War! War! War!
A few weeks ago, I called for nuking Turkey. Today, I make this announcement ever louder. Turkey is the largest obstacle to the elimination of the Islamic State in the entire Middle East. Turkey today is Nazi Germany in WW II, but if Nazi Germany was a democracy and the Nazi leadership denied its support for the perpetrators of the (very public) Holocaust, while being adamant that “Stalin Must Go” and both in rhetoric and in fact backing anti-Semitic local nationalist groups against Stalin (while launching some fake airstrikes against the worst of them and allowing some Jewish groups to take control of parts of its border to distract attention). Also, if two-thirds of the population supported Hitler, with support being strongest among the lowest-educated. In such a case, the people of Nazi Germany would have deserved a lot worse than what they actually got (and what they got was pretty bad). And today, Turkey has, contrary to its response to every other trespassing of its airspace by every other country, shot down a plane bombing various rebel positions in a crucial (and I mean this) corner of Northern Syria near the border of Antioch, Latakia, and Idlib provinces. Now, if you look at a map of this area, you would not wonder why the Russian plane took its route -it’s extremely convenient and next to impossible to avoid. In a just world, where Turkey did not foment civil war as one of the foremost arms of the Great Satan, the province of Antioch would belong to Syria, and would have never been Turkified. Sadly, Antioch is surely safer now under Turkish control than if Turkey had committed to its same policies with Antioch belonging to Syria.
Were I Putin today, I would have said nothing. Instead, I would have launched a retaliatory nuclear first strike on Ankara, either preceding or succeeding the announcement of an ultimatum.
War! War! War!
Against Jebel al-Lawz 
I truly hope this is some kind of satire.
Zero satire intended. I really do hate the Turks to this extent. Can you explain what’s wrong with my analysis, if you are so inclined?
Advocating nuclear war is not only irresponsible, but so far out of the realm of reasonable actions that it makes you seem unserious.
Read my post again. Yes, I am advocating nuclear war against Turkey, for the reasons stated in the post. It would serve them right. Are you arguing my analogy is flawed, or are you suggesting a different course of action? Explain a superior and morally acceptable option, if you don’t like my idea.
I’m dead serious.
I will set aside any debate about whether Turkey “deserves” to be nuked. Even if Russia thinks they do, it’s a terrible move that is in nobody’s best interest.
Technically, such a strike should cause immediate war between Russia and all of NATO. Even if the Americans figure some way to avoid immediate war, this would demonstrate that NATO membership is meaningless, while also raising tensions to much higher levels. This would be the kind of environment where one spark (a modern Franz Ferdinand incident, say) can ignite a terrible global conflict leaving millions dead.
I’m pretty confident that while NATO will defend the Baltics, it will not defend Turkey. Too difficult.
And you’re not really being specific with that “raising tensions” bit.
What will be in everybody’s best interest, then?
I don’t think a fully formed alternate set of actions is necessary to argue that a nuclear strike is a bad idea. Complete inaction is a better course than a nuclear strike. I think what Russia is doing now (more vigilance regarding Turkey as it advances it’s interest in Iraq/Syria) seems reasonable.
“Complete inaction is a better course than a nuclear strike.”
-Why? Then what’s to stop stuff like this from happening again? Then what’s to stop the Syrian chaos?
The big problem with nuclear war, of course, is that it is immensely risky. If carried out with mild repercussions, it is surely the best option. If not, it’s outright dangerous.
Blocking off gas to Turkey, banning all trade and travel with it, and placing sanctions against various AKP leaders would surely be a less risky (but also, less satisfying) move.
“Then what’s to stop the Syrian chaos?” I think dealing with the chaos, however long it lasts, including fighting a proxy war with Turkey, is still a better option than taking the risk of a nuclear strike.
From a Russian perspective, I agree with the rest of your post. There are other ways to try and hit Turkey if that is your goal, with much lower risk of involving the Western powers.
OK, I think we’ve resolved our differences. I’m still not changing the post, because I think the risks stemming from a nuclear first strike on Turkey are low enough to have made it the best option yesterday.