July 2016 Military Coup in Turkey

[angelburst29]

The Foreign Ministry of Russia on Wednesday expressed “grave concern” regarding the movement of Turkish troops and Ankara-backed Syrian opposition groups on Syrian territory, emphasizing that the actions have not been approved by the legitimate Syrian government or the UN Security Council.

Russia ‘Gravely Concerned’ About Turkish Advance in Syria
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160908/1045073817/russia-concern-turkish-advance-syria.html

The Russian Foreign Ministry has stated that the Turkish incursion undermines the "sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic."

The Russian Foreign Ministry has stated that Turkish actions "could further complicate an already challenging military and political situation in Syria and negatively affect international efforts to devise a settlement platform that would ensure a more sustainable ceasefire, uninterrupted humanitarian access and would provide a solid foundation for conciliation and overcoming the crisis in this country.

"Russia calls on Ankara to put these objectives above immediate military and tactical aims and refrain from steps that could further destabilise the Syrian Arab Republic."

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the EU has to put some efforts to rekindle Turkish people enthusiasm for joining the bloc, as they do not believe in EU anymore.

Cavusoglu: Turkish People Lost Enthusiasm for Joining EU
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950617000787

"I should be open about it. Unfortunately, Turks do not believe in the EU anymore. There is a lack of confidence," he told journalists during a visit to the Slovenian capital Ljubljana, Daily Sabah reported.

The minister said failed EU policies had cast doubt on Turkey's EU membership as well as Europe's failure to support Turkey in the wake of the July 15 coup attempt.

"The support of the Turkish people for the EU membership declined, especially after the July 15 military coup attempt. And now, we want to balance it."

Cavusoglu called for "positive messages" and "more balanced and attentive approaches" from EU leaders to persuade Turks of the EU accession benefits, which Turkey has pursued since applying for membership in 1987.

He also criticized the lack of progress in liberalizing the EU visa regime for Turkish citizens, which was agreed last November under the EU-Turkey refugee deal.

"Turkey has accomplished the requirements of the visa deal and our citizens deserve visa liberalization," he said. "However, the deal does not reflect today's realities."

A total of 292 Syrian refugees returned to the town of Jarabulus, that was liberated from the Daesh, according to the Turkish migration authorities.

Nearly 300 Syrian Refugees Return From Turkey to Jarabulus Freed From Daesh
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160907/1045064623/syria-refugees-turkey.html

A total of 292 Syrian refugees have left Turkey to return to the town of Jarabulus, which has been liberated from Islamic State (ISIL or Daesh) militants, media reported Wednesday.

The Turkish migration authorities recorded the border crossings made by refugees in the town of Karkamis in Gaziantep province, the NTV broadcaster said.

Commenting on the recent announcement of the Turkish president that "Ankara sees no problem" in joining forces with the US to free the Syrian city Raqqa from Daesh, Russian political analyst Boris Dolgov said that such an operation will be held only after consultations with Russia and Iran.

US, Turkey Not Likely to Liberate Raqqa Without Green Light From Russia, Iran
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160907/1045051644/turkey-us-russia-raqqa.html

"Ankara and Washington are discussing military action on Raqqa, the capital of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, Daesh), Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has told a group of journalists on his way back to Turkey from the G-20 summit in China, where he had a tête-à-tête meeting with US President Barack Obama," Turkish Hurriyet Daily News reported on Wednesday morning.

"Obama particularly wants to do something together [with us] about Raqqa. We have told him that this is not a problem for us," it quotes the president as further elaborating.

Obama particularly wants to do something together [with us] about Raqqa. We have told him that this is not a problem for us," it quotes the president as further elaborating.

The Turkish leader said that Ankara has suggested the high-ranking soldiers of both parties could come together and discuss the issue. "What can be done there will become more concrete after talks," he said. "What can be done on the issue is related to the US stance." Commenting on the above announcement, Senior research fellow at the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences Boris Dolgov noted that such an operation won’t be launched without previous consultations with Russia and Iran.

The political analyst said that even though Washington and Ankara have a solid case for liberating the Daesh stronghold in the region, they may still have ulterior motives.

"Both Raqqa and north of Syria are the territories of the sovereign state and if the above plan is going to be implemented, Raqqa will find itself under Turkish control," he told in an interview with RIA Novosti.

"Turkey, in turn, is leading the units of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), hence it would mean that part of Syria would then find itself under control of the FSA. And this would have far-reaching consequences," the expert explained. Afterwards, Boris Dolgov said, using the presence of the FSA in the region, the US and Turkey might form an alternative leadership in the region and with its support lay down certain conditions to the country’s legitimate government.

Dolgov is, however, convinced that it is premature to speculate on the launch of the operation.

"This operation will inevitably preceded by consultations with Russia and Iran. Russian Airspace Forces now partially control Syrian air space, thus there is a clear need in consultations with the Russian military leadership," he finally said.

Turkey has expelled dozens of new officers and soldiers as part of its crackdown on plotters and sympathizers of the July 15 coup attempt.

Turkey expels 73 more military personnel over coup
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2016/09/07/483658/Turkey-coup-crackdown-military

The Turkish Ministry of Defense said on Wednesday that 73 more personnel of the country’s air force had been relieved of their duties over alleged links to Fethullah Gulen, a cleric based in the United States who is accused by Ankara of orchestrating the coup that led to more than 250 deaths.

The ministry published the statement on Twitter, saying the decision strengthened the military “as it gets rid of traitor FETO,” a reference to Gulen.

Three Turkish soldiers were killed and four wounded in a rocket attack by ISIL militants in Northern Syria, in the first deadly attack on Ankara’s armed forces to be blamed on the militants in Turkey’s cross-border incursion into Syria.

Three Turkish Soldiers Killed in ISIL Attack in Syria
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950617000549

Turkey launched an unprecedented operation inside Syria on August 24. Dubbed Euphrates Shield, it backs pro-Ankara militants in the goal of rooting out ISIL and Kurdish militants from the border area, Express Tribune reported.

A senior Turkish official said two soldiers were killed on the spot and five injured in the attack by ISIL.

One of the wounded soldiers later died in hospital despite all attempts to save his life, lifting the death toll to three, an army statement quoted by NTV television said.

The fatalities are the first of the Turkish operation inside Syria to be blamed on ISIL and Ankara’s biggest single loss of life in the offensive to date.

Turkey had blamed the death of one soldier on August 28 in a similar attack on Kurdish militia.

The army said in the statement carried by NTV television that the deaths came in a rocket attack on two Turkish tanks.

The army said the attack took place in the village of Wuquf South of Al-Rai, where Turkish tanks opened a second front in their Syria operation at the weekend.

The area is West of Jarabulus near the Turkish border which was retaken by pro-Ankara rebels at the start of the operation from extremists.

 

[sToRmR1dR]

Did Erdogan stay overnight at Russian air base during coup?

http://thesaker.is/did-erdogan-stay-overnight-at-russian-air-base-during-coup-english-subs/

Former Lebanese minister and a leading personality on Lebanese television, Wiam Wahhab, said that Turkey’s President Erdogan sought refuge for one night in a Russian air base on Syria’s coast during the recent coup in Turkey. Wahhab also criticised the “greediness” of some Kurdish forces for their moves to form a Kurdistan statelet, explaining that Iran, Turkey, Syria and Iraq will never allow that to happen.

http://<iframe width="560" height="...H0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[angelburst29]

Germany says its lawmakers have been allowed to visit Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey after being refused access to the site amid a months-long row between the two NATO member states.

Turkey permits German MPs to visit Incirlik Air Base: Berlin
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2016/09/08/483775/Germany-Turkey-Incirlik

In a statement released on Thursday, the German parliament known as Bundestag, said its MPs will be able to visit Incirlik from October 4-6.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier also welcomed Ankara’s approval of a planned visit by the defense committee of the German parliament to the air base, where some 200 German troops are stationed.

”With this decision by the Turkish government, we have taken a step forward,” he said, adding that “an armed force mandated by parliament must be able to be visited by its lawmakers.”

Germany uses the air base for flying Tornado jets over Syria and refueling flights as part of the US-led coalition allegedly battling the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in the region.

The country’s Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday that Berlin hopes to invest 58 million euros (USD 65 million) in mobile barracks and other facilities in Incirlik.

The administration of US President Barack Obama has offered Saudi Arabia $115 billion in arms sales, a report seen by Reuters has found.

Obama offered $115bn arms sales to Saudi Arabia: Report
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2016/09/08/483689/US-115bn-arms-sales-offer-to-Saudi

The offer, including weapons, other military equipment and training, is the highest the United States has offered in its 71-year alliance with the monarchy, the agency reported Wednesday.

Authored by William Hartung of the US-based Center for International Policy, the report said the offers were made in 42 separate deals and most of what they consist are yet to be delivered.

According to Reuters, “US arms offers to Saudi Arabia since Obama took office in January 2009 have included everything from small arms and ammunition to tanks, attack helicopters, air-to-ground missiles, missile defense ships, and warships. Washington also provides maintenance and training to Saudi security forces.”

Hartung’s report was based on data from the Defense Security Cooperation Agency.

"It's time for the Obama administration to use the best leverage it has - Saudi Arabia's dependence on U.S. weapons and support - to wage the war in Yemen in the first place," Hartung said. "The more recent deals that have involved resupplying Saudi Arabia with ammunition, bombs, and tanks to replace weaponry used up or damaged in the war in Yemen are no doubt driven in part by the effort to 'reassure' the Saudis that the U.S. will not tilt towards Iran in the wake of the nuclear deal.”

He further suggested that, "Pulling back the current offer of battle tanks or freezing some of the tens of billions in weapons and services in the pipeline would send a strong signal to the Saudi leadership that they need stop their indiscriminate bombing campaign and take real steps to prevent civilian casualties."

Saudi Arabia has been incessantly pounding Yemen since March 2015, with the UN putting the death toll from the military aggression at about 10,000.

According to the Control Arms Coalition, a group that is campaigning against arms sales, Britain, France and the US are violating the 2014 Arms Trade Treaty by exporting conventional weapons to a country engaged in war crimes.

Last month, the Obama administration approved a potential $1.15 billion arms package for the Saudi monarchy.

 

[Windmill knight]

I'm trying to get to the bottom of a certain piece of information going around the web. According to an article by F. William Engdahl in the New Eastern Outlook, Zbigniew Brzezinski basically admitted to US involvement in the coup in Turkey:

http://journal-neo.org/2016/08/31/top-usa-national-security-officials-admit-turkey-coup/

While the Obama Administration and the CIA officially cling to the fig leaf lie that US intelligence was innocent of any involvement in the failed July 15 coup d’ etat attempt by the CIA-run Fethullah Gülen organization in Turkey, the truth is coming out from senior US intelligence insiders themselves. It reflects a huge internal faction struggle within US leading circles in what by all accounts is shaping to be the most bizarre Presidential election year in American history.

The first admission that US intelligence had their hand in the anti-Erdogan coup, a coup launched just days after Erdogan announced a major strategic shift away from NATO and towards Russia, came from Zbigniew Brzezinski. Brzezinski is one of the most senior members of the US intelligence establishment, a former Obama Presidential adviser and former National Security Council architect of the Jimmy Carter 1979 Mujahideen Afghanistan terror operations against the Soviet forces in that country.

In a Twitter tweet from his own blog, Brzezinski wrote a precis of a new article he wrote for The American Interest magazine. He writes, “The US backing of the attempted coup against the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was a grave mistake that could deliver a major blow to the US reputation.” That’s definitely putting it mildly given what’s unfolding in Turkey since July 15.

Brzezinski went on to write, “Turkey was on the verge of reconsidering its foreign policy after failure in the Syria during the last five years, and the US miscalculation in supporting the coup and hosting its leader (Fethullah Gülen, now in CIA-arranged exile in Pennsylvania-w.e.) was so serious that it is no longer possible to put the blame on once-US-ally Turkey if it turns its back on US and rethink (sic) its policies.” He continues, “A potential Russia-Turkey-Iran coalition would create an opportunity to solve the Syrian crisis. If Erdogan had the smallest bit of wisdom, he should have come to the understanding that he could not make an independent credibility with the help of some ‘decayed’ Arab countries,” no doubt referring to Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the prime financiers of the Syrian terror war against Assad since 2011.

Brzezinski, who together with Henry Kissinger was one of the foremost US foreign policy strategists of the postwar period, the founding Executive Director of David Rockefeller’s Trilateral Commission, and one who still today presumably retains Top Secret clearance access to US intelligence reports, was expressing his fury at the utter incompetence of US intelligence in managing the Turkey relationship. Notably, the person in the US State Department directly responsible for not only the disastrous US coup in February, 2014 in Ukraine, but also for Turkey, is the hapless neo-con perpetual warrior-ess, Victoria “-flick- the EU” Nuland, wife of neo-con Robert Kagan. [...]

That's a big thing for Brzezinski to say, so I wanted to read his article and/or tweet. I couldn't find the article on The American Interest website, nor the tweet on Brzezinski's tweeter page. Engdahl's link leads to this website, which has an image of the alleged tweet:

http://www.awdnews.com/political/zbigniew-brzezinski-confirmed-us-backed-erdogan-opposition-to-commit-coup

That is already suspicious, cause Tweeter has a feature to embed tweets and capturing an image is pointless.

This other blogger says that Engdahl basically made it all up and blames the New Eastern Outlook, pointing out that it's based in Moscow so it must be Russian disinfo:

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/did-zbigniew-brzezinski-blame-cia-for-turkeys-coup.aspx?pageID=449&nID=103647&NewsCatID=411

My impression at the moment is that Engdahl did not make it up, but was lazy enough to not go and check if there was a real tweet and article from Brzezinski, and just took the AWD News for real.

I suppose it is possible that Brzezinski tweeted that and was going to publish such an explosive article, then took the info down, and just a screenshot survived. But I really doubt he would have even thought of revealing the US's dirty tricks.

Looking at the type of headlines on AWD News, it seems that it is them who are making sensational stuff up. Not as blatantly as Sorcha Faal, but still spicing things up with invented material. For example: "Putin says George Soros is wanted dead or alive". I don't think Putin has any reason to like Soros, but would Putin come out and say that?? He is normally very polite and diplomatic, so no. Plus, that would be on headlines all over already, and I didn't see any of that.

So, as much as I'd like to get a confirmation from the horse's mouth of the US being behind the coup in Turkey, I don't think that's what happened. In fact, perhaps that bit of info was made up precisely to make a strawman that could later be conveniently knocked down. "It's all lies from Moscow!"

Any thoughts?

 

[bjorb]

[quote author= Windmill knight]So, as much as I'd like to get a confirmation from the horse's mouth of the US being behind the coup in Turkey, I don't think that's what happened. In fact, perhaps that bit of info was made up precisely to make a strawman that could later be conveniently knocked down. "It's all lies from Moscow!"

Any thoughts?[/quote]

It could definitely be used as a ploy.

But Brzezinski hasn't always been that secretively or even strategic when it comes to exposing US geopolitical ambitions.

Take this for example:

http://dgibbs.faculty.arizona.edu/brzezinski_interview

Brzezinski: Yes. According to the official version of history, CIA aid to the Mujahiddin began during 1980, that is to say, after the Soviet army invaded Afghanistan on December 24, 1979. But the reality, closely guarded until now, is completely otherwise: Indeed, it was July 3, 1979 that President Carter signed the first directive for secret aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul. And that very day, I wrote a note to the president in which I explained to him that in my opinion this aid was going to induce a Soviet military intervention [emphasis added throughout].

Q: Despite this risk, you were an advocate of this covert action. But perhaps you yourself desired this Soviet entry into the war and looked for a way to provoke it?

B: It wasn't quite like that. We didn’t push the Russians to intervene, but we knowingly increased the probability that they would.

Q : When the Soviets justified their intervention by asserting that they intended to fight against secret US involvement in Afghanistan , nobody believed them . However, there was an element of truth in this. You don’t regret any of this today?

B: Regret what? That secret operation was an excellent idea. It had the effect of drawing the Russians into the Afghan trap and you want me to regret it? The day that the Soviets officially crossed the border, I wrote to President Carter, essentially: “We now have the opportunity of giving to the USSR its Vietnam war." Indeed, for almost 10 years, Moscow had to carry on a war that was unsustainable for the regime , a conflict that bought about the demoralization and finally the breakup of the Soviet empire.


And more recently :

https://www.sott.net/article/326526-The-broken-chessboard-Brzezinski-gives-up-on-Empire

"As its era of global dominance ends, the United States needs to take the lead in realigning the global power architecture.

Five basic verities regarding the emerging redistribution of global political power and the violent political awakening in the Middle East are signaling the coming of a new global realignment.

The first of these verities is that the United States is still the world's politically, economically, and militarily most powerful entity but, given complex geopolitical shifts in regional balances, it is no longer the globally imperial power." (Toward a Global Realignment, Zbigniew Brzezinski, The American Interest)


Considering that he already shared a lot of geopolitical secrets. I think he could have shared that tweet. But no why to tell for sure of course.

Allthough his recent comments about US imperialism seems to indicate that he rather backdown from this suicidable and destructive policies. So him sharing the true situation about Turkey may be a form of frustration inside him, since it seems they are no longer listening to him as an adviser, I mean, he is clearly pointing out what a grave mistake it was.

But maybe I am making to much of it?

 

[Windmill knight]

Thanks bjorn, that's interesting.

Allthough his recent comments about US imperialism seems to indicate that he rather backdown from this current suicidable and destructive policies. So him sharing the true situation about Turkey may be a form of frustration inside him, since it seems they are no longer listening to him as an adviser, I mean, he is clearly pointing out what a grave mistake it was.

But maybe I am making to much of it?

Maybe sometimes he can be so outspoken and frank simply due to psychopathic arrogance. "This is what we did to the Russians in Afghanistan! We are so clever!" That, plus the frustration you talk about, could have made him reveal the US support for the coup in Turkey. But sadly we still haven't got enough evidence that he actually said that.

 

[angelburst29]

I'm trying to get to the bottom of a certain piece of information going around the web. According to an article by F. William Engdahl in the New Eastern Outlook, Zbigniew Brzezinski basically admitted to US involvement in the coup in Turkey:

http://journal-neo.org/2016/08/31/top-usa-national-security-officials-admit-turkey-coup/

[...]

In a Twitter tweet from his own blog, Brzezinski wrote a precis of a new article he wrote for The American Interest magazine.

[...]

Brzezinski, who together with Henry Kissinger was one of the foremost US foreign policy strategists of the postwar period, [...]

That's a big thing for Brzezinski to say, so I wanted to read his article and/or tweet. I couldn't find the article on The American Interest website, nor the tweet on Brzezinski's tweeter page. Engdahl's link leads to this website, which has an image of the alleged tweet:

http://www.awdnews.com/political/zbigniew-brzezinski-confirmed-us-backed-erdogan-opposition-to-commit-coup

That is already suspicious, cause Tweeter has a feature to embed tweets and capturing an image is pointless.

This other blogger says that Engdahl basically made it all up and blames the New Eastern Outlook, pointing out that it's based in Moscow so it must be Russian disinfo:

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/did-zbigniew-brzezinski-blame-cia-for-turkeys-coup.aspx?pageID=449&nID=103647&NewsCatID=411

My impression at the moment is that Engdahl did not make it up, but was lazy enough to not go and check if there was a real tweet and article from Brzezinski, and just took the AWD News for real.

I suppose it is possible that Brzezinski tweeted that and was going to publish such an explosive article, then took the info down, and just a screenshot survived. But I really doubt he would have even thought of revealing the US's dirty tricks.

Looking at the type of headlines on AWD News, it seems that it is them who are making sensational stuff up. Not as blatantly as Sorcha Faal, but still spicing things up with invented material. For example: "Putin says George Soros is wanted dead or alive". I don't think Putin has any reason to like Soros, but would Putin come out and say that?? He is normally very polite and diplomatic, so no. Plus, that would be on headlines all over already, and I didn't see any of that.

So, as much as I'd like to get a confirmation from the horse's mouth of the US being behind the coup in Turkey, I don't think that's what happened. In fact, perhaps that bit of info was made up precisely to make a strawman that could later be conveniently knocked down. "It's all lies from Moscow!"

Any thoughts?

I'm game - to do some scouting. As for this statement: "Zbigniew Brzezinski basically admitted to US involvement in the coup in Turkey" Like you, I checked out the website but the last he posted was April 17. _http://www.the-american-interest.com/byline/zbigniew-brzezinski/

Zbigniew Brzezinski is a founding editorial board member of The American Interest and a counselor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes where you can also leave a review, and follow Zbigniew Brzezinski @zbig and Richard Aldous @RJAldous on Twitter.
_http://www.the-american-interest.com/podcast/episode-116-zbigniew-brzezinski-on-global-realignment/

_https://twitter.com/zbig (Last entry Sept. 1st but nothing in the prior entries that suggest a tweet on U.S. involvement in the Turkey Coup - unless I'm looking at it wrong?)

F. William Engdahl published his article on Aug. 31. This link (below) is from an article by Eric Draitser featured on Global Research, July 29, 2016 and is more detailed about the 1980 Coup and how it mimics this recent Turkey Coup. President Jimmy Carter didn't know of the Coup until the day it happened. Going through channels, he met with Paul Henze to inform him of the Coup - never realizing that Henze helped plan it? But what is confusing me with the Brzezinski statement that the U.S. was involved in the Turkish Coup - is that Brzezinski was part of the planning committee that staged the 1980 Coup and probably has a hand in this recent July 15th one? He's "ratting himself out" - so to speak? Makes no sense?

Erdogan’s Checkmate: CIA-Backed Coup in Turkey Fails, Upsets Global Chessboard
http://www.globalresearch.ca/erdogans-checkmate-cia-backed-coup-in-turkey-fails-upsets-global-chessboard/5538735

From Iran in 1953 to Chile in 1973 and countless other countries, the CIA and its intelligence agency cousins in NATO have been involved in myriad coups similar to the one that took place in Turkey last week. However, one would be remiss in not noting the striking similarities between the 2016 coup in Turkey and the one that took place on September 12, 1980.

Zbigniew Brzezinski’s American new Strategy towards Russia and China
http://katehon.com/article/zbigniew-brzezinskis-american-new-strategy-towards-russia-and-china
Dated April 21, 2016 (Brzezinski's views before the Turkey Coup)

In recent days, an impressive article regarding Zbigniew Brzezinki, political guru and former U.S. National Security Advisor, has been circulating on Turkey’s social media. “Top U.S. National Security Official Admits Turkey Coup,” its title reads. It then explains:

“The first admission that U.S. intelligence had a hand in the anti-Erdoğan coup, a coup launched just days after Erdoğan announced a major strategic shift away from NATO and towards Russia, came from Zbigniew Brzezinski … In a Twitter tweet from his own blog, Brzezinski wrote a precis of a new article he wrote for The American Interest magazine: ‘The U.S. backing the attempted coup against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was a grave mistake that could deliver a major blow to the U.S.’s reputation.’ Given what has been unfolding in Turkey since July 15, that is definitely putting it mildly.”

Did Zbigniew Brzezinski blame CIA for Turkey’s coup?
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/did-zbigniew-brzezinski-blame-cia-for-turkeys-coup.aspx?pageID=449&nID=103647&NewsCatID=411

These are, of course, very impressive details — until you figure out that the piece is completely fake. There is no such article either on The American Interest magazine’s website or on Brzezinski’s Twitter feed. (You can check for yourself at: https://twitter.com/zbig.) I also checked Mr. Brzezinski’s Facebook page, and saw that the supposed article there about the CIA role in Turkey’s coup simply does not exist.

So, here we have a forgery, apparently intended to make Turks believe that the failed coup of July 15 was a CIA job.

The question is, who is producing this “information”? The author of the article, which has “quotes” from the mythical Brzezinski text, is a writer named F. William Engdahl. He most frequently appears on Russia Today and is known for depicting the whole Arab Spring as an American conspiracy, which sounds quite in line with the Kremlin’s view of the world. Moreover, the website on which Mr. Engdahl published the article in question is called “New Eastern Outlook,” which is based — guess where — in Moscow.

This latest fake story on Brzezinski comes on top of another Moscow-based fake story that I criticized in my previous piece in the Hürriyet Daily News (“The Russian libel against the Ecumenical Patriarch,” Sept. 3, 2016.) As I explained there, Turkey’s Ecumenical Patriarchate is accused of being behind Turkey’s coup and of being a CIA “Trojan Horse,” in another shameless lie published by another Moscow-based website.

In fact, the libel against the Ecumenical Patriarchate is repeated in Mr. Engdahl’s Brzezinki-focused article. Apparently plenty of the lies about Turkey’s failed coup go together these days.

So something creepy is going on here. Turkey is already swamped with anti-American sentiment, and some Russian sources are pumping in more propaganda to make Turks even more suspicious toward the United States. It is a fact that has to be noticed by all those who are interested in Turkey’s place in the world — especially by some Turkish journalists who jump onto such bilge without the slightest hint of questioning or fact-checking.
September/07/2016

[Mod: Fixed quotes]

 

[angelburst29]

In a newly published video, the US-based Turkish opposition leader, Fetullah Gülen said that his 'sleeping soldiers' were awaiting an order to take action, implying that Turkey may soon face with another attempt to overthrow the government.

Gulen Threatens Turkish Government with Possible Upheaval in New Video
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950621000715
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcIoRsSNyG4

Gulen in his new video message likened his followers to brain cells, stating that the brain had more than 10 billion cells, he said all of them awaited an order, a direction, Daily Sabah reported.

"God did not put them there for no reason, if there are that many soldiers already there, you can conquer many things," he said, pointing out a possible infiltration in the army.

Underlining that his soldiers were on stand-by, he added: "But I think they are asleep. Because they were not given duties or didn't face any difficulties."

While the Gulen denies involvement in the July 15 coup attempt, On July 22, he had called the millions of people that gathered all across Turkey to protest the failed coup attempt as 'fools'.

The Turkish government has accused thousands of former civil servants, now suspended or jailed, of being behind the July 15 coup attempt, when over 240 people were killed and over two thousand were injured.

Gülen is among Turkey's most wanted, with the country exerting a tremendous effort to obtain an international arrest warrant for him. He lives in a compound owned by his movement in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania.

Ankara is seeking to secure his extradition from the US and has officially submitted the documents for extradition earlier this week.

 

[Pierre]

Germany Shuts Embassies, Schools In Turkey After "Acute Terror Attack" Indications

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-09-14/germany-shuts-embassies-schools-turkey-after-acute-terror-attack-indications

The German Embassy and all consular missions in Turkey were closed today following information of an acute threatened attack, according to German paper Bild. The closure was carried out as a precaution and to protect employees, teachers and students.

As Bild adds, during the Turkish holidays therefore the diplomatic missions, but also the German schools until September 16 only limited reach and closed to the public, was reported from the Foreign Office.

As BILD found, there are indications of possible terrorist attacks. The closure was carried out as a precaution and to protect employees, teachers and students.

This is not the first time the Germans have closed the embassy. Back in March, the school and embassy was closed following a terror threat warning that was “not conclusively verifiable."

 

[Beau]

That's a big thing for Brzezinski to say, so I wanted to read his article and/or tweet. I couldn't find the article on The American Interest website, nor the tweet on Brzezinski's tweeter page. Engdahl's link leads to this website, which has an image of the alleged tweet:

http://www.awdnews.com/political/zbigniew-brzezinski-confirmed-us-backed-erdogan-opposition-to-commit-coup

That is already suspicious, cause Tweeter has a feature to embed tweets and capturing an image is pointless.

It's certainly possible that the website took a screenshot of the tweet because they were worried it would be deleted. And that could be what happened. ZBig deleted his tweet and never published an article on American Interest. Unfortunately Twitter shut down the app that was created to track deleted tweets this summer. So there's no way to really tell.

 

[bjorb]

Like the C's said, the ''allies'' are strange bedfellows. Apparently the US expected that they could fight alongside with these child beheaders. And those terrorists should take a better look at their TOW missiles and other US military equipment they are using, freaking idiots. They shout that the US is an occupation force, but in fact they also act as the US proxy occupation force inside Syria.


‘Crusaders! Infidels! Dogs! Get out!’ US-backed rebels force US commandos to leave Syrian town
https://www.rt.com/news/359591-syria-us-forces-rebels/

“Five or six” US special forces troops had to withdraw from the town of al-Rai on Syria’s border with Turkey, after allies from the Free Syrian Army (FSA) had driven them out, calling them “infidels” and “crusaders,” several media outlets have reported.

The Turkish military, which last month openly crossed the Syrian border to fight against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL), has admitted that US soldiers are providing a supporting and coordinating role in the operation being carried out between the Syrian towns of Azaz and al-Rai, Reuters reports.

At least two videos circulated on Twitter on Friday evening appeared to show that they were not welcome in al-Rai.

The footage shows a group of agitated men, gathered in the town square, shouting anti-American slogans in Arabic, as a cavalcade of vehicles passes by.

The chants include: "Down with America," "Get out you dogs," and "They are coming to Syria to occupy it." Voices in the background call the US troops “pigs” and “crusaders.”

"We don't want a single American fighting in Syria alongside us," says a man in the second video. "We are Muslims, we are not infidels. Get out!"

Reuters cited a US official and a “senior rebel commander,” who confirmed that a protest had taken place, which ended with US troops making their way back towards the Turkish border.

Later, a group of rebels purporting to be representatives of Ahrar al-Sharqiya, a militia operating in the area, circulated a video statement, saying that US support of Kurds, who are also fighting Islamic State, was behind their protest.

"We and other FSA groups fighting in and around Aleppo say that we remain a free army, and refuse to fight on the side of Americans, who support the terrorist Kurdish PKK. We are halting all military activities until US troops leave the region."

The US State Department spokesman John Kirby said the "rhetoric" used by the rebels was “not appropriate” and acknowledged that the opposition “is not a monolith,” but still praised the overall success of Turkey’s operation inside northern Syria.

“We knew all along that the Turkish forces would be teaming up with some opposition forces, and in this they have been successful. So, let’s keep in mind the greater goal, which was to choke off that stretch of border so that [ISIS] can’t use it,” he said during a press briefing in Washington.

“We’ve discovered this many times in Muslim world, where the US deploys its troops, whether it’s Iraq, or Afghanistan, or Syria, it is seen as the enemy, the occupier. Secondly, the incident highlights the problems the US has been having in identifying moderate Syrian rebels – despite spending billions of dollars 'developing' them - and the fact that this is coming from the supposed allies in the FSA isn’t actually surprising,” Max Abrahms, an associate professor of political science at Northwestern told RT.

The Pentagon says it has allocated 40 special operations forces combatants to participate in the Turkish incursion. According to CNN, the joint effort has been labeled Operation Noble Lance, and is the first time the two forces have fought side by side on Syrian soil since the start of the conflict.

The Damascus government of Bashar Assad earlier condemned Turkey’s crossing of the border a “breach of sovereignty.”

 

[sToRmR1dR]

Turkey axes 28,000 teachers despite severe educational staff shortages

http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2016/09/19/485480/turkey-teachers-fired-anti-terrorism

Turkey has fired some 28,000 teachers and suspended a further 9,500 over terrorism links in the aftermath of a failed July coup.

"As part of our fight against terrorism, necessary measures have been carried out on teachers along with other civil servants assessed to be linked with terrorist organizations," said Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Nurettin Canikli on Monday after a cabinet meeting.

He added that 455 of the teachers who had been previously suspended were reinstated after investigations proved their innocence.

Canikli’s announcement came at the start of the new Turkish school year after the summer holidays.

Some 18 million children began their school year in Turkey on Monday, amid vast staff shortages resulting from the post-coup crackdown.

“It is believed that this school year will take place in general chaos, as there are 40,000 to 50,000 vacancies and no preparation on the side of the ministry of education,” said the president of the Istanbul teachers’ union, Huseyin Ozev.

Over the past few weeks, teachers in the country’s mostly Kurdish southeastern regions have been targeted over alleged links to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which Turkey deems as a terrorist organization.

Following the botched putsch, Ankara also suspended around 100,000 civil servants and detained some 40,000 people over ties with opposition cleric Fethullah Gulen (seen below), who is blamed for the the coup attempt.

The coup began when a faction of the Turkish military declared it was in control of the country and the government was no more in charge.

Tanks, helicopters, and soldiers then clashed with police and people on the streets of the capital, Ankara, and Istanbul. Between 200 and 300 people were killed on all sides in the attempted coup d’état.

 

[angelburst29]

Judges of a criminal court in the Turkish province of Hatay ecided that there is no officially designated terrorist organization such as FETO, according to local media.

Turkish Court Says No Such Terrorist Organization as FETO
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20161002/1045921960/turkey-feto-court.html

A criminal court in the Turkish province of Hatay ruled that the Fethullah Gulen Terrorist Organization (FETO), which Ankara believes to be behind the July coup attempt, did not exist, local media reported Sunday.

Judges unanimously decided that there is no officially designated terrorist organization such as FETO, Turkish Minute newspaper reported, adding that the decision may set a precedent for similar cases where people are being accused of having links to the organization.

Turkey’s police have detained a brother of US-based preacher, Fethullah Gulen, whom Turkish officials accuse of being behind the July 15 coup attempt.

Turkey police arrest Gulen's brother in coup probe
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2016/10/02/487324/Turkey-Fethullah-Gulen-Kutbettin-Gulen-Erdogan-FETO--Izmir

Kutbettin Gulen was arrested in Gaziemir district of the western province of Izmir on Sunday, Turkey's Anadolu news agency reported, adding that he was accused of “membership of an armed terror group."

According to Turkish media reports, Gulen has five brothers and two sisters, but their current whereabouts are unknown.

Some of Gulen’s close relatives have been arrested across Turkey over the past months.

In July, police detained Gulen's nephew, Muhammet Sait Gulen, in the eastern city of Erzurum, long seen as one of the hubs for his supporters. Ahmet Ramiz Gulen, another nephew, was arrested in August in the southeastern city of Gaziantep.

Shortly after the coup attempt was suppressed on July 16, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Gulen of being behind it.

Maritime border between Greece and Turkey was defined in the framework of the international agreement in terms of ownership of some islands and cliffs and some issues are still disputed, according to the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Border Dispute Between Turkey, Greece Remains Unresolved
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20161002/1045926479/turkey-greece-maritime-border.html

Turkey and Greece have still not reached an agreement on a maritime border between the two countries in Aegean Sea yet as the dispute over several islands and cliffs remains unsettled, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement Sunday.

“Turkey and Greece have several issues over the Aegean Sea. In particular, a maritime border [between the two countries] has not been defined in the framework of the international agreement in terms of ownership of some islands and cliffs. These issues are being discussed through dialogue between Turkey and Greece. Currently there are no changes in status of these islands and cliffs,” the ministerial statement said.

On Thursday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized the Lausanne Treaty, saying it was pushed by Turkey's opponents. He added that Turkey ceded islands to Greece, where there were Turkish sanctuaries and mosques.

The Treaty of Lausanne was signed on July 24, 1923, by Britain, France, Italy, Japan, Greece, Romania, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and Turkey. It set the current borders of Turkey, documenting the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire.

The Turkish Parliament extended the mandate allowing use of the country's military abroad for 13 months.

Turkish Parliament Extends Mandate Allowing Use of Army Abroad for 13 Months
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20161001/1045907950/turkey-parliament-mandate-army.html

The Turkish Parliament on Saturday by a wide margin extended the mandate allowing use of the country's military abroad for 13 months.

The issue was on the agenda of the first convention of the autumn parliament session. Initially, the mandate was authorized in October 2014 and was extended for a year on September 3, 2015.

Turkish lawmakers have almost overwhelmingly approved extension by another year of Ankara’s cross-border military incursions into Syria and Iraq.

Turkish troops will remain in Iraq, Syria for another year
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2016/10/01/487236/Turkey-Iraq-Syria-parliament-Daesh-PKK

The Turkish parliament on Saturday, the first day of the new legislative year, authorized the government to further hold troops in the two southern neighbors until September 30, 2017, based on a mandate which was first approved by the parliament in October 2014 and was renewed for another year in September 2015.

The pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party, also known as the HDP, voted against the bill, while the ruling Justice and Development Party, also called the AKP, the secular opposition Republican People's Party, also known as the CHP, and the Nationalist Movement Party, also known as the MHP, supported it.

Ankara claims that these operations are aimed at curbing the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militant group, and to further strengthen pro-Turkey militants fighting against these two groups in Iraq and Syria.

Turkey is about to finish the construction of its first African military base in Somalia's capital of Mogadishu, media reported Saturday.

Turkey Set to Open First African Military Base in Somalia
https://sputniknews.com/world/20161001/1045905247/turkey-african-military-base.html

The base, at which Ankara will train about 10,000 Somalian soldiers in compliance with the bilateral security cooperation agreement, is being built with the United Nations' approval, the Garowe Online news agency reported.

Some 200 Turkish military specialists will arrive to the country soon to provide training, the media outlet said, citing its sources. Somalia has been experiencing violence since the country devolved into civil war in the early 1990s. The collapse into anarchy has provided a breeding ground for warlords, pirates and the al-Qaeda-associated group al-Shabaab.

The Kurdish security forces of Asayish in Syria accused the Turkish border guards of killing dozens of civilians trying to cross the Turkish border after fleeing war-torn areas in Northern Syria.

Syrian Kurds: Turkish Border Guards Continue to Kill Refugees
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950711001441

“The Turkish border guards have violated the humanitarian and moral principles and passed all international laws and norms, by killing innocent Syrian civilians, including children such as 4-year-old Khalaf Ahmed and 2-year-old Shahd Majd,” the Kurdish Asayish forces said, ARA News Reported.

“Also the Turkish border guards have killed 4 other people at exactly 1 pm in the midnight Friday in the village of Nos Tal, near Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain), when they were trying to cross the border,” the Kurdish police added.

So far, the Asayish only identified three of them, Ghazi Majeed, and his two children, Ahmed, 7, and Malak, 6.

“The corpses are still thrown on the border and we were unable to move them due to the barbaric random firing by the Turkish border guards,” it said.

Turkish border guards,” it said.

“We denounce and condemn this criminal act and call upon the United Nations, the international community and human rights organizations to defend human rights, and to stop the Turkish Jandarma’s work which is based on the principle of violence and killing. We also demand those organisations to help us to bring the bodies and hand them over to their relatives,” the Asayish concluded.

Last May, Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on Turkey to open its borders in order to allow civilians to flee the Syrian civil war, but so far Turkey did not change its policies.

 

[angelburst29]

Turkey is about to finish the construction of its first African military base in Somalia's capital of Mogadishu, media reported Saturday.

Turkey Set to Open First African Military Base in Somalia
https://sputniknews.com/world/20161001/1045905247/turkey-african-military-base.html

The base, at which Ankara will train about 10,000 Somalian soldiers in compliance with the bilateral security cooperation agreement, is being built with the United Nations' approval, the Garowe Online news agency reported.

Some 200 Turkish military specialists will arrive to the country soon to provide training, the media outlet said, citing its sources. Somalia has been experiencing violence since the country devolved into civil war in the early 1990s. The collapse into anarchy has provided a breeding ground for warlords, pirates and the al-Qaeda-associated group al-Shabaab.

What is being planned in Africa - with Turkey just completing construction of a new Military base in Somalia's capital in Mogadishu - and the U.S. building a new Drone base, specifically for MQ-9 Reaper drones in Agadez, Niger - adjacent to the Niger Armed Force's Base Aerienne? Is it to counter and limit China's expanding influence on the African continent?

The Intercept's report on the US new drone base in the city of Agadez, Niger has raised questions about Washington's growing military presence in Africa. According to experts, "knowledge of the extent and aims of US military activities in Africa remains murky."

Unspoken Story of US' Growing Military Presence in Africa
https://sputniknews.com/politics/20160930/1045876176/us-military-presence-africa-drones.html

The Intercept reported Thursday that the Pentagon is going to invest up to $100 million in a new drone base in Agadez, Niger.

Later, on Friday, the US Department of Defense confirmed that the US will build a military air base at Agadez capable of deploying drones. Citing the files obtained by the media outlet Nick Turse of The Intercept sheds light on the US drone program in Africa.

Air Force documents submitted to Congress in 2015 note that the US 'negotiated an agreement with the government of Niger to allow for the construction of a new runway and all associated pavements, facilities, and infrastructure adjacent to the Niger Armed Force's Base Aerienne 201 (Airbase 201) south of the city of Agadez'," Turse writes.

Agadez Drone Base - The documents highlight Agadez' importance for future missions by drones, specifically MQ-9 Reaper — "hunter-killer" unmanned aerial vehicles designed for long-endurance, high-altitude surveillance.

"RPA presence in NW Africa supports operations against seven [Department of State]-designated foreign terrorist organizations. Moving operations to Agadez aligns persistent ISR to current and emerging threats over Niger and Chad, supports French regionalization and extends range to cover Libya and Nigeria," a 2015 planning document read, as quoted by the journalist.

'Tracing the US Military's Presence in Africa' While the Agadez base will seemingly become the Pentagon's second most important drone site in Africa after Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, the US military presence in the continent is not limited by these two sites.

Back in 2013 John Reed of Foreign Policy magazine called attention to "a handful" of US drone bases "scattered across the [African] continent and the dozens of exercises involving hundreds, if not thousands, of American troops." According to Reed, there are at least eight reported US drone bases deployed in Africa, which include Camp Lemmonier, Djibouti; a drone base in the Seychelles; Entebbe Airport on the shores of Lake Victoria in Uganda; a reported US drone base at Arba Minch, Ethiopia; a drone base in Lamu, Kenya; a reported drone base in Nzara, South Sudan; a Niamey base, Niger; and a US military hub in Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso.

Reed emphasized that the US' regular military activities routinely take place in more than a dozen African states — "from Cape Verde in the West to the Seychelles in the East and Morocco in the North."

In February 2016 The Intercept reported about yet another African drone site established by the Pentagon in Garoua, Cameroon. For their part, US academics Adam Moore and James Walker of the Department of Geography at the University of California in Los Angeles highlighted that the US has been steadily extending its military presence in Africa since the early 2000s.

"Knowledge of the extent and aims of US military activities in Africa remains murky," they pointed out in their research entitled "Tracing the US Military's Presence in Africa."

There are various elements that make up the US military assemblage in Africa," the academics explained, "Facilities such as Camp Lemonnier, drone bases, and a growing network of cooperative security locations (CSLs) and logistics nodes across the continent and beyond."

"Less noted-but just as critical-are various bureaucratic and military practices that are instrumental in 'forging alignment' between US and African states and militaries, and facilitating flows of money, weapons, knowledge, people and ideologies in the assemblage. These include status of force agreements (SOFA), overflight permissions, multinational 'military to military' training exercises, security cooperation programs…, and military assistance programs…," Moore and Walker elaborated.

France, US Boosting Military Cooperation in Africa The US is not the only country that boasts a network of military footholds on the continent.

Dmitry Borisov, International Security expert at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), stresses "the growing security cooperation between France and the United States" in Africa.

According to Borisov, France has long positioned itself as an "African gendarme." He cited Jean-Yves Haine of the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI) who admitted in his latest report that "without Africa France would be a medium-power."

While the two powers justify their enhanced military activities on the continent by the growing terrorist threat, Turse recalls that, for instance, before the US kicked off the Pan-Sahel military initiative in 2002 in Mali, Niger, Chad, and Mauritania, the region was "relatively free of transnational terror threats."

It's worth mentioning that Africa remains a focus of major foreign powers' attention due to the fact that it has a large quantity of natural resources including petroleum, precious metals, uranium, diamonds and other valuable natural reserves.

China 'Seeking to Increase Security Presence on the Continent' On the other hand, experts note that a covert race for Africa has long begun with China expanding its influence on the continent.

In his 2015 analysis for the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) think tank Borisov remarked that as China's domestic market expands, so does its need for mineral resources and energy. "To facilitate resource extraction, China has made significant investments into African infrastructure," Borisov noted, adding that simultaneously Beijing is seeking "to increase its security presence on the continent."

The Russian academic highlighted that China could have made a shift toward larger international military presence, citing President Xi Jinping's decision to establish a joint operational command structure by 2020 as a part of the country's armed forces reform.

The question remains open whether or not the race for Africa would add to the current geopolitical tensions in other regions of the world.

 

[sToRmR1dR]

Turkey slashes through police force

http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2016/10/04/487562/Turkey-police-force-suspens-Gulen-Erdogan

Turkey has suspended 12,801 police officers from duty over suspected ties with US-based opposition cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara accuses of having masterminded a July coup in the country.

The country’s law enforcement authorities announced the suspensions on Tuesday, saying they had followed an investigation of the police force by the Interior Ministry.

A day earlier, Ankara had also extended by three more months a state of emergency it brought into force after the failed coup.

“The decision on continuing the state of emergency [is] beginning on October 19,” said Turkish Deputy Prime Minister and government spokesman Numan Kurtulmus.

The July 15 putsch saw an army faction deploying helicopters and tanks and clashing with government troops and people on the streets of the capital, Ankara, and the city of Istanbul. More than 270 people were killed and above 2,100 others sustained injuries during the subversive push.

A far-and-wide witch-hunt has followed, which has witnessed about 100,000 people being fired or suspended in the military, civil service, police and judiciary, and some 32,000 arrested.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to whom Gulen used to be a mentor, has time and again asked the US to extradite him.

“When America asks us to send back terrorists, we ship them as a package but we haven’t seen the same response from our strategic partner,” he said most recently. “You haven’t extradited one terrorist who has lived in luxury for 17 years.”

Gulen has denied having had a hand in the coup.