Turkey- Russia standoff: Turkey accuses Russia of ethnic cleansing in Syria!

-Dr. Abdul Ruff

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As tension between Ankara and Moscow shows no sign of subsiding, Turkey has accused Russia of carrying out an "ethnic cleansing" in Syria's Latakia, forcing out its Turkmen and Sunni population in order to create a safe haven and to protect Russian and Syrian bases.

It is the latest sign of the deepening diplomatic spat between the two countries that started when the Turkish air forces shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border last month. Turkey accused the Russian Su-24 bomber of violating Turkish airspace, while Moscow claimed that its plane was in Syrian territory when it was shot down. The incident has plunged the bilateral relations to its lowest point since the end of the Cold War when Russia imposed a raft of economic sanctions against Turkey.

Russian president Vladimir Putin has warned Turkey of punitive measures for gunning down of a Russian war plane for violating Turkish air space, and has initiated economic sanctions.  Moscow has also intensified terror attacks on Syria with the possible permission of Syrian strongman Assad, killing Muslims – the supposed enemies of Russia in Chechnya and other Muslim republics in Russian federation. Putin had killed stock and barrel Muslims in Chechnya in 2000  and came to power in the Kremlin.

Russia’s State-owned Rosatom has stopped construction work at Turkey's first nuclear power plant, Turkish energy officials said on Wednesday, as relations between Moscow and Ankara continue to worsen after the downing of a Russian jet.

However, Rosatom has not terminated the contract for the building of the $20 billion project and is reluctant to do so because of the heavy compensation clauses, energy officials said. However, Turkey is already assessing other potential candidates for the project. The possible cancellation of the project is unlikely to have any impact on Turkey's immediate energy supplies, as the planned nuclear power plant was not seen coming online before 2022 and had already run into delays due to regulatory hurdles and Moscow's financial woes. Keen to wean itself off an almost complete dependence on imported energy, Turkey in 2013 commissioned Rosatom to build four-1,200 megawatt (MW) reactors.

Following the downing of the Russian warplane, the project has been thrown into massive uncertainty. The Russians have already invested $3.5 billion in the project.

There are clauses in the Akkuyu contract outlining large sums of compensation in case of unilateral termination. That's why the Russian are not making a move on that for now, but experts refuse specifying the value of compensation.

Rosatom declined to comment while a source at the Akkuyu project company said was unaware of a halt in construction.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said Russia is trying to carry out an ethnic cleansing in northern Latakia to force out all Turkmen and the Sunni population who do not have good relations with the regime. They want to expel them, “they want to ethnically cleanse this area so that the regime and Russian bases in Latakia and Tartus are protected," Davutoğlu told members of the international media in Istanbul.

Davutoğlu’s remarks came at the time that Russia brought up the issue of the deployment of Turkish forces in Iraq at a UN meeting.  Davutoğlu said Turkey is discussing possible counter measures against Russia and will impose sanctions if needed, but also added that Ankara is ready to hold talks with Moscow to resolve the crisis.

In its own defence, Russia told the UN on December 08 that Turkey was acting “recklessly and inexplicably” by sending troops across the border into Iraq without the consent of the Iraqi government. Russia's UN move, however, faltered as other members of the Security Council did not agree to Russia's demand for the UN to issue a statement reaffirming the need to respect international law and sovereignty, and calling for unity against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS/ISIL).

Turkey's deployment of troops near ISIL-controlled Mosul sparked a diplomatic row with Baghdad. Officials from both countries have recently played down the dispute.

The Su-24, on a bombing mission in Syria, was shot down by Turkey on Nov. 24. The pilot and a Russian serviceman were killed in the incident. Russian officials reject Turkey's claim that its plane violated Turkish airspace.

British warplanes also began bombing ISIL group targets in Syria last week, and Downing St. said Cameron and Putin "agreed that the UK and Russia should work together" to tackle the militant group and push for a peace process in Syria.

Meanwhile, Britain says it will consider Russia's request for aviation experts to examine data from the black box of a Russian warplane downed over the Turkish-Syrian border. Russian President Putin made the request during a phone call on Wednesday with British Prime Minister David Cameron.

Cameron's office said the two leaders had "agreed that it was important to wait for the investigation to establish what had happened and the prime minister said he would consider President Putin's request to send British experts to assist the investigation."

Moscow and Ankara have been at loggerheads since Turkey downed a Russian warplane along the Turkey-Syria border two weeks ago saying it violated its air space, the most serious incident between Russia and a NATO member state in half a century.   Akkuyu is the latest casualty of sour relations, as Russia last week said it has suspended preparatory work on the TurkStream pipeline project. Turkish energy officials said if Russia pulls out, there were other candidates for the project. "There are prominent countries which are keen on this project," another energy official said. "Turkey has plans for a third nuclear power plant as well. Obviously this political situation makes it difficult for Russia to be the one building it."

The Turkish government in 2013 picked a Japanese-French consortium to build a second nuclear power plant, a project expected to cost an estimated $22 billion.

Meanwhile, the US State Department has approved the sale of precision bomb kits valued at $70 million to Turkey, a member of NATO and a key part of the US-led coalition fighting Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants in Syria, the Pentagon said. Lawmakers have 15 days to block the sale, although such action is rare. Once it has cleared that hurdle, Turkey and the US government can negotiate the actual sale.

The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which oversees foreign arms sales, told lawmakers that the government of Turkey had asked to buy 1,000 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) tail kits that are used to turn unguided bombs into all-weather smart munitions using GPS guidance systems. "It is vital to the US national interest to assist our NATO ally in developing and maintaining a strong and ready self-defense capability. It said the proposed sale would enhance the Turkish Air Force's ability to defend its own territory and work together with NATO allies. The prime contractor on the deal would be Raytheon Co.