On Tuesday, Turkey downed the Russian warplane over Syria. Social network users promptly responded with a series of jokes. Even though this is not a laughing matter, there is always something positive even in the worst situations.
Putin referred to the incident as the backstabbing.
The incident triggered a wave of protests in Russia. Turkish embassy in Moscow was pelted with stones and eggs.
Turkish embassy in Moscow today.
Via @EvgenyFeldman @ChristopherJM https://t.co/4VolcStaP2 pic.twitter.com/fox1YzCsNm— Alec Luhn (@ASLuhn) November 25, 2015
People gathered in front of the embassy with homemade banners.
Various banners were left in front of Turkish embassy in Moscow, including (ironically) "Hands off Syria" #SU-24 pic.twitter.com/OQC87NaTAH
— Yulia James (@YuliaDzheims) November 25, 2015
Some Twitter users predicted that Russian tourists will avoid flying to Turkey.
@shaunwalker7 The Kremlin Palace Hotel in Antalya would struggle to rebrand pic.twitter.com/ILYx4DI6We
— Bojan Pancevski (@bopanc) November 24, 2015
And, indeed, on November 24th, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Turkey “is no less a threat than Egypt.” In this regard, he recommended not to travel to Turkey.
Meanwhile, the Internet responded with satirical cartoons and images.
Some compared Putin to the Superman flying over the graveyard in Syria.
Some posted Soviet posters.
Others shared vintage illustrations of the Russo-Turkish Wars.
Tetris game where the Kremlin is getting bombarded by airplanes, jets, oil and Crimea was mentioned on Twitter.
— Mikhail Golub (@golub) November 26, 2015
And since the incident happened around Thanksgiving, naturally, Obama and Turkey jokes started popping up all over the Internet.
Next person who tweets a Russia eating/roasting/having turkey joke, I swear
— Ishaan Tharoor (@ishaantharoor) November 25, 2015