligence reports that 1,429 people were killed by chemical weapons on  August 21.

A confused President with a corrupt moral compass, “driving the world closer to the brink of war and destruction.” Photo credit: Reuters. Image may be subject to copyright.

Mr Putin said it was ridiculous to suggest that Syrian government was to blame for the chemical attack on its own people.

“Syrian government forces are advancing, while the so-called rebels are in a tight situation, as they are not nearly as equipped as the government,” Putin told ITAR-TASS.

“What those who sponsor the so-called rebels need to achieve is simple – they need to help them in their fight… and if this happens, it would be a tragic development,” he said.

“In these conditions, to give a trump card to those who are calling for a military intervention is utter nonsense.”

“So I’m convinced that is nothing more than a provocation by those who want to drag other countries into the Syrian conflict.”

Putin said that the US failure to present evidence to the international community was “simply disrespectful”.

“If there is evidence it should be shown. If it is not shown, then there isn’t any,” he said.

Russia has previously warned that “any unilateral military action bypassing the UN Security Council” would be a “direct violation of international law.”

Both Moscow and Beijing have vetoed two previous Security Council draft resolutions on Syria.

Mr Putin urged Mr Obama—a Nobel Peace Prize laureate—to consider future victims in Syria before taking military action.

Syrian President Assad has vowed his country will defend itself against any “aggression.”

• US, UK Munitions ‘Cause Birth Defects’ in Iraq October 14, 2012

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SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 924 Days Left

FIRE-EARTH Climate Models show climate change forcings and feedbacks switching global weather patterns onto “primordial tracks.”

FIRE-EARTH Population Model shows mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.

Critical Planetary Overload

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Collapse in Progress

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• United States: The First Phase of Collapse Has Begun

Global Disasters/ Significant Events – August 27, 2013

US “ready” to strike Syria: Hagel

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says the US military is ready to act on Syria.

“We have moved assets in place to be able to fulfill and comply with whatever option the president wishes to take,” Hagel told the BBC.

“I think it’s pretty clear that chemical weapons were used against people in Syria,” he said.

“I think the intelligence will conclude that it wasn’t the rebels who used it, and there’ll probably be pretty good intelligence to show is that the Syria government was responsible. But we’ll wait and determine what the facts and the intelligence bear out.”

John Kerry…

“What we saw in Syria last week should shock the conscience of the world. It defies any code of morality,” Mr Kerry said at a news conference on Monday.

“Make no mistake, President Obama believes there must be accountability for those who would use the world’s most heinous weapons against the world’s most vulnerable people.”

President Assad

Syrian President Bashar Assad told Russia’s Izvestia newspaper that claims of his government using chemical weapons made by Western countries are “an insult to common sense” and “nonsense.”

“The statements made by the politicians in the USA and in other Western countries represent an insult to common sense and neglect of the public opinion of citizens in those countries. It’s nonsense: first, they bring charges, and then they collect evidence. And it’s one of the most powerful countries that does it – the US. They accused us on Wednesday, and in only two days the American leadership announces they started to collect the evidence.… They accuse our army of using chemical weapons in the area that’s reportedly controlled by the terrorists. In fact, there is no precise front line between the army and the insurgents in that area. And how can a government use chemical weapons – or any other weapons of mass destruction – in the area where government troops are concentrated? This is against elementary logic,” said Assad.

Vladimir Putin

President Putin has told the British PM that Russia did not have any evidence whether a chemical weapons attack had occurred or who was responsible, according to an official statement.

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Other Disasters/ Significant Events

Afghanistan

At least 43 people, including a dozen civilians, were killed in Afghanistan over the last 24 hours, authorities said on Tuesday.

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has documented 1,319 civilian deaths and 2,533 injuries—a total of 3,852 civilian casualties—in the first half of 2013.

The total represents an increase of 14 per cent in deaths and 28 per cent in injuries over the same period in 2012, said UNAMA.

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Swollen Heilong river triggers widespread, persistent floods in NE China

Original caption: The aerial photo taken on Aug. 26, 2013 shows houses [and vast tracts of crops and farmland] inundated by floods along the Tongjiang-Fuyuan river section of the Heilong River in northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province. The Heilong River has swelled since mid-August, with some sections of its middle and lower reaches seeing their worst floods in history.(Xinhua/Ma Ling). More images…

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TS FERNAND leaves at least 13 people dead in E. Mexico

At least 13 people were killed Monday after landslides triggered by torrential rains from tropical storm FERNAND destroyed or damaged more than 100 homes in the eastern Mexican state of Veracruz, officials said.

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Global Disasters/ Significant Events Headlines – 8 April 2013

Korean nuke conflict could make Chernobyl look like “child’s fairytale” – Putin

The fallout of a nuclear conflict on the Korean Peninsula would cause far greater devastation than the  Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986, the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, was reported as saying.

“I would make no secret about it, we are worried about the escalation on the Korean peninsula, because we are neighbors,” he told a joint news conference with German Chancellor Merkel in Germany.

“And if, God forbid, something happens, Chernobyl which we all know a lot about, may seem like a child’s fairy tale. Is there such a threat or not? I think there is… I would urge everyone to calm down… and start to resolve the problems that have piled up for many years there at the negotiating table.”

North Korea displays its Multiple-Launch Rocket System (MLRS) earlier this year. Credit: AFP. Image may be subject to copyright.

The tensions have been mounting since the United Nations imposed new sanctions against the North in response to Pyongyang’s third nuclear test in February.  NK’s anger has further been compounded by weeks of joint military exercises by SK and U.S. troops.

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Global War Forecast

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GREEK BANK STOCKS PLUNGE BY UP TO 30%  AS MERGER IS FROZEN

Stocks in Greek banks fell by up to a third after plans to merge two of them were frozen on fears the new entity would be too big to be manageable.

• Both the National Bank of Greece (NBG) and Eurobank stocks fell by nearly a third in morning trade, with Alpha and Piraeus banks losing about a fifth of their value, reports said.

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• What’s Happening in Cyprus? Posted on March 23, 2013

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DISASTER CALENDAR – April 8, 2013 — 
SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,069 Days Left 

Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.

• SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,069 Days Left to ‘Worst Day’ in the brief Human  History
• The countdown began on May 15, 2011 …

GLOBAL WARNINGS

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• WARNING: RAPID PLANETARY DECLINE IN PROGRESS!
• Europe: The First Phase of Collapse Has Started 
• United States: The First Phase of Collapse Has Begun

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Back to the Primordial Future
• The Fate of Energy Dinosaurs
• Mass Die-offs