Putin’s Revenge: PKK shot down Turkish Helicopter with Russian Manpad

This week the PKK shot down a Turkish Super Cobra Attack Helicopter with a Russian-made IGLA MANPAD in south-east Turkey. UPDATE 2016-05-19 Turkey confirms downing helicopter by PKK¹⁾PKK terrorists might have downed military helicopter, Turkish military says Source Daily Sabah 2016-05-19

The MANPAD in the possession of the PKK will seriously challenge Turkish air power and potentially intensify fighting in the region. The Russian-made IGLA MANPAD decimated the Ukrainian air force during the 2014-2015 war in the Donbass. According to internet sources, the insurgents in east Ukraine use this IGLA MANPAD to destroy many Ukrainian helicopters and planes. ²⁾Igla SAM – the best mass produced MANPADS Source Immortal Today On 14 June 2014, an Ilyushin of the Ukrainian Air Force was shot down with an IGLA MANPAD, all 49 people on board died. ³⁾Ukrainian Air Force Ilyushin Il-76 shoot-down Source Wikipedia

We expect that Moscow will relate the incident to the stolen ‘Igla’ missile from Ukraine’s military depots during the unrest there. ⁴⁾‘Igla’ missile systems stolen from Ukraine’s military depots during unrests Source Trend News Agency 2014-03-14.  However, it is clear that the shooting down of the Cobra has to be understood by Ankara as a retaliation for the downing of the Russian plane in November 2015. This brings the proxy war in the Middle East to a new level.

We expect Turkey will not only retaliate against the Kurds, but there will also be a tit-for-tat reaction against Moscow. Ankara may choose to increase the conflict in the Caucasus, deliver arms to Kiev or hinder Russian shipping in the Bosporus.

The new turn of events can force Erdogan to bow to the European demand and change the anti-terror law in order to speed up the visa-free travel program. This program enables Turkey to offload their Kurdish population straight into Berlin Airport, by-passing the newly created obstacles against the influx of immigrants in the Balkans.

The security situation along the European southern flank is becoming more and more unstable. Now that Turkey has turned from friend to foe the European security establishment has to understand that the NATO framework, including Turkey, does not serve European security anymore.