Turkey takes a hit from the Russian hammer

Cengiz Candar

Defence ministry officials sit under screens with satellite images on display during a briefing in Moscow, Russia, December 2, 2015. Russia's defence ministry said on Wednesday it had proof that Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and his family were benefiting from the illegal smuggling of oil from Islamic State-held territory in Syria and Iraq. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin - RTX1WTWJ — Defence ministry officials sit under screens with satellite images on display during a briefing in Moscow, Russia, Dec. 2, 2015. Russia's Defense ministry said it had proof that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his family were benefiting from the illegal smuggling of oil from Islamic State-held territory in Syria and Iraq. — REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin

The conflict between Russia and Turkey that was sparked by Turkey’s downing of a Russian fighter jet on Nov. 24 is too serious to be treated in any sense of sarcasm and with emotional outbursts.

On Dec. 3, delivering his state of the nation address, Vladimir Putin voiced his anger and accused his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Turkish leadership.

"Allah only knows, I suppose, why they did it. And probably, Allah has decided to punish the ruling clique in Turkey by taking their mind and reason,” Putin said.

Yet it seems that he did not want to leave the “punishment” to Allah. He implied that Russia will take it on.

Turkey takes a hit from the Russian hammer

Moscow is bringing its hammer down on Ankara following Turkey’s downing of a Russian warplane late last month, crushing Erdogan’s aspirations for autonomy from the West in foreign and security policy.

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