Russia–Turkey proxy conflict

• On 22 June 2012, Syrian Arab Army air defenses shot down a Turkish Air Force RF-4E reconnaissance fighter 15 miles off of the coast of Latakia over the Mediterranean Sea within international airspace several dozen minutes after it had briefly veered into Syrian air space, prompting the Turkish Armed Forces to change its rules of engagement formally declaring hostility towards any aircraft approaching the Turkish-Syrian border. This led to many future shoot-downs conducted by the Turkish Air Force. Both pilots were killed and an autopsy revealed the pilots survived the initial crash once the wreckage was located and the bodies were recovered. Alleged secret documents were leaked by the Syrian opposition to Al Arabiya, claiming that the two pilots had survived the shoot down, which was done in coordination with the Russian naval facility in Tartus, and were captured but later executed with their bodies being returned to the crash site by Russian Special Operations teams.[26][27]
• On 11 October 2012 acting upon intelligence received from the National Intelligence Organization, Turkish Air Force F-4 Terminator 2020s and F-16s intercepted a Syrian Air Airbus A320 flying from Moscow to Damascus over the Black Sea and forced it to land at Ankara Esenboğa Airport in Turkey. Upon an inspection by Gendarmerie troops the aircraft was found to be carrying munitions and weaponry to Syria using Turkish Airspace to transport items to the Syrian regime by way of civilian air travel. Russia claimed that items found were radio, radar and other technical equipment instead of military munitions. Russia further accused Turkey of endangering Russian lives while the Turkish ministry underlined that it had previously warned the international community of the alleged war crimes conducted and overseen by Russia.[28]
• On 16 September 2013, Turkish Air Force F-16s shot down a Mi-17 helicopter belonging to the Syrian Army after it allegedly violated Turkish airspace up to 2 kilometers.[29][30]
• On 23 March 2014, Turkish Air Force F-16s shot down a MiG-23 belonging to the Syrian Air Force.[30]
• On 3 October 2015, a Russian MiG-29 crossed into Turkish airspace and allegedly chased and harassed intercepting Turkish Air Force F-16s over the Syrian border for a total of four minutes before prompting the Turkish fighter jets to put the aggressing Russian aircraft on missile lock-on prompting them to discontinue harassment and change their flight course back to Syria immediately.[31][32][33]
• On 3 October 2015, a Russian Air Force Su-30 crossed into Turkish Airspace over the Hatay Province and was intercepted by Turkish two F-16's that were patrolling the border in the vicinity. Russia claims the incident was a navigational error caused by bad weather and claimed lasted "a few seconds" while Turkish Military radar tracked the aircraft over several minutes and that the intruding aircraft put Turkish jets under missile lock for 5 minutes and 40 seconds prompting the Turkish fighters to respond in kind.[34][35]
• On 16 October 2015, Turkish Air Force F-16 fighter jets on guard shot down an Orlan-10 Russian made drone that had crossed the border into Turkey; the drone was reportedly flying over the vicinity of Turkish Army troops deployed on the Syrian border.[36]
• On 5 November 2015, the United States Air Force announced a short-term deployment of F-15C and F-15E for guarding and protection of Turkish airspace due to a hike in Russian military activity at the request of Turkey as a NATO member. The deployment was mainly a deterrent and did not have an actual combat role.[35][37]
• On 24 November 2015, Turkish Air Force F-16Ds shot down a Russian Air Force Su-24 fighter-bomber after it allegedly violated Turkish Airspace over Hatay Province. The shoot down caused a crisis between the two nations.[38][39]
• On 25 November 2015, following the Su-24 shootdown Russian defense ministry officials announced the immediate deployment of S-300 and S-400 Surface-to-air missile systems to the Khmeimim airbase near Latakia in Syria. The deployment made capable of hitting aerial targets within Turkish airspace. The deployment also briefly grounded Coalition Forces flying anti- ISIS missions.[40]
• On 28 November 2015, following the deployment of Russian missile batteries, the Turkish Armed Forces announced it had deployed highly advanced KORAL Stand Off Jammers under presidential orders to the Syrian border. The Russian defense ministry analysts announced they were aware of the deployment and informed that the jammers have reduced the range of there missile systems by 20% which rendered the missiles incapable of hitting targets inside of Turkey. Russian defense ministry officials also explained the new deployment interfered with radar, data-links and limited navigational functions amongst Russian aircraft.[41][42]
• On 6 December 2015, while a Russian navy warship was passing through the Bosphorus which bisects Istanbul a serviceman was seen brandishing an shoulder carried rocket launcher allegedly at the city center. Turkey has summoned the Russian attache over the incident in strong protest and threatened to close down the strait to all Russian traffic, military and civil which would cripple Russian military logistical supplies to Syria and heavily impact the Russian economy.[43]
• On 13 December 2015 a Russian warship in the Aegean Sea fired upon a Turkish fishing boat to allegedly avoid a collision. Russia summoned the Turkish military attache and warned Turkey would be responsible of any incident. The Turkish fishing boat allegedly came within 600 meters of the Russian ship.[44]
• On 13 December 2015, after the previous Russian warship incident in the Aegean Sea a Turkish navy Tuzla class anti-submarine warfare patrol boat trailed the passage of the Kilo-class submarine belonging to the Russian navy through the Bosphorus strait.[45]
• On 16 December 2015, the United States Air Force announced the withdrawal of F-15C and F-15E aerial superiority fighters from Incirlik Air Base in Adana near the Syrian border stating they were there to guard and provide short term protection of Turkish airspace but were not cleared to engage any threats unlike the Turkish Air Force which has less tolerant Rules of engagement.[46][47]
• On 18 December 2015, the Turkish Naval Forces denied 27 Russian ships access to pass through the Bosphorus strait blocking the passage of several commercial, cargo and military ships.[48]
• On 31 January 2016, a Russian Air Force Su-34 allegedly violated Turkish airspace according to the Turkish Armed Forces. The incident was confirmed by NATO and the Pentagon. Turkey claims warnings were issued in English and Russian not to enter airspace prior to the alleged violation. Turkey summoned the Russian envoy in harsh protest of the alleged violation and stated Russia would be responsible for any further unwanted incidents.[49]
• On 1 February 2016, Turkey denied Russia an Open Skies Treaty flight scheduled from 1–5 February due to it being in close proximity of the Syrian border and would fly over Turkish Military positions. The modified An-30 spy plane was scheduled to fly out of Eskisehir Air Base in Turkey and down parallel to the Syrian border. The denial of the scheduled flight caused new tensions.[50]
• On 5 February 2016, Russia announced it would be deploying Su-35 frontline fighters to be on guard 24/7 at the Khmeimim airbase as-well as escort Russian military aviation.
• On 14 February 2016, the Royal Saudi Air Force deployed 6 F-15 aerial superiority fighters to Adana, Turkey to boost coordination, cooperation and interoperability with the Turkish Air Force in joint military drills. The deployment increased existing tensions with Russia as-well as started to serve Incirlik Air Base for the Saudi Air Force to launch air-strikes on ISIS from the north.[51][52][53]
• On 17 February 2016 Russia deployed a modified Tu-214 highly advanced reconnaissance aircraft to the Hmeymim Air Base in Syria.[54]
• On 18 February 2016, a Turkish Navy CN-235 aircraft modified for Maritime patrol allegedly tracked the passage of a Russian Navy Buyan-class corvette and a Natya-class minesweeper from the Aegean Sea to the Mediterranean Sea south of Samos. The Turkish Navy aircraft allegedly did not have a filed flight plan while flying in international airspace.[55][56][57]
• On 20 February 2016, Russia deployed 4 MiG-29 Fulcrums to the already existing 9 that were their and an unspecified number of Mi-8 medium transport helicopters to Erebuni Fortress in Armenia located just 40 kilometers from Turkey's Eastern border with Armenia and Iran. The deployment continued to increase already fuelled tensions between the two nations and came notably after the U.N. rejected a Russian draft proposal to halt Turkish shelling of SDF positions in Syria.[58][59]
• On 24 February 2016, the Royal Saudi Air Force enforced its presence in Turkey's Incirlik Air Base near the Syrian border by sending 4 additional F-15C aerial superiority fighters increasing the total number of F-15's to ten and additionally sent 2 C-130 cargo planes full of technical equipment and 30 Saudi military engineers and technicians. The new set of deployments further increased tensions.[60]
• On 18 March 2016, a statement from Vladimir Putin indicated an earlier announced withdrawal from Syria does not include a full withdrawal and that S-400 missile systems set up against Turkey, would remain in place.[61]
• On 31 March 2016, Turkish police detained the alleged killer of the pilot of the shot down Su-24 in the coastal and major tourist attraction city of İzmir.[62]
• On 1 April 2016, Russia accused Turkey of supporting various extremist groups in Syria with weapons. The allegation were dismissed by the Turkish officials stating Turkey is against all terrorist organizations but however it does support Turkmen rebels in which Russia considers extremists due to the fact of their nationalist nature. Turkish officials also accused Russian forces of systematically targeting Turkmen civilians.[63][64]
• On 13 April 2016, Turkish police arrested two suspected Russian secret agents over an assassination in Istanbul last November of a prominent figure from Russia’s Caucasus region of Chechnya once again building up tension between the two. Charges included murder and espionage. Turkish authorities allegedly kept Russian consulate representatives from one of the two court hearings.[65][66]
• On 6 May 2016, prosecutors in Turkey decided to go against pressing charges against the alleged Turkish killer of the Russian Su-24 pilot shot down in Syria of November of last year.[67][68]
• On 7 May 2016, Russia’s Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin alleged that in front of the UN security council that chemical weapons in Syria were traced back to Turkey, which challenged an earlier statement by the Turkish Armed Forces that it did not possess any Weapon of mass destruction in its inventory.
• On 29 June 2016, Russian sanctions on Turkish tourism industry were lifted in a major sign of restoration of ties.[69]
• In early July 2016, Turkey and Russia improved diplomatic relations and proposed to cooperate in fighting the Islamic State, with Turkey proposing Russia to use the Incirlik Air Base.[4]
• On 9 August 2016, Intelligence, Diplomatic and Military ties were restored officially ending the crises with intent on further improving ties better than before.[70]
• In July 2016, the Turkish pilots who downed a Russian Su-24 were arrested in Turkey; according to a Turkish official, both were arrested over links to the coup and not because of the downing of the Russian plane.[71]
• In December 2016, Andrei Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Turkey was killed by an off-duty Turkish police officer. The assassination took place after several days of protests in Turkey over Russian involvement in the Syrian Civil War and its role in the outcome of the battle over Aleppo.[72]
• On 9 February 2017, a Russian air strike killed three Turkish soldiers by mistake.[73]
• On 23 May 2017, Alparslan Celik, a Turkish member of the Syrian Turkmen Brigades involved in the killing of the Russian Pilot Oleg Peshkov was sentenced to 5 years in prison.[74]

In 2018, Russia was preparing for an offensive into Northwestern Syria. However, a demilitarization agreement was put into place, with Turkey fearing a fresh influx of refugees. It collapsed in April 2019 with Russia accusing Turkey of failing to reign in Hayat Tahrir al-Sham militants.[75]

• The two countries were on the brink of a direct confrontation after an airstrike in Balyun killed 33 or 34 Turkish soldiers which led to the beginning of Operation Spring Shield. After a week of heavy fighting, a ceasefire was agreed upon on 6 March 2020.[76]
• Russian forces stationed near the radio tower in the western countryside of Ayn al-Arab shot down a Turkish reconnaissance drone while flying over the area on 17 August 2020.[77]

The two countries supported opposing sides in the 2019–20 Western Libya campaign with Turkey supporting the Government of National Accord and Russia backing the House of Representatives.[78]

• On December 2019, Turkey hired 300 Syrian rebels to fight against the HOR.[79]
• On January 5, 2020, Turkey announced that it had sent troops into Libya to Support the GNA.[80]
• On February 25, 2020, President Erdogan announced that two Turkish soldiers were killed in Libya .[81]
• On May 18, 2020, Russia hired 180 Syrian mercenaries to fight with the LNA.[82]
• On May 25, 2020, Russia sends MIG-29 to Libya to support the LNA.[83]
• On June 6, 2020, GNA successfully forced the LNA out of Tripoli.[84]
• On July 4, 2020, unknown aircraft targeted al-Waitya airbase destroying Turkish supplied equipment.[85]

Israel was once a major ally of Turkey and had sold weapons for Turkey, as well as supporting Turkey for its role within the NATO and the country's quest to join the European Union, while having a troubled relationship with Russia.[86][87]

However, since the 2010s, relations between Turkey and Israel started increasingly worsening, especially due to the policies of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, starting with the Gaza flotilla raid.[88] This led to the first political crisis and Turkey condemned Israel as the aggressor.[89][90] It lasted for three years before a fragile reconciliation attempt was done in March 2013.[91] However, after Israeli intelligence network in Iran was exposed in October 2013, Turkey was accused of revealing them to the Iranian authorities.[92] The two nations once again reconciled in 2016 when the Istanbul bombing happened, but it happened only two years before tensions once again broke out, this time over the U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital in May 2018.[93] Erdoğan accused Israel of carrying out a "genocide" and behaving like a "terrorist state".[94] The Turkish government also declared a three-day national mourning.[95] It was followed by expulsion of Israeli ambassador and withdrawal of Turkish ambassador from the country.[96] In response, Israel expelled Turkey's consul in Jerusalem,[97] and Israeli Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel ordered the freezing of import of agricultural produce from Turkey.[98] Yet, unlike two previous tensions, Turkish leader has shown no sign of thawing the relations, and has since then accused Israel of conducting genocide on Palestinians, rejecting Israel's claim that Hamas is a terrorist organization.[99] Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, responded by blasting Turkey for supporting Hamas and invading Cyprus and Syria.[86][100]

Netanyahu condemned the 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria and warned against ethnic cleansing of Kurds by Turkey and its proxies. He stated that Israel would extend humanitarian assistance to the Kurds."[101] In December 2019, the Turkish navy had driven out an Israeli oceanographic research vessel that had been operating with the consent of the Cypriot government in Cypriot waters.[102] This act, in the context of the deal with the GNA, led to Israeli fears that Turkey aimed to "create a sea border the width of the entire Mediterranean" and cut off Israeli access international waters via the Mediterranean sea, the channel of 99% of Israeli exports.[103] Netanyahu then condemned the Libya–Turkey maritime deal and confirmed that the deal was "illegal" according to the Israeli official position, while at the same time noting that Israel did not want a conflict with Turkey.[104]

In 2020, Mossad's Director Yossi Cohen for the first time named Turkey as a major threat to the country's existence, despite the fact that the former has a strong relationship with Israel.[105]

The relationship between Russia and Israel radically improved. Both Vladimir Putin and Netanyahu supported Donald Trump in the 2016 United States presidential election, with Israel and Gulf Arab states lobbying Iranian military presence in Syria in exchange for removing sanctions over Russian military action in Ukraine.[106][107] There were several short-lived deterioration in 2018 after Israeli military downing a Russian plane after putting it in the path of Syrian air defence systems during an Israeli strike on Hezbollah targets in Syria, but it was quickly solved.[108][109] Russia and Israel have also increased their cooperation with each other to counter Iran.[110]

Russia had quietly acknowledged Jerusalem as Israel's capital in 2017, although the country ruled out any option to move the embassy to Jerusalem.[111]

Despite positive Russian-Israeli developments, relations between the two soured again in 2020. Russian Ambassador to Israel Anatoly Viktorov condemned Israeli actions against Russia's ally Iran and called Israel "the problem" in the Middle East.[112] In the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War, Israel backed Turkish ally Azerbaijan[113] while Russia expressed its support for and supplied Armenia.[114] Moreover, towards the end of 2020, Turkey and Israel began the process of rapprochement in their relations.[115] As a result, Turkey has begun distancing itself from Hamas,[116] while Russian allies Hezbollah and Syria, both staunch adversaries of Israel and Turkey, have recently worked to improve their ties with Hamas with the help of Iran.[117]

The United States and Turkey are parts of NATO, and thus, they once commonly opposed Russian expansionism. However, since the 2010s, relations between Turkey and the United States have increasingly deteriorated.

Since the Syrian civil war, Turkey and the United States openly opposed Bashar al-Assad regime, thus being hostile to Russia.[118][119] However, the United States have supported Kurdish forces, notably People's Protection Units (YPG), while Turkey regards Kurdish forces, regardless of affiliation, as terrorist organizations.[120] Differences in approaching the Syrian conflict was the first sign of tensions.[121]

By 2016, then-U.S. President Barack Obama sought to arm the Kurds, which triggered hostile reaction in Turkey.[122] In 2019, U.S. President Trump announced withdrawal of American force in Syria, allowing Turkey to launch military offensive against Kurdish forces.[123] Trump's move has been accused of betrayal, and the Kurds had looked for support from Russia to halt Turkish military offensive.[124] Turkey has also taken its increasing aggressive role against Israel, and intervened to Libya, triggering Trump's condemnation.[125][126]

In 2019, the United States' tensions with Turkey increased after the United States Congress recognized the Armenian Genocide, which was considered as a sensitive issue in the country's relations with Turkey, despite the fact that Armenia is an open ally of Russia, Turkey's rival.[127] Erdogan had condemned the move.[128] With Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 US Presidential election, the relations between Turkey and the United States are expected to become slimmer and tenser after Biden stated Erdogan as an "autocrat", though Biden himself also opposed Russia.[129]

Turkey had also recently put fight against fellow NATO member Greece over the Mediterranean dispute.[130]

Saudi Arabia and Turkey used to support each other in the Syrian civil war where Turkish and Saudi governments denounced Russia-backed al-Assad regime, and have traditionally supported each other in many issues with regard to its confrontation toward Russia during the Cold War and the Chechen–Russian conflict.[131][132] Since the rise of Mohammed bin Salman, relations between two countries have become tense. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's relations with Russia have started to be strengthened since 2015, with King Salman became the first Saudi head of state to visit Russia in 2017, heralding possible political change.[133]

As for the result of deterioration of relations between Saudi Arabia and Turkey and soaring relations between Russia and Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia have increased its support for Russia to deter Turkey. Russia and Saudi Arabia have together backed Khalifa Haftar's forces, House of Representatives, in Libya against Turkey-backed Government of National Accord; and Saudi Arabia also backed Russian intervention in Syria for the first time.[134][135]

Saudi Arabia's relations with Turkey have become deteriorated due to Turkey's support for Muslim Brotherhood, which Saudi Arabia sees as a threat, but this had also started to expand beyond politics. In 2018, Crown Prince bin Salman openly named Turkey as a threat.[136][137] On 2 October 2018, Saudi journalist and The Washington Post writer Jamal Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul, in which Turkey blamed the Saudi government for orchestrating the killing.[138][139]

In 2019, Saudi Arabia agreed to sponsor recognition of the Armenian Genocide in the United States Congress, whereby Saudi Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud, Saudi Arabia's first female ambassador to the United States, condemned Turkey.[140]

In February 2020, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir accused Turkey of financing and sponsoring the "extremist militias" in Somalia, Libya and Syria,[141] Saudi Arabia also moved to block all Turkish websites in Saudi Arabia. In response, Ankara announced it would block all Saudi and Emirati websites in the country.[142]

Ukraine has mainly backed Turkey against Russia due to the Ukrainian crisis. On 20 August 2016 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko that Turkey would not recognize the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea; calling it "Crimea's occupation".[143] On 9 January 2017 Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu stated "We support the territorial integrity of Ukraine and Georgia. We do not recognize the annexation of the lands of Ukraine".[144]

When Turkey shot down Russian jet in 2015, Ukraine voiced support for Turkey.[145]

Iran is a major Russia's ally in the Middle East, and thus aligned with the majority of Russian interests, though their relationship is far from perfect due to differences over Syria and Israel. This also put Iran, sometimes, in confrontation with Turkey, notably over the Syrian war where Iranian troops fought alongside Russian force against Turkish military and Iran's hostility toward Turkish intervention.[146][147] Iran has also been accused of siding with Khalifa Haftar, another Russia's ally, against Turkey in Libya, though Iranian role is more complicated as Iran also reluctantly backed Turkish intervention to the country.[148][149] A United Nations report nonetheless revealed that Iran had supplied Haftar's forces with anti-tank missiles.[150]

Since the Arab Spring, relations between Turkey and the United Arab Emirates have become increasingly tense, meanwhile, relations between Russia and the United Arab Emirates have largely improved. In 2019, the relationship between Russia and the United Arab Emirates have been described as special and strong, and the United Arab Emirates, along with Israel, also helped Russia on manufacturing the world's first anti-COVID-19 vaccine in 2020.[151][152]

The United Arab Emirates and Russia both backed Haftar's side in Libya against the Turkey-backed GNA government.[153] The United Arab Emirates have also funded Kurdish forces, including many separatist groups, against Turkey.[154] When Israel–United Arab Emirates peace agreement was signed in Washington D.C. in 2020, Russia quietly backed the attempt by Israel and the United Arab Emirates to normalise their bilateral relations whilst Turkey has threatened to cut off relations with Israel and the United Arab Emirates.[155] In February 2019, the United Arab Emirates announced that it would slowly begin to recognize the Armenian Genocide.[156] Emirate of Abu Dhabi had become the first emirate to recognize the genocide in April 2019.[157]