Less we forget, Turkey does indeed have NUKES.

a reply to: pikestaff

I would not be at all surprised to learn that Pakistan sold isis a nuke, isis is making a lot of money from its exports of crude oil.

Or a certain group associated with the Russian government.

Criminal organizations, some with ties to the Russian KGB's successor agency, are driving a thriving black market in nuclear materials in the tiny and impoverished country of Moldova, investigators say. The successful busts, however, were undercut by striking shortcomings: Kingpins got away, and those arrested evaded long prison sentences, sometimes quickly returning to nuclear smuggling, AP found.

www.huffingtonpost.com...

It really does not matter one way or the other. Russia has made its few symbolic sanctions against Turkey and that is that. They have no military option against the Turks and can not afford to get into a sanction war with the Turks who they need badly while under sanction from the EU/US. Russia played a game with the Turks and it did not go as planned. That is that. They need the Turks for trade, they need the Turks to not call out the central asian republics, the need the Turks to not let loose the Tatars in Crimea and they need the Turks to get some sort of peace plan in Syria so they can get out before things get any worse for them.

a reply to: mbkennel

Turkey does not have weapons under national authority,

That we know of. If you were a Russian strategist, would you assume that neither Turkey nor Pakistan secretly purchased some from Pakistan when they had a chance? Nuclear escalation is absolutely not an option for Russia.

originally posted by: FlyingFox
No, NATO has to approve release of the 30 nuclear bombs.

No not NATO, A THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT.
They are American nukes, that are stored securely in a NATO airbase and are under the security of AMERICAN PERSONNEL.

Turkey can not load up nukes onto it's F16s when it feels like. Use of the nukes and access to them is determined by Washington.

They aren't missiles anyway. And Turkish jets won't get anywhere near a Russian city to be able to drop a nuke..the nuke will end up coming to rest at the bottom of the Black Sea with everything else Turkey throws at Russia.

Turkey isn't even a paper tiger it's a feral kitten that will get ripped to shreds by the Russian bear.

a reply to: mortex

Please read the post above yours. Putin does not have a nuclear option, sorry.

Russian people are also questioning Putin too .

3 famous lawyers have petitioned the goverment prosecutor in Moscow .

Russian historian Prof. Andey B. Zubov publicly blamed Putin for the pilot's death.

This might be the event that brings Putin down , eventually.

He is desperately trying to find a way to save face .

Bully of Moscow picked on the Bully of Bosphorous.

This won't go anywhere but Antalya beach .

Russian travel agencies are already selling holidays to Turkey via 3rd country so they don't break the law.