Turkey should be kicked out of NATO for downing the Russian jet near the Syrian border Tuesday because the country "is trying to establish their own Ottoman Empire again," retired Army Maj. Gen. Paul Vallely told
Newsmax TV.
"They're moving very much to the Islamic State — and they've been no help in supporting the opposition forces against Assad," Vallely said, referring to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, on "The Steve Malzberg Show" in an interview. "They've been hitting a lot of the Kurds, as you know, up north in Syria and the northern part of Iraq."
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Despite the downing of the jet, Russian President Vladmir Putin "controls the chessboard" because of his strong military presence amid great turbulence in the region, he said.
"So, here's Russia attacking [the Islamic State], Turkey's been supporting many of the … Islamic groups, much to their detriment," Vallely told Malzberg. "It's absolutely a whole area of confusion, and that is what's going to happen each and every time."
The odd man out in the entire situation is President Barack Obama.
"You have Obama, who is completely irrational and delusional about what's happening over there," Vallely said. "He's not listening to our military at all — and so they see us as very unfocused in the Middle East."
"Putin sees the same thing and I'm sure Turkey does, too."