No room for manoeuvre

TURKEY’S strike on a Russian warplane on November 24th may have been avoidable, but it was hardly an accident. Turkey claims that, in the five minutes before two Sukhoi jets flew briefly across a finger of territory that pokes into Syria, it issued ten warnings. And despite Russia’s denials and a suggestion that the missile may have struck one of the jets after it had crossed back into Syrian airspace, the run of the evidence is in Turkey’s favour. Russia was provocative; Turkey was hot-headed. The task is to ensure that the winner is not Islamic State (IS).