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In early October, the Cypriot government invited tenders for gas extraction in Block 7.¹⁾Ankara believes that this step impairs the interests of both Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots and announced that remedial measures will be taken, which might entail an escalation of tensions in this region of the Mediterranean.

Turkey neither recognizes Cyprus’s maritime borders nor the agreements its exclusive economic zones. Nicosia manages the gas exploration in the waters it considers its own. This leads to a conflict about which the Gefira Team is reporting on a regular basis. In February we described the complex situation in connection with the gas blocks around Cyprus.²⁾Then the Turkish navy stopped the exploration ship of Italian Eni from entering Cyprus’ territorial waters by threatening to sink it.³⁾In response, Rome sent its own ships to the region.

So far, the dispute concerned the southern and eastern basin around Cyprus. Last week Nicosia invited tenders for gas exploration in Block 7, which could be another casus belli, because Blocks 1, 4, 5, 6 and 7 are crossed by the Turkish-Egyptian border, recognized by Turkey. Cyprus, however, in 2003 concluded an agreement with Egypt regarding the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which Ankara does not honour.
The Turkish government is of the opinion that both the Turkish authorities and North Nicosia (the capital of Northern Cyprus) have the right to decide on the exploitation of these sectors.

Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement,⁴⁾in which it says that:

mining in Block 7 cannot take place without Turkey’s consent due to the sea border passing there;
Cypriot Turks are co-owners of the island and hence of its natural resources at the bottom of territorial waters;
unilateral invitation of tenders by Nicosia violates the interests of Northern Cyprus and Turkey;
Ankara will take steps to protect its rights and those of Turkish Cypriots, including the blocking of the third party’s exploration⁵⁾

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Turkey Breaks with NATO, Refuses to Expel Russians

March 30, 2018

Turkey Breaks with NATO, Refuses to Expel Russians

Ankara (GPA) – Turkey has broken with their NATO allies and decided not to expel Russian diplomats at the behest of the UK.

Following the alleged March 4th alleged Russian poisoning of Sergei Skripal, an ex-double agent in the UK, several European countries and the US have begun ejecting Russian diplomats from their countries. With both the UK and US each ejecting dozens of diplomats, it stands to reason that every other NATO country would follow suit.

However, several European Union members have yet to follow London’s lead. One important NATO country isn’t bowing to western Russophobia: Turkey.

Despite calls from the UK for all of their allies to stand with them in “punishing Russia” they have failed to convince many of their fellow EU members, Israel, and Turkey to follow their suggestions. While there isn’t much London can do to their fellow European states, and obviously, they can’t criticize Israel; tension between Turkey and the EU has reached a point where it’s fashionable to demonize Ankara.

Both the US and UK often pander to Turkey due to the country’s strategic location and their control of the second largest military in NATO. This, however, has become much more difficult in recent months due to the increasingly authoritarian governance of the country leading to arrests of western employees, global kidnappings, and blatant defiance of international law.

This tense relationship between Turkey and the EU was on full display yesterday as Turkish President Recep Erdogan met with EU leaders about his nation’s prospects of joining the bloc. Predictably, no new results were achieved between Brussels and Ankara. This allows Erdogan to go back to turkey and play the victim, likely in anticipation of this announcement on Russia, which he will probably frame as ‘retaliation.’

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Turkey Slams ‘Allies’ For Sending “Planeloads Of Arms” To Terrorists Ahead Of Emergency UN Session

January 22, 2018

Turkey Slams ‘Allies’ For Sending “Planeloads Of Arms” To Terrorists Ahead Of Emergency UN Session

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has turned on Ankara’s allies, insinuating that the US in particular has been providing massive military support to Kurdish YPG in Syria.

In a speech to his ruling AK Party, RT reports that Erdogan said that ‘some allies’ of Turkey had provided the YPG Syrian Kurdish militia with 2,000 planeloads and 5,000 truckloads of weapons.

“Now, apart from 5,000 trucks, there are weapons and ammunition from around 2,000 planes.” the Turkish leader said.

He also accused Ankara’s allies of dishonesty when they say that they do not provide weapons for “terrorists,”referring to Kurdish-linked YPG forces.

It was not just Washington that Turkish officials were accusing, they specifically accused France of supporting terrorism ahead of an emergency UN session set for Monday…

“Anyone who opposes Turkey’s operation in northern Syria’s Afrin region is siding with terrorists and will be treated accordingly,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Sunday.

“We hope France will support Turkey’s operation against terrorists in Syria,” the minister added in reference to what Turkey has dubbed ‘Operation Olive Branch’.

After the Turkish military invaded northwest Syria over the weekend in an operation that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan described as cleaning out Kurdish “terror nests”, France called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council.

FM Çavuşoğlu’s words were given in warning to French politicians who say they will take up the issue of Turkish aggression at the UN. France has urged Turkey to exercise restraint in its air and land assault targeting US-backed Kurdish forces in Afrin, near Turkey’s border.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Russian Military Pulls Out Of Syrian Kurdish Town As Turkey Initiates “Massive Cross-Border Attack”

January 19, 2018

Russian Military Pulls Out Of Syrian Kurdish Town As Turkey Initiates “Massive Cross-Border Attack”

Turkey’s defense minister has confirmed the Turkish military has begun cross-border shelling of the Syrian Kurdish enclave of Afrin in what he further describes as the “de facto start” of the operation in order to destroy – in President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s words – Kurdish “terror nests” – and which has been dubbed previously by Turkey as a ‘massive cross-border attack.’

Defense Minister Nuettin Canikli said Friday that Ankara “has no option” regarding the planned invasion of Northern Syria to dislodge the YPG (Kurdish “People’s Protection Units”) and other factions, which it considers an extension of the “terrorist” PKK. Kurdish YPG militias and their media arms began reporting sporadic shelling and clashes earlier this week.

Crucially, the Turkish state-run news agency Anadoul confirmed that Russian military personnel have started pulling out of Afrin ahead of Turkey’s “expected” and imminent cross-border military operation. Russia has administered ‘deconfliction’ zones in the Afrin area while controlling airspace overhead, and has sponsored trilateral talks with Turkey and Iran which seeks cooperation among the three powers to wind down the war in Syria. The Russian military has long had “military advisors” on the ground in Afrin, which have in the past helped coordinate the fight against ISIS.

Image via AFP

As we explained previously, the question of whether or not the large-scale Turkish assault on the Syrian Kurds moves forward or not depends in large part on Russia. On Thursday Turkey signaled that it had Russia cooperation in its planned invasion, though this was not confirmed by Moscow. As Reuters reported, “Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also told broadcaster CNN Turk that Turkey will coordinate with Russia and Iran on an air operation in Afrin.”

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

The CIA Strikes Again?

December 24, 2016

The CIA Strikes Again?

Were CIA Dirty Hands Behind Assassination of Russia’s Ambassador to Turkey?

Russia’s investigation will get to the bottom of what happened, why and who was responsible.

Though unknown at this point, it has the earmarks of a CIA plot to undermine growing Russian/Turkish ties, notably their cooperation in Syria, adversely affecting Washington’s regional imperial agenda.

The assassination happened in the wake of Aleppo’s liberation, a major defeat for Washington, NATO, Israel and other rogue Middle East states.

It came on the eve of Russian, Turkish and Iranian foreign ministers meeting in Moscow (America, Britain and France excluded) “to discuss in trilateral format the situation in and around Syria first and foremost,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov explained.

On Tuesday, they’ll meet in Moscow “to try to reach an agreement on lasting ceasefire, on resolution of some humanitarian issues with eye of reaching political settlement.”

“We have the basis for that and it is United Nations Security Council resolution 2254,” he added. Cessation of hostilities and conflict resolution would be a major step toward defeating Washington’s regional imperial agenda.

If Trump normalizes ties with Russia, both countries cooperating in combating terrorism, it’ll represent a major change of US foreign policy for as long as it lasts. Deep state dark forces in Washington want it prevented.

According to Tass, Russian ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov “was assassinated on Monday in the country’s capital of Ankara by former special task police force officer Mevlut Mert Altintas,” citing Turkey’s interior minister Suleyman Soylu.

Karlov was killed during the opening ceremony of a photo exhibition called “Russia through Turks’ eyes,” dedicated to normalized bilateral relations between both countries.

He died later at an Ankara hospital, Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova explained.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

‘OK, big brother’: Turkish military cooperate with ISIS on border, telephone calls reveal

February 23, 2016

‘OK, big brother’: Turkish military cooperate with ISIS on border, telephone calls reveal

Further proof of ties between the Turkish military and Islamic State fighters operating on the Syrian-Turkish border has been revealed in the Cumhuriyet newspaper, which published more transcripts of telephone calls between the jihadists and officers.

The documents are said to come from an ongoing court case on Islamic State at the Ankara 3rd High Criminal Court. The investigation was reportedly prompted after six Turkish citizens reported to police that their relatives had joined the terrorists. At least 19 people came under surveillance as a result and prosecutors then charged 27 individuals. The daily published the first batch in December.

The new transcripts published by the daily Monday are said to be conversations between Turkish officers and Mustafa Demir, a member of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIL/ISIS) who is a leading figure on the Syrian-Turkish border.

“The transcripts and the documents in the investigation revealed that Demir received money… from smugglers at the border and cooperated with the officers as far as [border] crossings are concerned,”Cumhuriyet said.

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‘Don’t let people die’: Turkish TV show accused of ‘terrorist propaganda’, investigated http://on.rt.com/71md

5:35 PM – 12 Jan 2016

In the first transcript, translated into English by Today’s Zaman, Demir is talking to a Turkish military officer.

– […] where are you, big brother? At the place where I told you to be?

– Yeah. We also saw you, your men…

– Is it possible for you to arrange that I talk with the commander here, regarding the business here? What if we could establish a contact here as we helped you…

– Okay […] I’ll pass this now. I have two military posts there. If the worst comes to the worst, I’ll tell that to the commander of the station and have him take a look…

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

What Could Go Wrong? Saudis Want To Give Surface-To-Air Missiles To Syrian Rebels

February 22, 2016

What Could Go Wrong? Saudis Want To Give Surface-To-Air Missiles To Syrian Rebels

When the Russians started flying from Latakia on September 30 it put the Syrian opposition in a decisively precarious situation.

Whereas the Syrian air force was largely out of date and relied on replacement parts and continual maintenance to remain viable, Moscow brought one of the most formidable sky attacks on the planet to a fight against rebels with zero air capability and exceptionally limited capacity to defend themselves against an aerial assault.

Starting in October, the Russian Defense Ministry began posting video clips (hundreds of them) depicting strikes on a variety of rebel and militant targets and The Kremlin also went out of its way to capture full color, HD footage of Su-34s and long-range bombers in action over Syria where the opposition was quite simply powerless to defend itself.

For about a month (sometime between mid-November and mid-December) it appeared that President Obama was right. The fanfare around the initial wave of Russian airstrikes had subsided and the push north to Aleppo appeared to have stalled. The “quagmire” it seemed, was real. Then, suddenly, Hezbollah surrounded Aleppo and reports indicated the Russian air force had implemented what amounts to a scorched earth policy when it comes to the militants battling Iranian forces.

Once it became apparent that the country’s largest city would soon be recaptured by forces loyal to Assad, both Turkey and Saudi Arabia began to weigh their options. A ground assault by Ankara and Riyadh would be a veritable nightmare for the US and the West. It would invariably devolve into a direct conflict with Iranian forces and the first time a Russian jet hit Saudi or Turkish troops the world would be plunged into a global conflict with the potential to drag every nation in the developed world to war.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Massive Explosion Reported In Turkish Capital, Military Dormitory Targeted

February 17, 2016

Massive Explosion Reported In Turkish Capital, Military Dormitory Targeted

With Turkey on the brink of going to war with Russia and, implicitly, Iran, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is looking for an excuse to invade Syria.

The rebels Turkey and Saudi Arabia back are staging what amounts to a last stand at Aleppo and the Kurdish YPG is moving to cut the Azaz corridor, which would effectively mean that Turkey has no way of resupplying the insurgency.

For the past five days, Ankara has been shelling the YPG in a futile attempt to stop their advance.

The only thing that can save the rebellion against Bashar al-Assad is an outright ground operation by the rebels’ Sunni benefactors, including Turkey.

All Erdogan needs is a pretext and he may have just gotten one as reports indicate there’s been a huge explosion in Ankara near parliament.

Early indications are that military barracks were targeted. A “large number of casulaties” are rumored. Expect this to be pinned on either ISIS or the PKK. If it’s the latter, Ankara will once again claim that the group is working in concert with the YPG and that will be all the evidence Erdogan needs to march across the border.

EXPLOSION REPORTED IN TURKISH CAPITAL ANKARA, AHABER SAYS
ANKARA EXPLOSION OCCURRED NEAR MILITARY RESIDENCES: OFFICIAL

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

John Kerry Makes Last Ditch Effort To Avert World War III As Saudis, Turks Prepare For Syria Invasion

February 10, 2016

John Kerry Makes Last Ditch Effort To Avert World War III As Saudis, Turks Prepare For Syria Invasion

Tomorrow, John Kerry will meet Sergei Lavrov and several of his other counterparts from Europe and the Mid-East in Munich in a last ditch effort to revive Syrian peace talks, which fell apart amid an intense Russian air assault on rebel positions in Aleppo.

For all intents and purposes, the rebels are surrounded. Initially, it appeared that the “moderate” opposition might be able to persist and bog down the Russians and the Iranians with the help of supplies from the US, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia. Those hopes faded over the past two weeks when Hezbollah advanced on Aleppo and ultimately encircled the city, cutting the rebels off from key supply lines and triggering a mass civilian exodus.

The talks in the Bavarian capital come at what is perhaps the most crucial point in the conflict to date. With the opposition on the ropes, it’s do or die time for Riyadh, Ankara, Doha, and the UAE. Either the Gulf monarchies send in ground troops to shore up the rebels or Hezbollah and the IRGC will overrun them in a matter of weeks – or perhaps even days.

Of course the opposition’s Sunni benefactors can’t exactly say they’re going into Syria to fight Iran and the Russians. Any ground incursion will be justified by the need to “fight ISIS” even though the Islamic State presence in Aleppo is markedly less pronounced than in other besieged urban centers like Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor. Indeed, the effort is so transparent that even the mainstream media has been forced to acknowledge it. Here’s FT, for instance:

Saudi Arabia is discussing plans to deploy ground troops with regional allies, including Turkey, for a safe zone in Syria, in a last-ditch effort to keep alive a rebellion at risk of collapse as a Russian-backed offensive by Syrian regime forces encroaches on the northern province of Aleppo.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Turkish prosecutors demand life sentences for 2 jailed Erdogan critics

January 27, 2016

Turkish prosecutors demand life sentences for 2 jailed Erdogan critics

A woman walks past a banner that reads, "Even you arrest (journalists) or censor (media) we know that you are a war criminal Tayyip" and with a picture of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a protest over the arrest of journalists Can Dundar and Erdem Gul in Ankara, Turkey © Umit Bektas

Turkish prosecutors are demanding life sentences for two journalists imprisoned over a report that alleges President Erdogan’s government tried to ship arms to Islamist rebels in Syria. The case is being seen as a clampdown on freedom of speech.

Prosecutors want the editor-in-chief of the Cumhuriyet newspaper, Can Dundar, and its Ankara bureau chief, Erdem Gul, each to be handed one aggravated life sentence, one ordinary life sentence and 30 years in jail, according to the Dogan news agency, which saw the indictment.

Both are currently at the Silivri prison awaiting trial. No date has been set yet.

A report by Cumhuriyet had alleged that a shipment of weapons seized at the border in January 2014 was going to rebels in Syria. It also claimed that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the head of Turkish intelligence, Hakan Fidan, were both in on the deal.

Footage accompanying the May 29, 2015 story in Cumhuriyet showed police opening crates from the stopped trucks, which appeared to contain weapons. The paper alleged they were headed for Syria to supply the opposition fighters.

These claims led to Dundar and his colleague being put in prison in November 2015.

Dundar and Gul are charged each with one count of “gathering secret state documents for the purposes of political and military espionage,” as well as “attempting to topple the government of the Republic of Turkey or attempting to stop either partially or totally the government from fulfilling its duties” and with “deliberate support for a terrorist organization without being a member.”

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Erdogan calls MP ‘traitor’ for telling RT that ISIS got chemical weapons via Turkey

December 18, 2015

Erdogan calls MP ‘traitor’ for telling RT that ISIS got chemical weapons via Turkey

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused opposition MP Eren Erdem of “betrayal.” Erdem told RT that Islamic State terrorists had obtained sarin gas supplies through Turkish territory – and that Ankara did nothing despite having all the evidence.

“There is a deputy in this country, buried so deep in a pit of betrayal, and to a party that claims to be as old as the republic saying during an interview to a foreign television channel that Turkey is selling chemical weapons to terrorists,” Erdogan told a crowd in the city of Konya.

The Turkish President also called the silence of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) concerning Erdem’s revelations“treason.”

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EXCLUSIVE: Sarin materials brought via Turkey & mixed in Syrian ISIS camps– Turkish MP to RT http://on.rt.com/6zep

1:49 AM – 14 Dec 2015

“What is this party waiting for? Why are they silent? This is treason. How can you allege this country sells sarin gas to the terrorist state of Syria which is run by the murderer Assad?” Erdogan said, as cited by local media.

“Shame on those who still keep him in the party!” he added.

What Erdem actually revealed in an interview with RT on Monday were the details from a criminal case opened, and then abruptly closed, by the General Prosecutor’s Office in the Turkish city of Adana. His account alleges that Turkish authorities had acquired a great deal of evidence concerning sarin gas shipments to those Al-Qaeda militants in Syria that later became known globally as Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL), but did nothing to stop them.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

US calls on Turkey to withdraw ‘unauthorized’ troops from Iraq

December 17, 2015

US calls on Turkey to withdraw ‘unauthorized’ troops from Iraq

The US has urged Turkey to withdraw its “unauthorized” military forces from northern Iraq, calling on Ankara to respect the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

US Vice President Joe Biden has spoken to Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi regarding Turkey’s troop deployments.

“The Vice President reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to Iraqi sovereignty and territorial integrity and called on Turkey to do the same by withdrawing any military forces from Iraqi territory that have not been authorized by the Iraqi government,” the White House said in a statement.

The call between Biden and al-Abadi came two days after the Vice President’s talk with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

Stressing Washington’s commitment to close cooperation with both Iraq and Turkey in the fight against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL), Biden urged Ankara to continue its dialogue with Baghdad.

“The Vice President reiterated that any foreign military presence in Iraq must be with the full consent of the Iraq government,” read a statement from the White House on December 14.

Relations between Ankara and Baghdad began to unravel following Turkey’s December 4 deployment of about 150 soldiers backed by artillery and around 25 tanks to Camp Bashiqa, a base near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul that is controlled by IS. The move was protested by both the Iraqi government and thousands of its citizens across the country.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

The Syrian Proxy War: A World War III-esque Summary

December 1, 2015

The Syrian Proxy War: A World War III-esque Summary

Even before any major world powers were willing to go public (so to speak) with their involvement in Syria’s five-year, bloody civil war, it was difficult to keep track of the myriad rebel factions, militant groups, and jihadists battling the Assad regime for control of the country.

In a testament to just how confusing (not to mention terrifying) the situation had become by the time Iran began to mull asking the Russians for help, in April, 18,000 civilians ended up trapped in the Yarmouk refugee camp near Damascus where al-Nusra, ISIS, Hamas, the FSA, and the Assad regime were all fighting each other simultaneously in what UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon called “the worst circle of hell.”

At that juncture, the conflict was still largely a true proxy war. That is, sure there were probably some US Spec Ops running around with the Kurds and perhaps with the FSA and there were almost undoubtedly a handful of Iranian commanders shuttling back and forth between Damascus and Tehran while coordinating with Hezbollah, but the war didn’t look anything like it does now in terms of overt military action by multiple world powers.

After Quds commander Qassem Soleimaini visited the frontlines in Latakia in June, the general vowed to “surprise the world,” with Iran’s next move. Weeks later Soleimaini was in Moscow plotting a Russian intervention with The Kremlin. By the end of September, Russia had built an air base at Latakia and on September 30, a three star general strolled into the US Embassy in Baghdad and informed the Americans that Russian airstrikes in Syria “begin in 1 hour.”

The rest, as they say is history and as we reported earlier today, things just got more complicated as it now appears both Britain and Germany are set to enter the fray. All of this is made immeasurably more difficult to grasp when you consider that it’s nearly impossible to sort through which rebel groups are Saudi, Qatari, and Turkish proxies.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Russia Says Turkey’s Attack On Jet Was “Planned Provocation” As Ankara Moves Tanks Near Syrian Border

November 25, 2015

Russia Says Turkey’s Attack On Jet Was “Planned Provocation” As Ankara Moves Tanks Near Syrian Border

On Tuesday evening, we took a close look at the circumstances surrounding Turkey’s decision to shoot down a Russian Su-24 near the Syrian border. The incident was the most meaningful escalation in the conflict to date and marks the first time a Russian or Soviet plane has been downed by NATO since 1953.

The pilots ejected, one of whom was shot in his parachute by FSA-affiliated Alwiya al-Ashar militiamen who subsequently celebrated over the body. About an hour later, the FSA’s 1st Coastal Brigade used a US-made TOW to destroy a Russian search and rescue helicopter, killing one Russian marine.

For his part, Vladimir Putin called Erdogan a backstabber and proceeded to accuse Turkey of flying the black flag of ISIS and funding the Islamic State cause by facilitating the sale of illegal crude.

Miraculously, there were no further escalations overnight, but as we outlined in detail on Tuesday, something doesn’t add up about the story Ankara is telling. According to a letter Turkey sent to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the 15 members of the UN Security Council, the Russian warplane, flying at 19,000 feet, “violated Turkish national airspace to a depth of 1.36 miles and 1.15 miles in length for 17 seconds.” If you do the math on that, it means the Su-24 was basically flying at stall speed.

WikiLeaks

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Journalists: Learn to do basic maths. Look at Turkey’s statement to UN: 1.15 miles / 17 seconds x 60 x 60 = 243 miles/hour = 391 km/hour

12:04 PM – 24 Nov 2015

Here’s how we summed up the situation:

It’s important not to forget the context here. Ankara is fiercly anti-Assad and in addition to being generally displeased with Russia’s efforts to support the regime, just four days ago, Turkey summoned Russian ambassador Andrey Karlov over the alleged bombing of Turkish villages near the border.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Another Black Swan? Turkey Holds Snap Elections Amid NATO-Backed Civil War

November 1, 2015

Another Black Swan? Turkey Holds Snap Elections Amid NATO-Backed Civil War

There’s a potential black swan event taking place in Turkey on Sunday and no one seems to care. That is, the media isn’t devoting nearly enough coverage to Turkish elections considering the impact the outcome will invariably have on the situation in Syria, on the fate of the lira, and on the Pentagon’s strategy with regard to embedding spec ops with the YPG.

As a reminder, Turkey held elections back in June and the outcome did not please President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

AKP lost its absolute majority in parliament thanks in no small part to a relatively strong showing by the pro-Kurdish HDP and that meant that Erdogan couldn’t move forward with plans to consolidate his power by amending the constitution. Well, if you know anything about Erdogan, you know that he isn’t exactly the type to take these kinds of things lying down, and so, he decided to trade NATO access to Incirlik for Western acquiescence to a crackdown on the PKK.

Of course that’s not how it was pitched to the media.

The official line was that after a suicide bombing in Suruc claimed by ISIS, Ankara decided it was time to go after Islamic State. Not to put too fine a point on it, but that’s a joke. The PKK and many other observers have long contended that Turkey is complicit in allowing money, guns, and personnel to flow across the border into Syria so that ISIS can continue to destabilize the Assad regime which Ankara opposes. In other words, Erdogan has no interest whatsoever in fighting ISIS. What he does have an interest in is starting a new war with the PKK in order to convince voters that the security situation in Turkey is such that only a dictator can get the situation under control – that’s the whole gambit.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

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