Turkey has gone rogue, UN Security Council must get involved

Not only is there evidence of Turkey financing and arming ISIS and other terrorist groups, but we now see the Turkish government cracking down on its own citizens, says Middle East analyst Sharmine Narwani.

Since the end of the WWII and the beginning of the Cold War Britain and the US have had a very close strategic working relationship with the Turkish government.
The Russian Defense Ministry Monday released video footage, which it claims shows the Turkish military shelling Syrian territory using heavy artillery.
RT: Russia's defense ministry is clearly angered by Turkey not releasing any evidence. Do you think the Russian ministry has a point here?
Sharmine Narwani: Of course they do. A lot of people can make allegations, but the proof is in the pudding. If the Turks have evidence - like any other nation states – if you have evidence that someone has violated your territorial integrity or your sovereignty, you need to show that evidence so that the international community understands what is happening and can act accordingly. So of course the Russians are fully justified to demand information when allegations are made so publicly and so widespread, and expect an answer.
RT: What about the NATO’s claim that this would go against the national security or they can’t release the information for security reasons?
SN: I don’t know why this information would be secure – is it because of how they gain that information, where their satellites are, what they’re watching? There are ways, there are mediation committees that can look at evidence with impartial actors who can look at evidence and provide the answers that the Russians and the Turks need. It seems to me that we’re entering a stage where we are going to have to need some kind of international mediation between the Russians and the Turks on some of these contentious issues.
RT: Turkey's yet to comment on today's video of the shelling. Would you expect to hear anything from Ankara?
SN: No, nothing that would support the Russian position or the allegations of the Syrian state. The Turks rejected and turned their backs on the Russian claims of shooting down the plane last November and handled that in such a bad and confrontational way that the Russians had to act by slapping sanctions on the country, limiting trade and tourism and other such things.
It is a very dangerous situation for Turkey as these things escalate; the rhetoric escalates as well as the incidents. Today we’ve seen the Turkish lira fall. There is a real necessity for these actors to clarify things and to get past it. But I don’t think the Turks seeing past behavior that we can expect them to acknowledge these claims and deal with them as one would expect from a major international player.

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