Turkey shot down Russian bomber over Syria
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angelburst29
The Living Force
Turkey’s nationalist 'Gray Wolves' enter Syrian fray
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/02/turkey-syria-grey-wolves-emerge-as-jihadists.html#
Turkish involvement in the Syrian war has been heavily dominated by Islamist fighters, but the conflict has also drawn in an unlikely quarter — Turkish nationalists. The far-right Nationalist Action Party (MHP) and its youth branch, the Idealist Hearths, have recently come into the spotlight with high-profile losses on the Syrian battlefield. The MHP is the main body of Turkey’s ultranationalist movement, also known as the Gray Wolves, whose hall of fame includes failed papal assassin Mehmet Ali Agca. The Alperen Hearths, the youth branch of the smaller Great Union Party, which represents the ultranationalist movement’s Islamist-leaning wing, are also visibly interested in the Syrian war.
The reason Turkish ultranationalists have gone to fight in Syria is the Turkmens, the ethnically Turkish minority that has increasingly found itself in Russia's crosshairs. After the Russian airstrikes began Sept. 30, military operations targeting Bayir Bucak, the Turkmen region in the Latakia countryside, intensified. Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), meanwhile, stirred public sensitivities over the Turkmens, and the government propaganda resonated in the ultranationalist quarter.
While Turkish Islamists were regulars on the jihadi scene from Afghanistan and Chechnya to Bosnia and Kosovo, the ultranationalists had only taken feeble interest only in Chechnya’s independence struggle. Hence, their role in Syria comes as an unprecedented cross-border venture.
The latest ultranationalist casualty in Syria to make the headlines was Ibrahim Kucuk, the deputy head of the MHP branch in Istanbul’s Fatih district. He was killed in a Russian raid on Mount Turkmen in Bayir Bucak, where he had fought for two months. A well-known leader in the Islamic community led the prayers at his funeral in Istanbul last week; among the senior MHP lawmakers attending were Oktay Vural, Celal Adan and Meral Aksener. An even more noteworthy mourner was Alparslan Celik — the Turkish fighter in Syria who shot dead the pilot who ejected from the Russian jet Turkey downed in November.
A number of Turkmen units have been created in Syria under Turkey’s guidance and named after Ottoman rulers such as Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror, Yavuz Sultan Selim, Sultan Murat and Abdulhamid Khan. Unsurprisingly, the accompanying rhetoric has turned into a propaganda about “defending Ottoman lands” or “homeland defense,” as if a struggle were underway against a foreign occupier. Both those slogans and the names of the Turkmen groups ring out as yet another reflection of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s neo-Ottoman aspirations. The news of Kucuk’s death, for instance, circulated on social media as his “martyrdom during the homeland defense at Mount Turkmen.” Similarly, Celik — “the man in the crosshairs of Russian intelligence,” according to the Turkish media — says, “The lands that are the relic of our ancestors are today under Russian bombardment. Almost all our villages there have been seized by the Russians.”
Celik, who has held senior posts in the Idealist Hearths, is a commander in the Second Coastal Division operating in the Latakia region. One of his fighters, fellow Idealist Hearths member Burak Misinci, was killed in July, and his funeral in Istanbul was also honored by high-level MHP figures.
In addition to younger members of the Idealist Hearths, MHP members in senior positions have turned up in Syria as well. The heads of two district MHP branches in Istanbul, for instance, have shared pictures on social media posing in war gear at Mount Turkmen.
After the war in Syria erupted, Islamists emerged as Turkey’s main intervention tool, to no one's surprise. In 2014, however, stories began to appear in the media suggesting an ultranationalist link. A March 2014 report about the funeral of an Idealist Hearth activist killed in Aleppo was quite confusing. Prominent figures attended the funeral and Syrian Turkmen representatives paid a condolence visit to the family. Another surprise came the following month when Adil Orli, commander of the Turkmen Martyrs Brigade, a group known to have collaborated with the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT) in arming Syrian Turkmens, visited local MHP leaders in Istanbul.
The ultranationalist fighters figure mostly in the Second Coastal Division, in whose creation Turkey played a direct role. The group was formed in July 2015 as an umbrella organization for groups such as the Mount Turkmen Brigade Muntasir Billah, the Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror Brigade, the Yavuz Sultan Selim Brigade, the 1071 Raiders and the Sultan Murad Brigade, whose representatives had gathered in Ankara to coordinate. The leadership of the umbrella group included Orli as a field commander.
The meeting, held amid allegations that Syrian Kurds were committing ethnic cleansing against Turkmens following their capture of Tell Abyad from the Islamic State, resulted in another important agreement. According to leaks to pro-government media outlets, the decision entailed the creation of a 5,000-strong Turkmen army with the support of the MIT and the Turkish military.
Soon, social media accounts linked to the Idealist Hearths and the Alperen Hearths began trumpeting that Damascus and Russian forces were committing a Turkmen “genocide,” urging the Turkish public to stand up against “the tyrants.” In November, the Alperen Hearths held a demonstration at the Russian Consulate in Istanbul to denounce Russian air raids on Mount Turkmen. The neighboring Dutch Consulate also got its share of the protesters’ eggs, thrown in error.
The “homeland defense” label for the battles on Mount Turkmen became more and more frequent on social media. In the same vein, the head of an association supporting the Turkmens, Mehmet Ali Ozturk, argued that the onslaught on Bayir Bucak was in fact “a move against Turkey via the Turkmens.” He added, “The services the AKP government launched in the Ottoman hinterland have raised questions of whether the Ottoman Empire is being revived, and this has caused anxiety among international powers. The Turkmens are a sensitive matter for Turkey. We are Turks, we are Turkmens, we are sensitive on this issue.”
The fears over the price tag of Turkish Islamists fighting in jihadist ranks are now amplified by the ultranationalists. In a country whose government has always been able to use the ultranationalists, a critical question pops up: What is the state going to do with ultranationalist mujahedeen with combat experience?
Kemal Can, a journalist and the author of books on the ultranationalist movement, believes that state inducement is a major reason behind the ultranationalist venture in Syria. In remarks to Al-Monitor, Can offered the following assessment: “One has to look at their links with the state rather than their ideological links. This quarter has been a useful resource for state operations. In the past, those people have been used in very professional operations. I think the grass roots and the organizational ranks are not very much engaged on the Turkmen issue. The ideological link is not as strong as in the involvement of the Islamists. I think that, directly or indirectly, the state link is the decisive one. Despite the loud controversy, the Syrian experience will not radicalize the ultranationalist base as expected, though it could have some other consequences. Certainly, the veteran operational cadres will be enriched from the state’s point of view. The ultranationalists are the most fertile pool for secret operations.”
Many opposition groups labeled the Free Syrian Army have in time shifted to a Salafi mindset. How the war will transform Turkey’s ultranationalists is an important question. The Turkmen groups in which they fight have developed close links with Salafi jihadi organizations such as al-Qaeda franchise Jabhat al-Nusra. This will inevitably leave a residue.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/02/turkey-syria-grey-wolves-emerge-as-jihadists.html#
Turkish involvement in the Syrian war has been heavily dominated by Islamist fighters, but the conflict has also drawn in an unlikely quarter — Turkish nationalists. The far-right Nationalist Action Party (MHP) and its youth branch, the Idealist Hearths, have recently come into the spotlight with high-profile losses on the Syrian battlefield. The MHP is the main body of Turkey’s ultranationalist movement, also known as the Gray Wolves, whose hall of fame includes failed papal assassin Mehmet Ali Agca. The Alperen Hearths, the youth branch of the smaller Great Union Party, which represents the ultranationalist movement’s Islamist-leaning wing, are also visibly interested in the Syrian war.
The reason Turkish ultranationalists have gone to fight in Syria is the Turkmens, the ethnically Turkish minority that has increasingly found itself in Russia's crosshairs. After the Russian airstrikes began Sept. 30, military operations targeting Bayir Bucak, the Turkmen region in the Latakia countryside, intensified. Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), meanwhile, stirred public sensitivities over the Turkmens, and the government propaganda resonated in the ultranationalist quarter.
While Turkish Islamists were regulars on the jihadi scene from Afghanistan and Chechnya to Bosnia and Kosovo, the ultranationalists had only taken feeble interest only in Chechnya’s independence struggle. Hence, their role in Syria comes as an unprecedented cross-border venture.
The latest ultranationalist casualty in Syria to make the headlines was Ibrahim Kucuk, the deputy head of the MHP branch in Istanbul’s Fatih district. He was killed in a Russian raid on Mount Turkmen in Bayir Bucak, where he had fought for two months. A well-known leader in the Islamic community led the prayers at his funeral in Istanbul last week; among the senior MHP lawmakers attending were Oktay Vural, Celal Adan and Meral Aksener. An even more noteworthy mourner was Alparslan Celik — the Turkish fighter in Syria who shot dead the pilot who ejected from the Russian jet Turkey downed in November.
A number of Turkmen units have been created in Syria under Turkey’s guidance and named after Ottoman rulers such as Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror, Yavuz Sultan Selim, Sultan Murat and Abdulhamid Khan. Unsurprisingly, the accompanying rhetoric has turned into a propaganda about “defending Ottoman lands” or “homeland defense,” as if a struggle were underway against a foreign occupier. Both those slogans and the names of the Turkmen groups ring out as yet another reflection of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s neo-Ottoman aspirations. The news of Kucuk’s death, for instance, circulated on social media as his “martyrdom during the homeland defense at Mount Turkmen.” Similarly, Celik — “the man in the crosshairs of Russian intelligence,” according to the Turkish media — says, “The lands that are the relic of our ancestors are today under Russian bombardment. Almost all our villages there have been seized by the Russians.”
Celik, who has held senior posts in the Idealist Hearths, is a commander in the Second Coastal Division operating in the Latakia region. One of his fighters, fellow Idealist Hearths member Burak Misinci, was killed in July, and his funeral in Istanbul was also honored by high-level MHP figures.
In addition to younger members of the Idealist Hearths, MHP members in senior positions have turned up in Syria as well. The heads of two district MHP branches in Istanbul, for instance, have shared pictures on social media posing in war gear at Mount Turkmen.
After the war in Syria erupted, Islamists emerged as Turkey’s main intervention tool, to no one's surprise. In 2014, however, stories began to appear in the media suggesting an ultranationalist link. A March 2014 report about the funeral of an Idealist Hearth activist killed in Aleppo was quite confusing. Prominent figures attended the funeral and Syrian Turkmen representatives paid a condolence visit to the family. Another surprise came the following month when Adil Orli, commander of the Turkmen Martyrs Brigade, a group known to have collaborated with the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT) in arming Syrian Turkmens, visited local MHP leaders in Istanbul.
The ultranationalist fighters figure mostly in the Second Coastal Division, in whose creation Turkey played a direct role. The group was formed in July 2015 as an umbrella organization for groups such as the Mount Turkmen Brigade Muntasir Billah, the Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror Brigade, the Yavuz Sultan Selim Brigade, the 1071 Raiders and the Sultan Murad Brigade, whose representatives had gathered in Ankara to coordinate. The leadership of the umbrella group included Orli as a field commander.
The meeting, held amid allegations that Syrian Kurds were committing ethnic cleansing against Turkmens following their capture of Tell Abyad from the Islamic State, resulted in another important agreement. According to leaks to pro-government media outlets, the decision entailed the creation of a 5,000-strong Turkmen army with the support of the MIT and the Turkish military.
Soon, social media accounts linked to the Idealist Hearths and the Alperen Hearths began trumpeting that Damascus and Russian forces were committing a Turkmen “genocide,” urging the Turkish public to stand up against “the tyrants.” In November, the Alperen Hearths held a demonstration at the Russian Consulate in Istanbul to denounce Russian air raids on Mount Turkmen. The neighboring Dutch Consulate also got its share of the protesters’ eggs, thrown in error.
The “homeland defense” label for the battles on Mount Turkmen became more and more frequent on social media. In the same vein, the head of an association supporting the Turkmens, Mehmet Ali Ozturk, argued that the onslaught on Bayir Bucak was in fact “a move against Turkey via the Turkmens.” He added, “The services the AKP government launched in the Ottoman hinterland have raised questions of whether the Ottoman Empire is being revived, and this has caused anxiety among international powers. The Turkmens are a sensitive matter for Turkey. We are Turks, we are Turkmens, we are sensitive on this issue.”
The fears over the price tag of Turkish Islamists fighting in jihadist ranks are now amplified by the ultranationalists. In a country whose government has always been able to use the ultranationalists, a critical question pops up: What is the state going to do with ultranationalist mujahedeen with combat experience?
Kemal Can, a journalist and the author of books on the ultranationalist movement, believes that state inducement is a major reason behind the ultranationalist venture in Syria. In remarks to Al-Monitor, Can offered the following assessment: “One has to look at their links with the state rather than their ideological links. This quarter has been a useful resource for state operations. In the past, those people have been used in very professional operations. I think the grass roots and the organizational ranks are not very much engaged on the Turkmen issue. The ideological link is not as strong as in the involvement of the Islamists. I think that, directly or indirectly, the state link is the decisive one. Despite the loud controversy, the Syrian experience will not radicalize the ultranationalist base as expected, though it could have some other consequences. Certainly, the veteran operational cadres will be enriched from the state’s point of view. The ultranationalists are the most fertile pool for secret operations.”
Many opposition groups labeled the Free Syrian Army have in time shifted to a Salafi mindset. How the war will transform Turkey’s ultranationalists is an important question. The Turkmen groups in which they fight have developed close links with Salafi jihadi organizations such as al-Qaeda franchise Jabhat al-Nusra. This will inevitably leave a residue.
Turkey’s Erdogan rips U.S. for supporting Syrian Kurd rebel
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/feb/10/turkeys-erdogan-rips-us-for-supporting-syrian-kurd/?
Erdogan's Policy Against Kurds Deepens Refugee Crisis
http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160210/1034541477/turkey-kurds-refugees.html
Syrian Kurds plan opening missions in US, EU
http://tass.ru/en/world/855804
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/feb/10/turkeys-erdogan-rips-us-for-supporting-syrian-kurd/?
Erdogan's Policy Against Kurds Deepens Refugee Crisis
http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160210/1034541477/turkey-kurds-refugees.html
Syrian Kurds plan opening missions in US, EU
http://tass.ru/en/world/855804
T.C. said:
Yeah, it's on RT and Sputnik that Turkey has shelled Kurdish and Syrian forces in northwest Syria, but that link you posted has no indication of where it got all their details from. I guess we'll find out pretty soon if the big red line has finally been crossed and how badly. :/ Well, you couldn't have a whacko like Erdogan holding a gun for too long without using it, could you? The hawks in Washington must be having champagne.
Turkish forces shell Kurdish camp in Syria, reportedly hit govt forces
https://www.rt.com/news/332380-turkey-shells-northern-syria/
Turkey shells Kurdish positions for 2nd day in northern Syria – reports
https://www.rt.com/news/332414-turkey-continues-shell-kurdish/
US urges Turkey to stop shelling Kurdish and Syrian forces
http://on.rt.com/74hm
Damascus Calls Turkey's Shelling of Syria 'Direct Support of Terrorists'
http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160214/1034737976/syria-shelling-turkey.html#ixzz4094cfSt4
angelburst29
The Living Force
T.C. said:
I'm not sure - what to make of the Superstation95 website - yet? The letter head states: 95.1 FM New York, NY USA. I've only noticed it in my travels in the last month or so. It seems to mimic RT News, yet none of it's news reports/articles identify an "author" only anonymous reporting. Every article has a statement similar to this: "One intelligence source in the US, who must remain anonymous - told SuperStation95."
This is the main page which is featuring the story above: _https://www.superstation95.com/index.php/world/886
If you click on "author" it will bring you to a page that is continuously updated with time stamps - similar to electronic reporting. For the most part, the time stamps seem to be recording "Headline's" from various news outlets or a short statement or commentary.
_https://www.superstation95.com/index.php/world/author/966-usreporter
On two occasions, I have checked out the various links in it's articles and they link to what I consider legit sites like RT, Sputnik and Press TV. The commentary leans towards Pro-al Assad - Russia and Putin. Yet, I haven't explored the site long enough to trust it - one way or the other.
Take this for instance under today's reporting: Sunday, 14 February 2016 09:47
UPDATE 3:56 AM Eastern US Time -- Retired US Air Force General Clyde Simmons has told SuperStation95 "I couldn't imagine how Turkish and Saudi pilots would feel about flying into a nation whose entire airspace is defended with Russian S-400 missiles. Do they know the range of these things can hit Saudi and Turkish aircraft from INSIDE Turkey and Saudi Arabia right now if the order was given?
Either this threat of a ground invasion is completely empty or the US is going in too, with stealth aircraft on orders to take out every single Russian S-400 prior to Turkish and Saudi troops moving in.
Any other plan to invade Syria is a complete suicide mission."
UPDATE 4:30 AM Eastern US Time -- Phone call between Putin and Obama to discuss the situation in Syria
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is a VERY bad thing. When the President of one country calls the President of the United States at 4:30 in the morning over military activities (anywhere) it is very urgent and very serious. NO ONE does that sort of thing over nonsense; it is always a major, serious event if it warrants rousting one President out of bed in the middle of the night. In political circles, it simply is not done ---- unless war is at stake. THis phone call seems to be a harbinger of very dangerous things to come.
UPDATE 5:58 AM Eastern US Time -- A reporter sending info to us covertly tells us "I am at the border gate to Syria in Kilis/Turkey. Shelling never stopped since morning. We hear at least 10 artillery barrages in the last 5 mins."
***************** URGENT *******************
Sources at the Denver International Airport who work in the air cargo business tell us " Things are being shipped.. . a lot of things.. to destinations north of Anchorage. Non-disclosures, shielded manifests and need-to-know are being implemented."
The _only_ thing of interest north of Anchorage is Fort Greely, home of the United States Military's Anti-Ballistic Missile Defense systems. Those systems protect the United States from Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles coming over the North Pole from places like . . . Russia. Why would the US suddenly be concerned about nuclear missiles coming over the North Pole at us? Maybe because of what the US is doing in Syria and the fact that Russia is rapidly approaching the point where it is going to stomp on the terrorists and their foreign supports? Looks like Obama and his failed Presidency are about to get a lot of us killed.
This headline from yesterday:
FLASH: Russian Government Issues URGENT Message -- Russian Citizens URGED to Leave Turkey Within 24 Hours
Post by Newsroom - Feb 13, 2016 _https://www.superstation95.com/index.php/world/888
In the clearest sign yet that the Syria situation is rapidly escalating to World War 3, the government of Russia has Urged all Russians in Turkey to Leave immediately!
FIGHTING HAS ALREADY BEGUN between Syria and Turkey. Russia has troops inside their ally, Syria and it is widely expected that RUssia will ENGAGE any foreign troops or planes that attempt to enter Syria without the permission of the Syrian government.
Follow all developments via our LIVE Updated Coverage XXXX Last modified on Saturday, 13 February 2016 21:16.
Putin holds phone call with Obama, urges better defense cooperation in fight against ISIS
https://www.rt.com/news/332428-putin-obama-talk-syria/
Published time: 14 Feb, 2016 - Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart, Barack Obama, discussed Syria in a phone call Sunday, with Putin stressing the need to establish better cooperation between the countries’ defense ministries in the fight against terrorism.
In the telephone conversation Putin said that is important to create a unified anti-terrorism front, rejecting “double standards,” the Kremlin press service said in a statement Sunday.
"In particular, the President of Russia noted the need to organise close working contacts between the Russian Defence Ministry and the US Department of Defence, which would make it possible to combat ISIS and other terrorist organisations in more effective and better-planned fashion," read the statement.
Both presidents gave a positive assessment of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) meeting in Munich this week, which laid out a plan to end hostilities in Syria and start a real political process there.
The two leaders also discussed the situation in Ukraine. Putin expressed the hope that Kiev authorities would start taking concrete steps aimed at fulfilling their commitments under the Minsk Accords, including establishing direct dialogue with the Donbass region and carrying out constitutional reform.
"The conversation between Mr Putin and Mr Obama was frank and constructive," the Kremlin said.
Superstation95 is supposed to be Hal Turner's new/revamped website, FWIW.
angelburst29
The Living Force
SeekinTruth said:
Thanks SeekinTruth, for pointing out who's behind the website. Guess, he's not so anonymous - any more?
Just trying to piece the events together, I find some interesting sources which may or may not be accurate.
Here are some:
Dozens of civilian casualties reported under Turkish bombardment northern Syria
Maybe a weakening of NATO resolve by France in the following article?
France demands Turkey to stop bombing Kurdish zones in Syria
For Turkey it is very much about the Kurds:
Turkey defends Syria’s Islamists by combatting Kurds
Here are some:
Dozens of civilian casualties reported under Turkish bombardment northern Syria
Maybe a weakening of NATO resolve by France in the following article?
France demands Turkey to stop bombing Kurdish zones in Syria
For Turkey it is very much about the Kurds:
Turkey defends Syria’s Islamists by combatting Kurds
[embed][/embed]
It seems to me that the Kurds are being used by all sides to accomplish different agendas but they also have their own ideas of what they want to accomplish:
Syrian Kurds form new political alliance, call for federalism as solution to ongoing civil war
Using others as proxies seems STS to me. I can't help feel there is a day of reckoning so to speak if there is to be a balancing.
Syrian Kurds form new political alliance, call for federalism as solution to ongoing civil war
Using others as proxies seems STS to me. I can't help feel there is a day of reckoning so to speak if there is to be a balancing.
