On Feb. 9, when I heard reports that a Russian aircraft had accidentally bombed a Turkish position in al-Bab, killing four soldiers and wounding 10 others, I did not immediately think that it might not have been an accident. I thought that way because I am generally immune to the conspiracy theories that are rampant in Turkey, just as they are in most Middle Eastern countries.
The Turkish army quickly issued a communique saying the bombing was an "accident." However, there was no mention of an “accident” in the Russian version that came later. In the Russian version, there was no mention of “regret” either. A day later, the Russians were a bit more articulate. They issued another statement, implicitly putting the blame on the Turkish side for having given the wrong coordinates on the deployment of Turkish troops, resulting in the casualties.
