TURKEY'S DILEMMA

"The independence of Kosovo is a terrible precedent. . . They have not thought through the results of what they are doing. At the end of the day it is a two-ended stick and the second end will come back and hit them in the face."
~ Vladimir Putin.

Here's an interesting analysis of Turkey's newest dilemma, it's relationship with Russia, from Eurasianet:

"Turkey is torn between the latest developments, not only between Russia and Georgia but mainly between Russia and the United States and NATO as well. Even if we do not go back to the Cold War, at the point that we have arrived to today, Turkey cannot manage this crisis with ’platonic moves,’" said a recent commentary published by the English-language Turkish Daily News.

[ . . . ]

The Turkish-Russian relationship has changed dramatically in recent years, though. Today, Russia is Turkey’s largest trading partner, with trade between the two countries expected to reach $38 billion this year, up from $27 billion the year before. Russia also supplies close to half of Turkey’s crude oil and 65 percent of its natural gas, used both to heat Turkish home and to run many of the country’s power plants.

But following the invasion of Georgia, Turkey is suddenly facing the prospect of a resurgent Russian presence near its border. "There is a dilemma which Turkey faces," says Ihsan Dagi, a professor of international relations at Ankara’s Middle East Technical University. "Georgia is indispensable to Turkey’s overall Caucasian and Central Asian strategy, and is central to its claim to being an energy corridor."

On the other hand, he says, "Russia is mostly indispensable for the Turkish economy. What is at stake is Turkey’s economic stability."

Moscow forcefully reminded Turks of this fact when it imposed new trade restrictions in August on goods coming from Turkey, holding up Turkish trucks at Russian border crossings for lengthy inspections. For many Turkish observers, the new restrictions were a clear warning for Ankara not to pick the wrong side in the Georgia crisis. Turkish trade officials say they may lose roughly $3 billion over the short term due to the new Russian restrictions.

Turkey’s leaders, meanwhile, have been treading carefully around the Georgia issue. Although Turkey has publicly called for Georgia’s territorial integrity to be respected, it has refrained from embracing the stronger rhetoric coming out of Washington and Brussels. . .

And with good reason. Turkey was among the first countries to recognize the independence of Kosovo. It recognized Kosovo independence so quickly, in fact, that the Fethullahcı paper Zaman characterized the recognition as "rushed":

Turkey has become one of the countries that proceeded with quick recognition of Kosovo's independence; the decision was a surprise for at least some, given that Turkish authorities had previously announced that Turkey would not be the initial recognizer, but would ultimately honor the independence.

Skeptics also criticized the decision on the grounds that recognition of Kosovo's independence was inconsistent with Turkey's best interests in the region, further recalling that countries which currently deal with separatist movements opposed Kosovo's recent move.

It appears that the same author made a rush to judgment in defending the rush to recognition:

Most importantly, recognition of Kosovo's independence does not bear serious repercussions for Turkey; it is relatively a risk-free diplomatic move.

It was a rush to judgment that, in its haste, overlooked the fact that "Russia is mostly indispensable for the Turkish economy", as stated by İhsan Dağı. Analysts at the Eurasia Daily Monitor, operated as part of the pro-terrorist thinktank, the Jamestown Foundation, explained away Turkey's rush to recognize Kosovo independence as a mixture of "pragmatism and self-interest":

Turkey’s decision to recognize Kosova stems from a mixture of pragmatism and self-interest. Kosova represents both an opportunity and threat to Turkish policy. On the positive side, Ankara might be able to use the issue as leverage to gain recognition for the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). This self-declared state was established after the Turkish military invasion in 1974, but so far the only significant international actor to recognize it is Turkey. On the negative side, if Kosova’s action triggers a burst of unilateral declarations of independence by national minorities clamoring for freedom across Europe or the world, Turkey’s Kurdish minority might join the bandwagon and begin agitating for similar action. Ankara cannot have overlooked the fact that a number of countries with significant minorities, including Spain, Kazakhstan, Russia, and China, have all declined to recognize Kosova’s independence for this very reason.

Let's call to mind a quote from an analysis on the Russia-Georgia-Ossetia situation from Noam Chomsky:

[Former US ambassador to Russia Jack] Matlock is not alone in regarding Kosovo as an important factor. “Recognition of South Ossetia's and Abkhazia's independence was justified on the principle of a mistreated minority's right to secession - the principle Bush had established for Kosovo,” the Boston Globe editors comment.

The oil men of the Bush administration have attempted to explain away the need for Kosovo independence as a principle of human rights and not as a principle of the free-flow of Caspian energy resources. In this respect, these liars are in complete agreement with UN Resolution 3103, which states:

1. The struggle of peoples under colonial and alien domination and racist régimes for the implementation of their right to self-determination and independence is legitimate and in full accordance with the principles of international law.

2. Any attempt to suppress the struggle against colonial and alien domination and racist régimes is incompatible with the Charter of the United Nations, the Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples and constitutes a threat to international peace and security.

3. The armed conflicts involving the struggle of peoples against colonial and alien domination and racist régimes are to be regarded as international armed conflicts in the sense of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, and the legal status envisaged to apply to the combatants in the 1949 Geneva Conventions and other international instruments is to apply to the persons engaged in armed struggle against colonial and alien domination and racist régimes.

4. The combatants struggling against colonial and alien domination and racist régimes captured as prisoners are to be accorded the status of prisoners of war and their treatment should be in accordance with the provisions of the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, of 12 August 1949.

5. The use of mercenaries by colonial and racist régimes against national liberation movements struggling for their freedom and independence from the yoke of colonialism and alien domination is considered to be a criminal act and the mercenaries should accordingly be punished as criminals.

6. The violation of the legal status of the combatants struggling against colonial and alien domination and racist régimes in the course of armed conflicts entails full responsibility in accordance with the norms of international law.

Now, the same author who rushed to judgment in defense of Turkey's recognition of Kosovo independence included the following ignorant remarks:

Skeptics refer to Turkey's ongoing problem with regard to Kurdish ethno-nationalism, suggesting that Turkey should not have recognized Kosovo's independence since this would set a precedent for the separatist Kurds. However this allegation is baseless simply because Kurds will not attempt to gain a state of their own unless they have to undergo the same process as the Kosovars did; in other words, if they are not subjected to inequality, repression and persecution, they will not show an ambition toward independence. Even if they did, their quest for creating a separate state would not be honored by the international community. This considerably alleviates Turkey's concerns in regard to the Kurdish problem.

Everyone knows--even if they lie about it or refuse to admit it--that the Kurds of Turkey have been subjected to nothing but "inequality, repression and persecution" since 1923. Everyone also knows--even if they lie about it or refuse to admit it--that the US has been instrumental in helping Turkey carry out "inequality, repression and persecution" against the Kurdish population of Turkey for decades. But now US power is on the decline in the region and will continue to be eclipsed by Russia.

Russia bitterly protested the independence of Kosovo and included a warning from Vladimir Putin:

"Our position is extremely clear. Any resolution on Kosovo should be approved by both sides," Putin said. "It is also clear that any resolution on Kosovo will set a precedent in international practice."

Analysts said the comments could mean that if Kosovo declares unilateral independence, Moscow could support independence for pro-Russian separatists in Georgia.

Furthermore:

Russian President Vladimir Putin charges that Western support for the newly declared state, torn from Serbia this week, is "immoral and illegal" behavior that will provoke a global storm of separatism and explode the international order.

Turkey now finds itself in a dilemma of its own making. Russian payback for Turkey's rush to recognize Kosovo independence is upon it, with Turkey's economy and energy needs heavily dependent on Russian whim. When Russia settles the Georgian Question--and it most certainly will settle it according to its own criteria--Turkey can be pressured into settling its own Kurdish Question politically, one which is long bloody with "inequality, repression and persecution".

This is a goal that the PKK has long struggled to achieve, and current restructuring of regional relationships is a moment of opportunity that the Kurds of Turkey cannot let slip by.

In the meantime, Russia has issued warnings to Israel from both PM Medvedev and Foreign Minister Lavrov, as it renovates a Syrian port for use by the Russian navy.

By the way, CNN seems to be in trouble in Russia for not airing its recent interview with Putin in its entirety:

The word on the street here is Putin is out for blood. It's payback time. According to a source with high-level government connections, the Russians are planning punitive actions against CNN. At this point, it is just a rumor, but they are preparing to kick out about half of the half-dozen Western journalists working at CNN's Moscow bureau. Sooner or later they're going to have to apply for a visa renewal and that's when it's gonna go down. They'll be denied, clean and quiet like. We can only pray that the tool Matthew Chance is up for a new visa soon.

Oh, it's definitely time for the media lapdogs to get their well-deserved comeuppance.

SEEKING KURDISH ENMITY

"Israel, on the other hand, is supplying technical and tactical support in order help Turkey kill more Kurds. Israel sent technical staff even to Batman and is supporting Turkey technically and tactically. This is Kurdish enmity."
~ KCK Statement, February 2008.

Exactly one year ago some news came out about the creation of the America-Kurdistan Friendship League and I mentioned something about some of the fruitcake neocons involved with it. Now I noticed that, a few days ago, one of those involved with the AKFL conducted an interview on the notoriously right-wing fascist website, FrontPageMag, and it was carried on Kurdish Aspect. I have a few bones to pick.

First bone:

Israel has a longstanding relationship with the Kurdish people.

Not quite. Israel has a longstanding relationship with Iraqi Kurds, not with the Kurdish people.

Second bone:

[David Ben Gurion] reasoned that Arab hostility encircling Israel necessitated alliances with the leadership and people of non-Arab states like Iran, Turkey and the Kurds (understanding that the Kurdish connection needed to be somewhat secretive, as it continues to be today for fear of upsetting the Turks.)

Again, the connection here, secretive or not, is not with the Kurds; it's with Iraqi Kurds. Compared to Turkish Kurds, Iraqi Kurds are a minority among the Kurdish people as a whole. Therefore, to state that there is a historical relationship between the state of Israel and "the Kurds" is wrong.

On the other hand, the majority of the world's Kurds are Turkish Kurds. Israel has never had, nor has now, any relationship with them . .. unless one counts the fact that such a relationship is by proxy, with the proxy being the TSK (third bone):

Israel’s military and diplomatic establishment is heavily invested in Turkey and trade relations are of growing significance.

Israel's heavy investment in Turkey is exactly why Israel has no just relationship with the Kurds. That heavy investment is heavily military and we all know what relationship the TSK has with the Kurds.

If there were a historical relationship between Israel and the Kurds and Israel were truly concerned with creating an honest alliance with the Kurds, then why were Israeli's operating UAV's for TSK against the Kurdish freedom movement? Why did PKK have to issue a warning to Israel, referring to Israeli behavior in the matter of the UAV's as "Kurdish enmity" on Israel's behalf?

Fourth bone:

Turkey represents, as far as Israel and the U.S. are concerned, a model for a “secular” Islamic democracy.

Again, not true. Turkey is not a democracy, although it is a model--a model fascist regime. Naturally the US considers Turkey a Model of Democracy for the Middle East, as well as an Islamic democracy. The CIA has poured a lot of money into it for that purpose, just as it did with both the Taliban and al-Qaeda. The Bush Administration appointed Erdoğan as prime minister for that purpose. If Israel is supportive of those kinds of actions, it proves once again that Israel is no ally of the Kurds.

Fifth bone:

Israel, mindful of the reactions from the Turks, has refrained from open expressions of support for Kurdish rights.

If Israel is unwilling to do the right thing as regards the rights of others who are brutally oppressed, then the Kurds don't need it as an ally anyway. And don't bitch about The Holocaust because present behavior makes it's obvious that nothing was learned from it anyway.

Sixth bone:

The Kurds are Israel’s natural allies.

Maybe, maybe not. It all depends on what the term "natural allies" means. If it means that Kurds get used for US and Israeli interests in the region, along with Turkey's interests, then maybe any alliance formed would be far more unnatural than natural. This is the kind of alliance in which the Kurdish people serve as pawns for the self-serving, fascist regimes in Ankara, Teheran, Damascus, Baghdad, Israel, and the US.


Seventh bone:

The Kurds geographic location and acculturation makes them a barrier to the spread of radical Islam-whether Shia or Sunni.

Wrong again. The only real Kurdish barrier to the spread of US-financed radical Islam is the KCK and those armed organizations under its umbrella--YJA-STAR, HPG, and HRK. Yet these are the only "barriers" in the region that the US, Israel, Turkey, Iran, and Iraq are actively trying to get rid of.

Eighth bone:

The Kurds also aspire to become a democratic society modeled after Israel.

Let's think about this, shall we? Maybe Denmark, for example, would be a better democratic model than Israel. Denmark is, after all, the world's happiest country. Besides, the Danes have great dairy products, just like Kurdistan, and they've stood up against Turkish and American bullying over Roj TV.

Ninth bone: The angle the AKFL is working here is justification of US and Israeli policies against Iran and Syria. Any use of Kurds in those policies will be detrimental to Kurdish interests--note that the operative word here is "use", as in "I use a tissue and then I throw it away."

Don't let yourself be used as a box of tissues, Kurdistan.

YJA-STAR: REVENGE IS OUR HONOR

"Well behaved women rarely make history."
~ Laurel Thatcher Ulrich.

YJA-STAR issued a statement in which its guerrillas promise revenge for the martyrs of 12 March, whose team leader was a member of YJA-STAR and for Newroz attacks in Qamishlo, Wan (Van), Gever (Yüksekova). YJA-STAR noted the combined resistance of Kurdish guerrilla forces in the Zap region and the Kurdish people's resistance during Newroz, remarking that this is an historic period in which guerrilla and the people's resistance had integrated and become stronger.

YJA-STAR commented on the outpouring of support for the leadership during Newroz, throughout Kurdistan as well as in Istanbul, and that this outpouring of support showed the Kurdish people's solidarity with the leadership.

In its statement, YJA-STAR greeted the Kurdish youths' resistance, "We greet the Kurdish youths' resistance; We celebrate them because of their determined struggle. For rising and maintaining the struggle in terms of integration with the guerrillas, we are calling all our youth in general, and young girls in particular, to our active struggle areas, which are our mountains."

"In this respect, we give our deep condolences to the people that have been murdered in Qamishlo, Van, and Gever; we hope the wounded get well as soon as possible and we declare that we share our people's grief." In addition to this, YJA-STAR said, "Indeed, everyone must know that the Kurdish people are not alone. YJA-STAR forces promised revenge against all the miscalculated attacks. We are declaring this promise to the whole world."

To Turkish and Syrian security forces: The women of the PKK are coming and they're going to show you just how weak your shit really is.

Serkeftin!

NEWROZ IN WAN AND QAMIŞLO

"Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man's original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience and through rebellion."
~ Oscar Wilde.

Newroz in Wan (Van). Check out the cops beating the women with their batons. This all came about because Newroz celebrations were forbidden in Wan, Culemêrg (Hâkkari), Riha (Urfa), and Sêrt (Siirt).

It looks like someone lifted most, if not all, of Hürriyet's video and put it up on Youtube:

Some photos:






















If you check the photos from Culemêrg (Hâkkari), note that the fascist police with ski masks are Özel Hareket Timler, and they are richly deserving of the same fate as the military Özel Timler ("special teams").

Özgür Gündem also has a Newroz photo gallery.

Here's another video from Wan:

And another:

Özgür Gündem reports that the Diyarbakir chief prosecutor wants Turkish translations of the speeches made on Newroz in Amed by Ahmet Türk, Osman Baydemir, Leyla Zana and Necdet Atalay, as well as a translation of the Newroz message Öcalan sent. The chief prosecutor also wants video of the celebrations in order to determine the identities of those who carried Öcalan flags, KCK flags, and PKK flags.

The biggest coup of the holiday came from Roj TV, which broadcast live for 5 hours from Amed. A while ago, Roj had begun broadcasting through two satellites in order the jamming of their transmissions by the Turkish state.

On Newroz, Roj TV began 24 hour broadcasting. "Good news for Roj TV's viewers: Roj TV is broadcasting 24 hours now".

Despite oppression and blocking, Roj TV has started broadcasting 24 hours on Newroz and onward.

[. . . ]

Thus viewers will be able to follow the news from Kurdistan and the whole world at any time during the day. In its statement, Roj TV said, "Roj TV's decision will accelerate the enhancement of Kurdish language and culture, and will preserve it."

In related news, Denmark is trying to get Roj TV listed with the UN as a terrorist organization, according to Danish ambassador to Ankara, Jesper Vahr. Vahr recently stated that Turkey's evidence against Roj TV is insufficient to support Turkey's claims. For this reason, Denmark is asking Turkey for more evidence against the channel.

"Besides Turkey and Denmark have cooperation against terrorism and if we look at the bigger picture this must not be reduced to an incident of Roj TV. Right now there is an ongoing investigation against Roj TV and we need all the evidence that Turkey will provide."

Three Rojavayî Kurds were murdered by the Syrian Arab regime during Newroz celebrations in Qamişlo, Syrian-occupied Kurdistan. The Jerusalem Post claims that 10,000 Syrian troops have been deployed to Syrian-occupied Kurdistan; however, the claim is not substantiated anywhere else, including Firat News. Given that Cihan News and DebkaFile reports about a Turkish invasion of South Kurdistan early last June were spectacular lies, there is no reason, at this point, to give any credence to the current claim.

Firat News has photos of those murdered by the Syrian regime:









The Syrian regime has so far refused to return the bodies of the victims to their families.

Şehîdên azadiyê nemirin!

Finally, check Gordon Taylor's recent musing on Newroz, Kurds, and the Dicle.

TURKISH POWS RETURN HOME

"I am making a request to Mr. Erdogan. The PKK will not end, you are making a mistake. Propose a way out, we are open to any kind of democratic solution."
~ Abdullah Öcalan.

The release of the prisoners of war held by HPG since 21 October went off without a hitch early this morning in South Kurdistan, and RojTV featured the handover in its Kurdish-language and Turkish-language news reports.

Representatives of the KRG Interior Ministry as well as DTP parliamentarians Aysel Tuğluk, Osman Özçelik, and Fatma Kurtulan received the POWs at an undisclosed location in the Medya Defense Zone. During the handover, Fatma Kurtulan noted that DTP had been the first to try to introduce a discussion of the POWs domestically, within the TBMM, but that AKP and the other parties ignored the situation. The AKP claimed there weren't sufficient funds available to arrange a committee to look into the issue of securing the release of the POWs. Apparently, the POWs were not considered important enough for AKP to concern itself with.

The POWs looked relaxed and in excellent condition and they acknowledged that they had been treated very well by HPG fighters. Naturally, this led them to change their perspective on the PKK because their experience was nothing like Turkish propaganda had led them to expect. They mentioned that they intended to tell the truth of their experience when they returned to Turkey, but I wouldn't bet on seeing much of that in Turkish media. On the other hand, word will spread among their families and friends.

I can guarantee you that if these had been PKK fighters in the hands of the Ankara regime, you would never see them again. They would be tortured to death or executed after having laid down their weapons. The Ankara regime is not civilized in the least. In this way, it resembles the American regime. Think extraordinary rendition. Think water-boarding. Think Guantanamo.

In the meantime, the Turkish General Staff posted a notice on its website that the "lost" soldiers have returned to their units. That's a case of the Deep State being in Deep Denial.

Interestingly enough, Turkish media is running reports of Erdoğan's attempted censorship of the POW story within Turkey. Apparently he had attempted to put a ban on the story through RTUK, to prevent Turkish media from broadcasting information on the POWs. However, the Turkish Court of Appeals refused the ban.

Erdoğan tried to use the excuse of "domestic security" in calling for the censorship. I guess, in this case, the Turkish judiciary didn't feel like embracing state secret's privilege.

Once handed over to the KRG Interior Ministry and the DTP parliamentarians, the former POWs were taken to Hewlêr. Since Turkey pretended until the last minute that the soldiers were "lost," there were no Turkish officials present in Hewlêr to receive the soldiers. Instead, they were handed over to the American military, who transported them by air to Mûsil, and then from Mûsil to the Turkish airbase at Bamerni, South Kurdistan. At that point, the soldiers were handed over to Turkish officials.

Bugün adds that the Iraqi Defense Minister and American General David Petraeus were on board the aircraft with the soldiers.

Back at Qendil, Murat Karayılan had something to say about the release of the Turkish POWs:

"We released the soldiers in order to send the message that we don't want to resolve the Kurdish question with violence and war, but in a peaceful way. With this message, we want to declare to the entire world that we want to solve the Kurdish question in democratic ways. If the Turkish government takes a positive step and stops its attacks, the clashes and war will reach an end. This situation will bring an historic era, and a democratic and peaceful resolution."

The bottom line: PKK offers an opportunity for a peaceful resolution while ever ready for legitimate self-defense.

On Saturday, PKK issued a warning to Syria for its attacks against Kurdish demonstrators in Qamişlo and Kendela, West Kurdistan, that left three Kurdish demonstrators dead and five wounded. Kurds had been protesting against a Turkish invasion of South Kurdistan and against Turkish poisoning of Öcalan.

Ever the toady, Ba'ath leader Beşar Esad had visited Ankara earlier and declared his regime's support for a Turkish invasion of South Kurdistan.

The Syrian military should be an absolute pushover for PKK.

In a related item, DozaMe has an ironic point to make about the US administration's Axis of Evil.

And if you think Erdoğan's bad about his attempted censorship of HPG's former Turkish POWs, take a look at the censorship attempt against Hevallo by a stupid Dutch fascist.

IRANIAN WEAPONS TO SYRIA TARGETED

"What is most troubling to me as a Jew is that the plight of fifteen million Kurds in Turkey most closely parallels the plight of Jews throughout centuries. For unlike the Iraqi Kurds who have always been at liberty to be Kurds, those in Turkey were ruthlessly legislated out of their ethnic identity and have remained so for more than sixty years."
~ Vera Saeedpour.

Rumors seem to be beginning to fly in Middle Eastern media over Israel's recent attack on Syrian targets last week. Apparently, the Paşas gave the Israeli air force a hand in targeting. From YNetNews:

Turkish intelligence provided Israel with information on the Syrian targets allegedly attacked by the Air Force last week without the Turkish government's authorization, Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jareeda reported Thursday.

Al-Jareeda quoted several sources as saying that Israel and senior Turkish military personnel coordinated Israel's invasion of Turkish airspace during the operation to send a message to the ruling Justice and Development party, or AKP. Senior military officials in Turkey, most of whom are secular, oppose the Islamist party's platform.

According to the sources, AKP member and newly-elected President Abdullah Gul is not doing enough to prevent the transfer of arms from Iran to terror groups in Syria and Lebanon via Turkey.

These would be the very same Paşas that permitted news of HPG's derailing of a train carrying weapons from Iran to Syria to flash briefly through the Turkish press at the end of May. As DozaMe reported:

A unit from People’s Defense Forces (HPG) derailed a Turkish cargo train bound to Syria on May 25 near the Suvaran train station in the Genc district of Bingol in northern Kurdistan (southeastern Turkey.) Local authorities discovered rockets, launch pads, sniper rifles, mortar rounds and other ammunitions in the train.

A Turkish prosecutor in Genc has requested a media censor on all news related to the weapons in the cargo, pointing to paragraph 28 in the Turkish Constitution, paragraphs 3 and 25 in the Turkish Media Laws and paragraphs 285 and 286 in the Turkish Penal Code, according to the Turkish newspaper Milliyet. The prosecutor’s request was accepted by the Genc Criminal Court.

Details of the contents of one of the train cars included:

297 rockets

1,032 mortar rounds

762 Dragunov sniper rifles (Kanas)

54 machine guns

135 boxes of "explosive substance" (C4? A4?)

120 boxes of mortar rounds

775 boxes of "military equipment"

Flash back to August 2006 and let's recall how the Turkish Red Crescent was shipping arms to Syria from Iran:

The Turkish Red Crescent was used twice to arm Hezbollah, a Syrian Red Crescent official told the Kurdish news agency ANF yesterday. The Turkish humanitarian organization’s vehicles were loaded with small arms, unidentified electronic gadgets, and ammunition, the Syrian official said.

[ . . . ]

An anonymous Israeli offical told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz that Turkey has been used as key transit in Iran’s supply route to Hezbollah. Israel called on Turkey to impose air and ground embargo to prevent Iran from arming Hezbollah.

The Turkish Red Crescent is widely known to be involved in Turkish intelligence operations around the world. In April 2003, Turkish Red Crescent vehicles which were stopped and searched by US forces at a checkpoint in southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq) turned out to be loaded with weapons and explosives believed by US troops to be used to arm Iraqi Turkmen Front militias. The supplies were marked as ‘humanitarian aid’. Turkish Special Forces posing as aid workers were taken into custody and interrogated before being escorted by US troops back to Turkey.

Not only does Gül, as president, do a lousy job of preventing Iranian arms transfers to Syria (not a very neutral thing for a member of NATO to do), but neither does PM Erdoğan. But the Paşas probably figure that if the Fethullahcı can leak information . . . like diaries of Paşas that outline coup plans or who talks about what to whom at the Hudson Institute . . . then the Paşas should leak what they can, too.

The bottom line is that nothing, but NOTHING, is going to move into Turkey, through Turkey, or out of Turkey without the knowledge and consent of the Paşas.

Except, of course, the big, bad PKK.

DTP will be investigated for its calls for investigations into the accusations that the TSK uses chemical weapons against HPG's gerîlas (I can't figure out why they have that stupid picture of Barzanî and al-Maliki to decorate the article). The article also notes that Gül ended his tour of the military in Turkish-occupied Kurdistan on Friday.

Does everyone remember what happened in Turkish-occupied Kurdistan after Erdoğan's visit to Amed in August 2005? Şemdinli. Amed Serhildan. Amed bombing. OHAL.

Don't you wish these SOB's would just stay in Ankara so that they and the Paşas could kill each other?

ASSASSINS TRAINED IN ISTANBUL

"I don't know why you are treating me like this. The only thing I have done is carry a pistol into a movie."
~ Lee Harvey Oswald.

More on Turkey's meddling in South Kurdistan . . .

Zanetî has an excellent summary of Turkish involvement with the recent murder of 525 Yezîdî Kurds in Şengal, near the Syrian border, on 15 August. The president of South Kurdistan, Mesûd Barzanî, went so far as to call out Turkey and Syria for their cooperation with Sunni Arabs against the Kurdish people.

Now Özgür Gündem has an article describing the training of Turkmen assassins and their operations in South Kurdistan. According to Özgür Gündem, an ex-assassin, Muhammet Sait Ali, confessed some important information regarding the murder of the 525 Yezîdî Kurds in Şengal.

Sait Ali was caught in Kerkuk,where he confessed that he was trained in Istanbul, at the police station headquarters in Vatan Street. Iraq's regional neighbors--Syria, Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt--even though they have their own disagreements over many matters, come together easily to cooperate against the Kurds.

The most recent example of this is their cooperation against the Kerkuk Referendum. In order to suffocate the Kurdish movement and to sabotage the Kerkuk Referendum, they have organized several suicide attacks against Mûsil, Kerkuk, Maxmur, and Hewlêr. The groups that attacked as suicide bombers were trained in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria and are financially supported by them.

Now, we can add Turkey to the list of suicide bomb trainers in addition to its well-earned reputation as a state-sponsor of terror.

According to Sait Ali, an ethnic Turkmen, Turkish MİT trained 44 Turkmen as assassins at the Vatan police headquarters. It was these who were sent to ply their new trade in South Kurdistan. According to the documents received, 12 of the Turkmen assassins were sent to Kerkuk, 8 to Hewlêr, 4 to Silêmanî, and 20 to Baghdad. As Sait Ali stated:

"On 19 February 2006, they sent me to Ankara, and on the second day they sent me to Istanbul. They gave me the nickname of "Zeki." We were 44 people. MIT gave us assassination training. We didn't know each other. They took us to a building in Vatan Street, and gave us sniper and handgun training."

According to Ali, retired generals trained them:

"We were 44 guys and everyone had a nickname so that no one knew who the other was. However, it was obvious that the people who were training us were very knowledgeable and sufficient people. The training was given on behalf of MIT, but it wasn't official. They told us to get trained very well, but after leaving the building, to forget about all the people we had met. They warned us not to reveal their identities."

A Canadian passport was found on Sait Ali's person when he was detained in Kerkuk. He also carried several letters with him that had been sent from Syria. According to the letters, Turkey and Syria are cooperating in order to create chaos in South Kurdistan. Ali says that Syria has an enormous influence on ex-Ba'ath supporters and trained the Ba'ath Arabs, while Turkey trained Turkmen, so that both Syria and Turkey could enhance their intelligence web.

In addition, Sait Ali mentioned that arms supplies come from Turkey and Syria. Syria is making things easier for Turkey to operate in South Kurdistan by using its influence over Sunni Arabs in Kerkuk and Mûsil. That's why the Turkish intelligence agents that staff the so-called Turkish "consulate" in Mûsil are able to move about freely in extremely dangerous areas, while residents of all ethnicities must take extreme care to move about in the city and surrounding areas.

Turkey is supplying arms to the intelligence staff in Iraq through Syria and Iran, either transported by train or in large trucks--which reminds us of the train that had been derailed by HPG gerilas at the end of May. There are links to HPG's derailing operation in yesterday's post.

As Sait Ali said:

"We get most of our arms from ex-Ba'athist or Turkmen parties, and they help us."

It kind of makes you wonder, doesn't it, where the propaganda is coming from that supplies Arab bloggers with wild suppositions such as the one that blames "Kurdish warlords" of being the masterminds behind the murder of the Şengal Yezîdîs. Meanwhile, Yezîdîs themselves know that the attack was the work of those who don't want stability in the region and don't want Kurds to have any kind of freedom.

Don't forget to check Hevallo. He has some photos of Kurdish refugees fleeing Iranian bombs and invasion, as well as a video of life among HPG/YJA-STAR gerîlas. That video clip comes from a longer documentary that had been available on Google last year, until it was "disappeared."

SUICIDE BOMBER, SYRIA, AND HPG

"The goal of modern propaganda is no longer to transform opinion but to arouse an active and mythical belief."
~ Jacques Ellul.

Turkish Press Shields the Military's Deadlock with Lies


1. Recently in Turkish media there was news of the organization's internal conflicts and disagreements. Could you please give an explanation of this issue?


Our leadership is not allowed to meet with his family and his lawyers for three weeks, military operations are becoming prevalent everywhere. In this kind of situation, news sourced from the Turkish military (such as a suicide bomber) in the Medya Defence Zones is very attractive news. While the meetings of our leadership are blocked, operations are ongoing, people are treated in extremely undemocratic ways--these kinds of agendas and lies aim to worry and demoralize our people. The Turkish press is like the military's press; it wants to create an atmosphere that implies PKK has been finished, by news such as escapes from the organization, or that the military is capturing many guerrillas, etc. However, the situation is not the way that it shows. Our guerrillas, who are currently in an active legitimate defensive position, have sufficient experience to frustrate the military's operations. In order to contribute to the democratic solution, the organization did not have any operations within the election period; thus it showed its willing attitude toward the solution.

Although there have been various positive steps taken and progress made, the military is implementing a psychological war. News like "they fight with each other; they shoot at each other," or "there are escapes everyday; there are various numbers of captures," aims to distort reality, to worry and demoralize people, and to cause tension among them. Earlier, the Turkish general staff had mentioned that very intensive psychological warfare methods must be enhanced, and that they were engaging in this kind of warfare. This recent fake news shows their goals and intentions. Attacks against our administration fall within this framework. Our people must not give credit to these kinds of lies.


2. As a second question . . . Recently there has been an arabization policy implemented in Southwest Kurdistan (Northern Syria) near the border. Would you mind commenting on this?


Recently, in Southwest Kurdistan, there is an arabization policy toward our people in that region, through which Syria plans to arabize the Derik and Dirbesiye regions near the border. Within this plan, Syria wants to change the demographic structure and pacify our people living there. We think that this plan, and its implementation, is the work of certain people in the regime. These factions are the ones who deepen the denial and anihilation of the Kurds. These kinds of plans, in addition to destabilizing Syria, will also lead to infighting between the peoples.

Naturally, our people in Southwest Kurdistan will not accept this policy. The Turkish army has massed its troops since spring and has attempted to create a no-man's land along the Iraq border. It is remarkable that Syria brings up this arabization policy simultaneously. Syria must not take as its example, the approach of the Turkish government toward its own Kurdish question.


HPG Headquarters Commander

Dr. Bahoz Erdal

TURKEY TRANSPORTS ROCKETS FOR IRAN

NEWSFLASH: The huge news today is that Turkey is shipping American-made rockets from Iran to Syria, a fact exposed by HPG's derailing last week of the train carrying the rockets.

You can read everything at DozaMe, including the story as it broke in Turkish media through Hürriyet.

In fact, I think I'll copy and paste that whole Hürriyet piece into my private archives because this kind of news has the very nasty habit of mysteriously disappearing a few hours after publication.

At the DozaMe link, note the reference to the news first--published by DozaMe last summer--that the Turkish Red Crescent was transporting arms from Iran to Syria during the Lebanon war. There's more on that, too, from Rastî, last August.

And let me be crystal clear: This sabotage and exposure of the Ankara regime's assistance to Iran is the direct result of our armed patriots and friends in the mountains of Kurdistan--the HPG.

Yeah, baby . . . HPG, doing what everyone else dreams about doing.

Sweet.


BIJÎN GERÎLAYÊN ME!

BIJÎN HEVALÊN ME!

BIJÎ SEROK APO!

BÊ SEROK JIYAN NABE!

YAŞASIN RÊBER APO!

YAŞASIN APOCU ÇİZGİDE ZAFERE YÜRÜYEN HPG!

KAHROLSUN İŞBİRLİKÇİLİK-TESLİMİYET VE İHANET!

MORE FROM WASHINGTON

"Those who forget history are doomed to testify before congressional committees."
~ Andy Kessler.

What's new at the Pentagon, you ask? Well, a couple of things.

First, they've finally been forced to release a video from two American A-10 aircraft that fired up a British convoy, killing one Tommy and wounding a number of others, way back in 2003. Apparently the video had been leaked to the media, but as part of the deal to release a DVD copy of the video to the UK government, it cannot be aired publicly. According to the Independent, this is not the first time the Pentagon has engaged in an attempted cover-up of friendly fire incidents.

This reminds me of the friendly fire incident from early April 2003 in which a number of Kurdish pêşmerge were killed and wounded by the Americans, again by aircraft. The reason that the Pentagon couldn't attempt to cover-up this incident was because there happened to be a BBC film crew on scene, with cameras rolling, and they managed to capture the bombing and aftermath.

Anybody remember Pat Tillman? He was a believer in the system until a tour in Iraq, when it appears his belief in the system began to change. During a subsequent tour in Afghanistan, the system caught up to him and put him away . . . permanently. Then it lied to cover-up.

Kinda makes you wonder, don't it, Bubba, just how many more friendly fire incidents have been hushed up? Or how many individual instances of collateral damage have been perpetrated by the anti-terror warriors? But, as they say, what you don't know won't hurt you. Right?

The other interesting news from the Pentagon is that it's got big plans for Africa, from the NYTimes:

The Pentagon will establish a new military command to oversee its operations in Africa, President Bush and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates announced Tuesday.

Creation of the United States Africa Command, which had been expected, will “strengthen our security cooperation with Africa and create new opportunities to bolster the capabilities of our partners in Africa,” Mr. Bush said.

Really? They have "security cooperation" with Africa? I didn't even know the US knew there was an Africa. I guess Rwanda missed that part about "security cooperation" back in the 90's, eh? But, wait; it gets funny:

The man who is about to become the head of the Central Command, Adm. William J. Fallon, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Jan. 30 that he favored establishment of an Africa Command, in light of the humanitarian crises and instability across much of the continent and its strategic importance.

Is this Fallon guy for real? Since when does the US give a damn about "humanitarian crises and instability" anywhere, much less in Africa? Since when does the US consider Africa of "strategic importance"? For how many centuries have there been "humanitarian crises and instability" in Africa? The US is a big cause of "humanitarian crises and instablity" itself, and all over the globe--Indonesia, Indochina, Guatemala, El Salvador, Turkey, Iraq, soon Iran. If everything goes according to script, expect to see severe "humanitarian crises and instability in Central Asia, too. About the only place the US hasn't been concerned about "humanitarian crises and instability" is Africa.

And the only place where a high-ranking member of the system could get away with intoning "humanitarian crises and instability" without being greeted with howls of laughter is the US Senate.

Come on, now, Admiral Fallon, are you absolutely certain your sudden twinge of conscience has nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that China's been in the Sudan for some time, for the oil, thus the concern for "strategic importance"? Are you absolutely certain that Lockheed Martin didn't whip up that little fantasy of concern for "humanitarian crises and instability" so that it could horn in on China's aircraft sales? After all, a couple of years ago, the Washington Post took the sanctimonious and utterly hypocrital tone about who was on the receiving end of China's arms sales to Sudan, but has not the least concern about who might be on the receiving end of American arms sales to anyone.

Concerns over China's spreading sphere of influence and concerns over acquiring new arms markets are the real reasons for the Bush administration's sudden concern to "eliminate an 'outdated arrangement left over from the cold war.'" Forget about the politically-correct hogwash pouring forth from the mouth of Admiral Fallon; someone in Africa is now in the process of aiming the shit at the fan. When a region becomes of "strategic importance" to the US, that means it's time for all hell to break loose.

The "experts" at The Intelligence Summit have just figured out that Iran has been trying to lure Turkey into its corner. Too bad they still haven't figured out that the luring has been mutual. Of course, they are only saying this as part of the manufactured consent necessary to start yet another war and, for that reason, it just wouldn't do to talk bad about a NATO ally--Turkey--whose national foundation is genocide and state terror, two habits for which NATO has been a willing enabler for decades. Besides, all the NATO countries would have to admit their own guilt as state-sponsors of terror and accomplices in the genocide of the Kurdish people.

Besides, Turkey and Iran have engaged in joint military operations against the Kurdish freedom movement last year, so how can anyone be certain that this story of Iran luring Turkey away from the West is not a joint political strategy?

TNA reports that two Turkish parliamentary deputies are hysterically proclaiming that "PKK is flowing into Kerkuk." They also appear to be hysterical that Armenians are flowing into the US Congress. Remember what Heval Cuma said? If it's true that "PKK is flowing into Kerkuk," I have only two words: Bijî HPG! That place needs to be cleaned out anyway, especially of all the MIT/JITEM/ITF trash. Seriously, give that one a read. It's very funny. A teaser:

Comez, claiming the presence of PKK militants in Kirkuk, said, "Turkmens whom I regularly communicate with are reporting that scores of PKK terrorists are coming from Mahmur and other camps into Kirkuk and are carrying IKDP and IPUK identity cards."

"The terrorists were armed with heavy weapons and planned provocative attacks in Kirkuk. He did not elaborate where or when the terrorists might stage these attacks."

Hilarious!

The Washington Times' resident Kurdish "expert" has a column out today to let us know that Abdullah Gul is going to tell Condoleeza Rice just how bad the situation in Iraq has become . . . as if she didn't know. I mean, they all know; they just refuse to admit it publicly.

Poor Gul! He has to make the case that "Turkey is trying desperately not to be pulled into the war" in Iraq which, of course, is absurd. If Turkey doesn't want to be pulled into the war, don't be pulled into the war. That was Turkey's choice in 2003, when the US was desperately trying to pull Turkey into the war with billions of dollars in bribes, so Turkey can choose not to become involved in the war again.

It would probably help Turkey not to be involved if it would remove all of its MIT agents, JITEM agents, and mercenaries from South Kurdistan, but then it would not be able to easily manufacture an environment that could properly be used as an excuse to annex the Mosul Vilayet--and all of its lucrative oil--plus extend its magnificent human rights record to the Kurds of the South.

The Syrian ambassador to the US is quoted as agreeing that a break up of Iraq would be "catastrophic." It should be noted that Syrians are keen Kurd-killers themselves, so getting the opinion of the Syrian ambassador is like getting another fox to help guard the hen house.

What is interesting is that the Syrian ambassador talks about "Kurds [are] feeling emboldened by the autonomous Kurdistan of Iraq and we see how Turkey is not very comfortable . . ." Notice that word: emboldened. It's the current fashion to use "embolden" with "terrorists." Anything that anyone suggests that deviates in the slightest from official US policy in the Middle East is tarred with the phrases "emboldening terrorists" or "emboldening terrorism," meaning that the Syrian ambassador is clearly equating Kurds with terrorists.

It's kind of ironic that an official of the same government that has been funneling terrorists into Iraq since 2003 should equate Kurds with terrorists. On the other hand, I guess a Syrian official could easily be considered an expert on terrorism.

The Washington Times' resident Kurdish "expert" closes by saying that Turkey needs to get closer to Damascus. Now this "expert" is well-known for pushing Turkish propagand and that is why she implies that Turkey has a distant relationship with Damascus. However, the truth is that Turkey has been cozy with Damascus since Operation Iraqi Freedom began. We might consider this something of a regional ménage à trois since Syria is the client of Iran and Turkey has been working closely with Iran. This lends credibility to the assertion: "Turkey is trying to achieve good standing with as many countries as possible . . . "

To paraphrase, as a friend is fond of saying, "Turkey plays the whore," and there's probably no better place to do that than in the qehbexane that is Washington.

Unsurpisingly, throughout this entire Washington Times piece there is not one reference to Turkey's outstanding human rights record vis-à-vis the Kurdish people, nor a reference to the Ankara regime's continued military operations against the PKK during the PKK's ceasefire . . . with support for such continued operations from Washington.