Turkey shot down Russian bomber over Syria

[Konstantin]

Turkey's work on new constitution stutters as opposition pulls out
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-politics-idUSKCN0VQ11P

Two Turkish opposition parties have pulled out of a commission meant to draft a new constitution, in protest at attempts by the ruling AK Party to strengthen the role of the presidency, something keenly sought by President Tayyip Erdogan.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Wednesday the AKP would continue work on a new charter despite the withdrawal of the Republican People's Party (CHP), and urged other opposition parties to remain at the table.

But the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) said it too would pull out of the commission if the CHP did not take part. MHP Vice President Oktay Ozturk told Reuters it would be wrong for the panel to continue work without the main opposition.

The AKP, founded by Erdogan more than a decade ago, has broad cross-party support for overhauling the constitution, which dates back to an era of military coups. But there are wide divergences over what a new charter should look like.

Erdogan and the AKP want the head of state, currently a largely ceremonial post, to wield much greater political powers. But opposition parties fear Erdogan is already becoming too authoritarian and, as well as opposing strengthening his office, they want the new constitution to focus on minority rights and democratic freedoms.

"The main opposition announced it won't participate in work on a new constitution because they're unwilling to bring issues such as the executive presidency to the table," Davutoglu said in a speech in the capital Ankara.

"We will continue to be at the table ... It is our duty to compromise on a new constitution without any prerequisites ... I call on all opposition parties to be at the table to be able to discuss any issue."

Western allies, which need Turkey as a stable partner in the fight against Islamic State and in efforts to resolve Europe's migration crisis, support the idea of a constitution that bolsters human rights and democracy but fear an executive presidency could strengthen Erdogan's authoritarian instincts.

The Islamist-rooted AKP temporarily lost its single-party majority in an election last June but, after coalition talks failed, it swept back to power in a snap poll five months later, capturing nearly 50 percent of the vote.

But it would need the support of 14 opposition lawmakers to put a new constitution to a referendum, and would require the backing of around 50 to change the constitution directly without the need for a popular vote.

Davutoglu and the CHP agreed at the end of December to revive the parliamentary commission, but there were already doubts over how much progress it would make.

A similar cross-party panel tried for two years to reconcile differences on some of the most divisive issues in modern Turkey. It agreed some 60 article changes, but gave up in late 2013 after running into insurmountable disagreements on issues ranging from the definition of citizenship to the protection of religious freedoms.

It seems to me that Erdogan is taking similar steps as Hitler before WW2 to strengthen his authoritarian ruling. Its not a good sign.

 

[sToRmR1dR]

The Art of Cunning: Turkey 'Will Use Others' to Wage 'Proxy War' in Syria

http://sputniknews.com/politics/20160222/1035150303/turkey-syria-proxy-war.html

Despite Turkey's apparent determination to crack down on the Kurds in Syria, particularly following last week's deadly bombing, Ankara will likely refrain from launching a direct military intervention into the war-torn Arab country and will instead act through proxies, foreign affairs journalist Sami Kohen wrote for Turkey's Milliyet newspaper.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, according to the expert, is fully aware of the fact that not a single Ankara's ally, including Washington, will back the AKP's initiative. Moscow's counterterrorism operation in Syria is also limiting Turkey's capabilities.

"It appears that Turkey will try to avoid launching a direct ground operation in Syria. Like other players, Ankara will consider other options of waging a war through proxies," he wrote.

Ankara has been indirectly involved in the deadly Syrian conflict for years. Like other regional and outside stakeholders, it has provided assistance to radical groups, which are trying to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad and establish an Islamic state in Syria.

In recent months, Turkey has been apparently considering sending ground forces to Syria to ostensibly fight Daesh. Many doubt that if deployed Ankara's forces would actually target the militants, but will likely be focused on the Kurds.

Ankara sees the Kurds in Turkey and elsewhere as the key threat to its stability and security. It has carried out a military operation against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and any other group the AKP believes are affiliated with it since mid-2015 after a two-year-long ceasefire between Turkish authorities and the PKK collapsed. The operation has been largely condemned as a humanitarian catastrophe.

Last week, the Turkey-based Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK) took responsibility for a car bomb attack that claimed 28 lives in Ankara on Wednesday. Nevertheless, Erdogan and Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu have tried to pin the blame on the US-backed Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its People's Protection Units (YPG) militia.

Both the PYD and the YPG deny that they were involved in the bombing.

Moreover, the Turkish army has been shelling the YPG in Syria since February 13 after they drove Islamic militia from an air base and village close to the Turkish border, justifying it as a retaliatory measure. The YPG is largely considered to be one of the most efficient forces capable of tackling Daesh and other extremists groups in Syria.

 

[angelburst29]

Turkey is the Source, Not Solution to ISIS and the Syrian Crisis
http://journal-neo.org/2016/02/14/turkey-is-the-source-not-solution-to-isis-and-the-syrian-crisis/

A torrent of familiar propaganda has flooded the airwaves as the imminent collapse of Washington and its regional allies’ proxy terrorist forces in Syria approaches. Predicated on “humanitarian concerns,” global audiences are reminded of the torrent of lies, fabrications, and deceit that preceded NATO’s military intervention in Libya – a military intervention that has since left the North African nation utterly destroyed, perpetually divided, and large swaths of its territory under the control of Al Qaeda and the so-called “Islamic State” (ISIS).

Virtually all headlines across the West now feature dramatic images of refugees, and children in particular, used for propaganda purposes to suggest the urgent need for Western military intervention. CNN’s article, “Aleppo siege marks dramatic upheaval on Syrian battlefield,” leads with the sentence:

The images from Aleppo, Idlib and Syria’s border with Turkey can be described in one word: despair.

The Guardian’s article, “Tens of thousands of Syrian refugees remain stranded at Turkish border,” claims:

Tens of thousands of Syrians fleeing a Russian-backed government advance on Aleppo have remained stranded near the Turkish border over the weekend, with no sign that the authorities in Ankara will respond to mounting international pressure to allow in more refugees uprooted by the escalating war.

The New York Post’s overly dramatic headline, “Obama caves on Syria, does nothing to help innocent civilians,” is followed by:

Just weeks after Secretary of State John Kerry spoke about a “new initiative” on Syria, details are emerging about what that really means: Handing over the Middle East to the United States’ adversaries.

Far from informing audiences, the flood of propaganda goes from absurd to surreal, aimed at provoking emotions, at persuasion, and at establishing a pretext for already long-ago, predetermined interventionism, the results of which are already on tragically stark display in Afghanistan, Iraq, and more recently Libya.

Despite the obvious truth behind interventions elsewhere – that they were intentionally designed to divide and destroy, not lift up or aid the people interventionism was used upon – the West remains committed to once again foisting this ploy upon the world, convinced it is still a viable strategy.

[...]

ISIS is Based in Turkey – Fight Them in Turkey

Syrian ground forces, bolstered by Hezbollah fighters and Iranian advisers, and backed by highly effective Russian airpower, have cut off terrorist supply lines leading from NATO-member Turkey’s territory. This not only includes so-called “moderate” terrorist groups affiliated with Al Qaeda and its regional affiliate, the Al Nusra Front, but also ISIS itself.

The same CNN claiming Syria and Russia are responsible for the current crisis, admitted in their article, “You thought Syria couldn’t get much worse. Think again,” that (emphasis added):

To the east of Aleppo, Kurdish forces are, with American support, eyeing the remaining ISIS strongholds along the Turkish border — Jarablus and Manbij. The U.S. wants ISIS out, to remove its access to resupply of materiel and fighters from Turkey.

The question all of CNN’s readers should ask, and one any real journalist were there any at the media organization would have answered, is: “why if the US is stationed in Turkey, doesn’t it and its Turkish allies, NATO members since the 1950s, interdict and stop ISIS’ access to ‘resupply of materiel and fighters’ on the Turkish side of the border?”

The answer is as disturbing as it is obvious – the US and Turkey created ISIS, are arming and funding it to this very day, and are using the existence and atrocities of their own proxy forces as a pretext to further compound the misery, division, destruction, and humanitarian crisis in Syria, including the subsequent refugee crisis that has in turn affected surrounding nations and even as far as Europe and North America.

Indeed, the US, Turkey, and America’s allies among the un-elected, despotic Persian Gulf absolute monarchies, intentionally created ISIS and even admitted as much. It was not Russian media or Syrian state proclamations that pointed this out, but rather the United State’s own Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) in a 2012 report that revealed ongoing plans by this geopolitical axis to create what it at the time called a “Salafist” (Islamic) “principality” (State).

In the DIA’s leaked 2012 report (.pdf) it stated (emphasis added):

If the situation unravels there is the possibility of establishing a declared or undeclared Salafist principality in eastern Syria (Hasaka and Der Zor), and this is exactly what the supporting powers to the opposition want, in order to isolate the Syrian regime, which is considered the strategic depth of the Shia expansion (Iraq and Iran).

To clarify just who these “supporting powers” were that sought the creation of a “Salafist” (Islamic) principality” (State), the DIA report explains (emphasis added):

The West, Gulf countries, and Turkey support the opposition; while Russia, China, and Iran support the regime.

The striking exactitude of the 2012 report and the emergence of the “Islamic State” in the following years precisely in eastern Syria as the report stated, is more than mere coincidence – it speaks to the veracity of the report, and the absolute treachery, deceit, and depravity that underpins the West’s involvement both in the Syrian conflict, and in the region as a whole, as well as in its intentions toward further intervention it is now threatening to execute as its terrorist proxies flee the battlefield in Syria.

While the Western media claims that “moderate rebels” are being defeated by Syrian and Russian forces, while ISIS remains a continued threat, the reality is the “moderates” and ISIS are one in the same, and both are being folded and are now fleeing before Syrian and Russian resolve.

The closing off of Turkish supply lines into Syria has crippled the fighting capacity of the West’s terrorist milieu, and it is only a matter of time before the entire operation collapses and order is restored nationwide. This includes “ISIS” and its base in Syria’s eastern region. Reports indicate that Turkey has shifted its supply lines in and out of the country from northern Syria to eastern Syrian via northern Iraq.

Once northern Syria is secured by Syrian and Russian forces, it is very likely Russian airpower will be redirected eastward and close off the last of Turkey’s resupply efforts.

Diabolically, then, it appears that the US’ efforts to “fight” ISIS is more an effort instead to keep truly effective fighting forces from compromising ISIS supply lines. This is why the Western media admits ISIS is supplied through Turkey, but cannot explain why neither Turkey nor the US forces based in Turkey have done anything to target these Turkish-based logistical operations.

The US’ operations in Syria aimed at ISIS are done in the sound knowledge that no matter how much “damage” they appear to do, it remains essentially superficial as anything lost can easily be replaced via supply lines from Turkey – including replacing fighters, weapons, and of course, revenue.

Despite the unified weepy narratives being once again carefully crafted by the practiced liars across the Western media, in an attempt to sell intervention in Syria, the glaring reality is that both the problem and the solution involves intervention in Turkey, and beyond that, the despotic regimes of the Persian Gulf who have openly underwritten for decades and served as the ideological source code for the most obscene extremism to take root in human history.

 

[sToRmR1dR]

What happened to Turkey's foreign policy?

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/02/turkey-former-diplomats-say-islamist-outlook-cause-isolation.html

Turkish experts — aside from the most hardened, pro-government experts — agree that Ankara’s foreign policy under the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is in shambles. They generally agree this was caused by the country abandoning its traditional foreign policy in favor of an Islamist outlook.

This situation, experts argue, has reduced Ankara’s options significantly, especially at this turbulent time in the region. Al-Monitor asked three retired ambassadors, who served under the AKP and are known as seasoned foreign policy commentators, to explain why Ankara finds itself isolated and unable to influence regional events that are having seriously negative effects on Turkey’s interests.

The foreign policy framework drawn up by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, is summarized by the adage he coined, “Peace at home, peace in the world.” It was based on a realistic assessment of Turkey’s geopolitical location, as well as bitter past experiences, said retired Ambassador Uluc Ozulker. A basic tenet of this policy was to remain Westward-looking — a tenet Ozulker said has changed under the AKP.

"The AKP’s ideological world view is based on what is known as the ‘national vision,’ which is Islamist-based and veers toward the outlook of the Muslim Brotherhood," he said. That outlook is related to the anger felt toward Israel and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Ozulker added.

“The AKP also tried to implement policies that were beyond Turkey’s means and capabilities. Turkey’s foreign policy in the past was cautious and defensive. When the Turkish economy started growing, the AKP used this, combining it with its ‘national vision’ outlook, to pursue more active policies,” Ozulker said. “It aimed for good relations with neighbors but tried to achieve this from the perspective of a patronizing big brother, which gradually alienated its neighbors and other regional powers.”

Ozulker added that another mistake the AKP made was to pursue an idealistic foreign policy, especially under the tutelage of Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who served as foreign minister from 2009 to 2014.

“The assumption was that Turkey was the principal player who could rearrange things and change the established order in the region according to its will. But realpolitik and Turkey’s geopolitical place was never conducive to achieving this,” he said.

The AKP has a vindictive approach to foreign policy and ostracizes those who refuse to listen to it, eventually looking on them as its foes, according to Ozulker. “We see this in Turkey’s ties with Israel, Egypt and Syria. The AKP forgot that in foreign policy there are no eternal friendships or eternal enemies, only eternal interests,” he said.

“Everyone knows which bloc they more or less belong to today. This is also the basis for collective security. The AKP allowed Turkey to drift away from the West but failed to find a new port for itself. It asked to be admitted to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization but failed. Today it is isolated and does not know where it belongs. There are signs that it is trying to return to the Western fold, but even that is tentative,” Ozulker said.

Retired Ambassador Temel Iskit also said the AKP’s principal mistake was to move Turkey away from its traditional foreign policy.

“The vision it tried to replace this with was ideologically based and leaned heavily on a Sunni worldview. It assumed that Turkey could be the regional Sunni leader, which was not only out of tune with Turkey’s traditional policies, but also not realistic,” Iskit said.

“The Syrian crisis provided a concrete example of how misguided all of this was. Of course everyone made a mistake in Syria. The assumption in the heady days of the Arab Spring was that the [regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad] would be replaced quickly by a democratic one,” Iskit said. "Ankara’s real mistake, however, was that it insisted on maintaining its original mistake even after everyone else woke up to the reality of what was going on in that country."

Iskit said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, more than Davutoglu, is the main reason Turkey finds itself in its current position.

“Erdogan tried to impose his personal outlook on others, and when they refused to accept this, as in the case of Assad, he became their enemy and pursued what amounts to a kind of blood feud against them. This is also why Turkey is at odds with the West, with Russia and with just about everyone else today,” Iskit said.

“He has been overtaken by hubris and personal obsessions."

Turkey's difficult international position is likely to continue as long as Erdogan remains in power, Iskit added.

Retired Ambassador Murat Bilhan, for his part, believes Ankara’s biggest mistake was to take sides in complex regional disputes.

“Foreign policy requires that you stay clear from emotional and doctrinaire positions. If you surrender to these, then it is only a matter of time before the negative results appear," he said.

Pointing out that Turkey’s geopolitical position requires it to pursue a multifaceted foreign policy, Bilhan said Turkey has become trapped by its one-dimensional policies. “Turkey leaned exclusively toward the West in the past, and that, too, was a mistake. But today it is only looking to the Middle East,” Bilhan said.

Another foreign policy mistake was believing that the person in charge shouldn't show his hand while situations are developing, Bilhan said. "This limits Turkey’s maneuverability and ability to backtrack from mistakes,” he added, clearly referring to Erdogan. Bilhan also said Turkey’s decision-makers did not take expert advice seriously and, thus, added to their mistakes.

“Strategic mistakes cannot be corrected by tactical moves,” Bilhan said, indicating there is nothing diplomacy cannot solve, provided failed policies are reversed. “Decision-makers always have the final say, but their decisions should also factor in the views of experts."

Kurdish Fighters Find More Proof of Saudi-Turkish Ties with Terrorists in Aleppo

http://en.farsnews.com/imgrep.aspx?nn=13941204001626

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Kurdish forces freed the strategic City of Tel Rifat in Aleppo province from the Takfiri terrorists' control and found abundant proof of the strong ties between the terrorists and the governments in Riyadh and Ankara. [PHOTOS]

 

[angelburst29]

DNA evidence shows that the culprit behind a deadly blast in Ankara was Turkish-born, not Syrian as initially claimed by Turkish authorities, says a security official.

DNA evidence debunks Turkey claims over Ankara blast culprit
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/02/23/451967/Ankara-blast-Turk-DNA-evidence

Last Wednesday, a car bomb went off next to several military buses near Turkey’s armed forces base in Ankara, killing 29 people. The following day Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu laid the blame for the incident on a Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) fighter, Salih Necar, hailing from the northeastern Syrian city of Hasakah.

However, the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK) group claimed responsibility for the blast on its website on February 19.

On Tuesday, a senior Turkish security official, citing DNA evidence collected from the blast site, stated that Abdulbaki Somer, born in the eastern Turkish city of Van, was the bomber. The announcement fully corresponds with claims made by TAK.

On Tuesday, a senior Turkish security official, citing DNA evidence collected from the blast site, stated that Abdulbaki Somer, born in the eastern Turkish city of Van, was the bomber. The announcement fully corresponds with claims made by TAK.

"The DNA report has been published. We saw that it was not Necar," the Turkish official told Reuters on condition of anonymity as the report is yet to be made public.

"The bomber's DNA matches that of Abdulbaki's father. It looks like the bomber was Abdulbaki Somer, that's what the report is saying," he said.

According to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency, prosecutors have confirmed the report.

 

[sToRmR1dR]

Turkish Shelling of Syrian Territory Confirmed by Several Sources

http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160228/1035480121/syria-turkey-shelling-confirmed.html

Details of Tal Abyad shelling from turkish territory has been confirmed through several channels, including syrian democratic forces, according to Russian Defense Ministry.

Russia has received information of an assault on the northern Syrian town of Tal Abyad from Turkish territory, the head of the ceasefire monitoring center at the Russian Hmeymim airbase in Latakia said Sunday.

"The Russian center for the reconciliation of the warring parties in Syria received late on February 27 information about the attack from Turkey on the Syrian city of Tal Abyad," Lt. Gen. Sergei Kuralenko told reporters.

Kuralenko said the assault was carried out by armed units backed by heavy artillery.

"The information was later checked and confirmed through several channels, including the Syrian Democratic Forces [inter-ethnic and religious militia alliance]," he specified.

SDF spokesman Talal Salou told RIA Novosti earlier on Sunday that Kurdish militias have repelled Deash from Tal Abyad, a town straddling the Syrian-Turkish border.

 

[angelburst29]

Turkish Shelling of Syrian Territory Confirmed by Several Sources

http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160228/1035480121/syria-turkey-shelling-confirmed.html

Details of Tal Abyad shelling from turkish territory has been confirmed through several channels, including syrian democratic forces, according to Russian Defense Ministry.

Russia has received information of an assault on the northern Syrian town of Tal Abyad from Turkish territory, the head of the ceasefire monitoring center at the Russian Hmeymim airbase in Latakia said Sunday.

"The Russian center for the reconciliation of the warring parties in Syria received late on February 27 information about the attack from Turkey on the Syrian city of Tal Abyad," Lt. Gen. Sergei Kuralenko told reporters.

Kuralenko said the assault was carried out by armed units backed by heavy artillery.

"The information was later checked and confirmed through several channels, including the Syrian Democratic Forces [inter-ethnic and religious militia alliance]," he specified.

SDF spokesman Talal Salou told RIA Novosti earlier on Sunday that Kurdish militias have repelled Deash from Tal Abyad, a town straddling the Syrian-Turkish border.

Turkey 'Main Violator' of Ceasefire Regime in Syria's North
http://sputniknews.com/analysis/20160228/1035494976/syria-turkey-ceasefire-violations.html

The Syrian ceasefire is generally holding, apart from Turkey violating it in the country’s north, a member of the Syrian opposition delegation formed after meetings in Moscow and Cairo told Sputnik on Sunday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Turkey has been shelling towns in northern Syria recently.

"The most serious violation of ceasefire is in the north of Syria on the border with Turkey. This is a violation of the ceasefire regime by Turkey. The rest are separate cases. The overall situation is fine," Qadri Jamil, one of the leaders of the Syrian Popular Front for Change and Liberation, said.


Russia turns to US for explanations over Turkey’s shelling of Syrian territory
http://tass.ru/en/politics/859495

Earlier the Russian Center for reconciling the warring sides in Syria received information on an attack from the Turkish territory on the Syrian town of Et Tell el-Abyad by armed units.

KHMEIMIM /SYRIA/, February 28. /TASS/. The Russian Center for Truce in Syria has turned to the US Reconciliation Center for explanations over the shelling of the Syrian territory by Turkey, which is a member of the US-led anti-terror coalition, Russian Center Head Lieutenant-General Sergei Kuralenko said on Sunday.

"Overnight to February 28, the Russian Center for reconciling the warring sides in Syria received information on an attack from the Turkish territory on the Syrian town of Et Tell el-Abyad by armed units with the support of large-caliber artillery. This information was subsequently verified and confirmed through several channels, including representatives of the Syrian Democratic Forces," the Russian general said.

"The Russian Center has turned to the US Reconciliation Center in Amman for explanations over the shelling of the Syrian territory by Turkey, which is a member of the US-led anti-IS [Islamic State] coalition," he said.

 

[angelburst29]

Over 100 Terrorists Cross Turkish Border to Syria
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941209001066

Sun Feb 28, 2016 - More than 100 militants have arrived in Raqqa province after crossing the Turkish border, the Russian-language media outlets reported, adding that the fresh terrorist troops have been sent to take the town of Tal Abyadh back from militants.

The news comes as the ISIL has confirmed that it has pulled its fighters back from key Tal Abyadh town in the Northern part of Raqqa province at the border with Turkey under the heavy attacks of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) alongside the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The YPG and SDF fighters are now engaged in fortifying their positions inside and outside the town.

The Kurdish fighters have significantly advanced against the ISIL militants in the town of Tal Abyadh and have pushed the terrorists back form the town.

Reports said on Saturday that the YPG alongside the SDF have engaged in heavy fighting with the ISIL terrorists in the Northern part of Raqqa province.

The Kurdish forces stormed the ISIL positions near the town of Tal Abyadh and inflicted major losses on the terrorists.

On Wednesday, the Kurdish fighters, after almost six day of intense battle against al-Nusra Front, the Free Syrian Army (FSA), Harakat Nouriddeen al-Zinki and Al-Shamiyah Front, imposed full control over the Bani Zeid Youth Housing Complex in Aleppo city.

The SDF that is comprised of mainly Kurdish fighters as well as a few hundred Syrian Arab dissident forces have received trainings from the US and have been provided with scanty US-coalition air support in their battles in Raqqa province in Northeastern Syria; but in Northern and Northwestern battlefronts, they have been operating alongside the YPG and received the Russian air backup in their Aleppo wars that started with the conquest of Tishrin Dam on the Euphrates early in February.

Assisted by the Syrian army - that has along with popular forces and Hezbollah conquered almost all militant-held regions in Eastern, Southern, Western and Northwestern Aleppo province - and Russian air support, the Kurdish forces fighting against the terrorists in North-Northeast Aleppo province have been making striking advances against the al-Nusra, Ahrar al-Sham and ISIL terrorists in February.

Earlier this month, the YPG and SDF fighters prevailed over the terrorists in the highly strategic city of Tal Rifat in Northern Aleppo and captured the city.

The YPG, who enjoyed the Russian air backup, prevailed the terrorists' positions from the Western direction and shook hand with the Kurdish units of the SDF who entered the town from the North.



Syrian city attacked by armed units from Turkish territory
http://rbth.com/news/2016/02/28/syrian-city-attacked-by-armed-units-from-turkish-territory_571435

February 28, 2016 - The Russian center asked the Amman-based U.S. center for reconciliation for explanations of shelling of the Syrian territory from the side of Turkey.

"In the night from Feb. 27 to 28, the Russian center for reconciliation of warring sides in Syria was informed about an attack of armed units supported by artillery on the Syrian city of Tell Abyad from the territory of Turkey; in a later period the information was verified and confirmed by several sources, including representatives of the Syrian Democratic Forces," Lt. Gen. Sergei Kuralenko, head of the Russian center for reconciliation of warring sides in Syria, told Interfax.

The Russian center asked the Amman-based U.S. center for reconciliation for explanations of shelling of the Syrian territory from the side of Turkey, a member of the anti-ISIS coalition led by the United States.



Jeish Al-Islam Terrorist Group Violates Ceasefire in Syria
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941209000720

The Jeish al-Islam (Army of Islam) militants violated the ceasefire in Syria by firing mortar shells at Damascus' residential areas, media reports said.

The Jeish al-Islam terrorists hit the people's houses in the Syrian capital with mortar shells.

There were no immediate reports on the possible casualties or losses in militants' mortar attacks.

Jeish al-Islam is violating the ceasefire while a ceasefire brokered by the US and Russia came into effect on Saturday

 

[angelburst29]

Erdogan Steps up Proxy War Against US, Uncle Sam Finally Hits Back
http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/erdogan-steps-proxy-war-against-us-uncle-sam-finally-hits-back/ri13103

Meanwhile the western media shrugs its shoulders at Erdogan's in-your-face cultivation of ISIS.

Finally it has happened. Finally Erdogan has pushed the envelope so far that Washington not only stood its ground but pounded its assets into minced meat. As we reported this Saturday ISIS militants made a push for for the Kurdish held town of Tel Abyad on the Syrian-Turkish border from Turkish territory.

And it's not us saying these guys are ISIS, it's Reuters, the anti-Assad Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, and Sky News.

In other words Erdogan had staged its own Bay of Pigs style invasion of Syria – but using ISIS as its Cuban exiles. This was too much even for the United States (or at least the Pentagon) which promptly dispatched planes to back the Kurds.

Firstly, we should take a moment to truly comprehend and appreciate the level of Ankara's cynicism here. Tell Abyad is nearly 100 kilometres away from the nearest ISIS-held crossing on the Syrian-Turkish border at Jarabulus. There is simply no way ISIS could have covered this distance without the cooperation of Turkey. Indeed, if Russians are to be believed Turkey had no intention of even pretending it wasn't behind the offensive but actually openly backed it with its artillery.

What an insane sight: artillery of NATO member Turkey and ISIS suicide car bombers working in tandem to soften up the enemy.

That enemy being the Kurdish-dominated SDF which brings us to our second point, the quick and no nonsense reaction of the US. Erdogan's frustration with the US refusal to cut ties with the Kurds is understandable. As is his anger at the Kurds' increasingly sealing the Turkish-Syrian border and reducing his influence on the Syrian war. However, it is unclear what he thought he could accomplish in this instance.

US had been willing to accomodate Erdogan and back off of its support for the Kurds in north-western Syria where there is a hodge-podge of various different factions and where the US is also pursuing its Syria regime change war and looking benevolently on Turkish-backed jihadis who may accomplish that.

However, in the north-eastern Syria, where ISIS and the Kurds are the only game in town, the US support for Kurdish militiamen has always been absolute. YPG captured Tell Abyad in 2014 with US air support in the first place. Turkey may have its red lines in the west, but here it's US which draws its own red lines – Erdogan crossed it and his proxies paid the price.

As a final point, where is the western mainstream media on this? President of NATO member Turkey organized his own merry little troupe of ISIS head choppers and sent them to invade a neighboring state from his territory.

None of this is in dispute or controversial – it's western reporting which is saying the invasion force was ISIS and struck from Turkey. So then where is the outrage? Where are the condemnations? Where are the calls for Turkey to finally be brought into line?

Or is that only reserved for Russia?

 

[sToRmR1dR]

Turkey's 'Hidden War' Against Kurds May Be Deadlier Than Syria

http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160229/1035550270/turkey-kurds-military-operation.html

According to numbers supplied by Turkey's Human Rights Association, Turkey's military operation against Kurds in the country has been deadlier than the opening of the Syrian conflict.

Turkey's operations in Kurdish areas have turned into an all-out was with hundreds of dead, head of Turkey's Human Rights Association Öztürk Türkdoğan told Sputnik Turkiye.

The intensity of the violence reported by Türkdoğan can be compared to the opening months of the Syrian conflict in terms of both the scope of violence and civilian deaths reported by human rights bodies.

Turkey's violence is somewhat more local when compared to Syria, although attacks on Turkish soldiers have taken place outside the restive Diyarbakir province.

"It is known that in Diyarbakir's Sur, the military is conducting an operation. That is, there is now a real war. Similarly, in Cizre, where, according to our estimates, the military has killed more than 200 civilians. The death toll among the civilian population in the area Sur already stands at about 100 people. In addition, about 130 people are injured and waiting to be saved," Türkdoğan told Sputnik Turkiye.

Turkey's operation against Kurdish activists in the country's southeast began on December 2, 2015, subjecting the region's people to a round-the-clock curfew declared by the governor, despite such a measure being illegal in Turkey, Türkdoğan said.

"With this in mind we can say that the curfew, is in fact the shell of a hidden war which is currently underway," Türkdoğan added.

Turkey is also considering relocating civilians living in the areas, which the residents oppose because that would make them de facto prisoners of war.

Erdogan said the truce is only a third of the territory of Syria

http://www.interfax.ru/world/496706

Moscow. February 29th. INTERFAX.RU - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday that the coverage truce in Syria at the moment does not exceed one third of the country's territory, the Turkish newspaper Zaman.

Turkish president's statement was made in Abidjan during a joint with the president of Ivory Coast Alassane Ouattara news conference. At the same time, Erdogan expressed hope that the coverage truce in Syria will be extended to the whole country.

In turn, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said earlier that the parties to the conflict in Syria, as a whole, comply with the terms of the armistice.

However, the UN special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, warned that terrorist groups will do everything possible to disrupt the truce between the parties to the Syrian conflict.

 

[angelburst29]

Full Video and Transcripts of the Briefing by the Russian Ministry of Defence, 2 Dec. 2015 - (Documentation)

This article was first published in December 2015 - Russian Defense Ministry held a major briefing:

“A whole team of bandits and Turkish leadership [Erdogan’s family as well] stealing oil from their neighbors and are involved in illegal oil trade with ISIS” ~

http://www.globalresearch.ca/bombshell-russian-military-reveals-details-of-isis-daesh-funding-turkeys-role-in-supporting-the-terrorists-complete-transcript-videos-documents/5493043

* FULL VIDEO REPORTS
* Video Report by Russia Today
* (with English translation)

Russian military reveals details of ISIS-Turkey oil smuggling
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMA4B2ZnQ2o

Streamed live on Dec 2, 2015
Russian Defense Ministry holds news briefing on new findings related to counter-terror activities - READ MORE http://on.rt.com/6y70

Media briefing “Russian Federation Armed Forces fighting against international terrorism. New data”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SREX7ol1R0

Published on Dec 2, 2015

(1) FULL SPEECH of the Russian Deputy Defence Minister Anatoly Antonov during the briefing “Russian Federation Armed Forces fighting against international terrorist. New data”
https://syrianfreepress.wordpress.com/2015/12/02/russian-army-briefing/deputy-defence-ministry-anatoly-antonov-1/

(2) FULL SPEECH of the Chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Lt.Gen. Sergei Rudskoy
https://syrianfreepress.wordpress.com/2015/12/02/russian-army-briefing/lt-gen-sergei-rudskoy-1/

Airstrike against oil storage near Khafsa Kabir
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPfPNwhB7Ec

Airstrike against oil refinery near Khafsa Kabir
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKbA_g-4zEE

Airstrike against oil storage near al-Thawra
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ol4xMGgAbKE

Strike carried out by the Russian Aerospace Forces on oil storage near Maarrat al-Numan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hiTDNCYTxs

Heavy vehicles are crossing Syrian-Turkish border with no restrictions near Reyhanli
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHx-4XCgzDY

(3) FULL SPEECH of the Chief of the Main Operational Directorate of Chief of National Centre for State Defence Control Lt.Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev
https://syrianfreepress.wordpress.com/2015/12/02/russian-army-briefing/lt-gen-mikhail-mizintsev-1/

Russia says Turkish leadership involved in illegal oil trade with DAESH ~ [summary]
https://syrianfreepress.wordpress.com/2015/12/02/russian-army-briefing/ministry-of-defence-of-the-russian-federation-briefing-2/

Russian military reveals new details of ISIS funding
https://www.rt.com/news/324252-russian-military-news-briefing/

 

[sToRmR1dR]

Police clash with protesters in Turkey’s Diyarbakir

http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2016/03/02/453454/Turkey-Diyarbakir-violence-curfew/

Violent clashes have erupted in Turkish volatile town of Diyarbakir as people continue to demand an end to a crippling curfew imposed on the area.

Police on Wednesday used water cannon and tear gas to stop protesters marching toward the Sur district to demand an end to the lockdown of the area.

Reports said clashes were continuing in the central parts of Diyarbakir as protesters set fire to boxes and containers in the middle of the streets.

Diyarbakir, Turkey's biggest Kurdish majority city in the southeast, has been under a lockdown since December 2 as the government continues with its crackdown in a bid to root out suspected militants of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or the PKK, in the area.

The clashes came hours after a bomb exploded in the central Yenisehir district, located just north of Diyarbakir, with officials blaming the PKK, saying one person was killed and four others wounded in the incident.

Ankara has decided to partially lift a similar curfew in Cizre, another flashpoint town in the Kurdish-dominated southeast, but it says that the lockdown in Diyarbakir will continue as the violence has not fully subsided.

Residents of Cizre began returning home Wednesday only to find scenes of devastation and entire buildings in ruins. They escaped the town in mid-December when a heavy security operation began against alleged positions of the PKK.

Turkish army says it has managed to kill around 670 suspected PKK members since the crackdown began in late July. Officials from the pro-Kurdish Democratic Peoples' Party (HDP) say, however, that many of those killed were civilians.

The march in Diyarbakir came after the HDP called for demonstration in Sur to demand the end of the curfew. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan slammed the invitation, saying it is a “call for terror.”

Turkish Authorities Attack Curfew Protests, Dozens Arrested

http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160302/1035683901/turkey-attack-curfew-protests.html

As the Turkish government cracks down on Kurdish minorities, authorities have arrested 33 people protesting curfews in the country’s southeast.

Turkey began enforcing a curfew in Kurdish regions of southeastern Turkey last December. The move has been roundly criticized by rights groups and led to massive protests within the affected communities.

During Wednesday's demonstrations, authorities unleashed tear gas and fired water cannons in the city of Diyardbakir before arresting 33 individuals.

"The people of Diyarbakir are against the government’s policy of war and massacre and the burning and destruction of their own city," said Selahattin Demirtas, chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (HDP).

Located in the district of Sur, the city has been terrorized by the Turkish government as it attempts to hunt down members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Some estimates show that thousands of people have been killed across the region during the crackdown, including civilians.

On Wednesday, Kamuran Yuksek, Co-Chair of the Kurdish Democratic Regions Party (DBP), told Sputnik that government security forces are also forcing nearly 200 people to remain locked inside a building in Sur, threatening to fire upon them if they come out.

"Among these people there are representatives of the youth wing of the PKK, civilian population of the city, children, and the elderly. According to our information, some 200 people are there," he said.

"I want to appeal to the Turkish society about the need to unite to oppose such a policy of the Justice and Development Party’s government in Ankara. The authorities’ actions create a serious, deep division in our society."

A number of rights activists have called on the international community to condemn Turkey’s actions.

"We would like for Russia to bring this issue at the UNSC and so that the Security Council makes a resolution. We are working on this with Russian authorities and diplomats," Kurdistan National Congress spokesman Selahattin Soro told RIA Novosti.

"According to our figures, around 5,000 have died if we count everyone, including civilians, Kurdish militants, police, and soldiers," he added. "I think these numbers are lowered. Just in the city of Cizre, there were several reports of hundreds of Kurdish activists who came under fire. Actually, there aren’t any precise numbers, the Turkish authorities don’t allow the collection of these data and don’t share the information with anyone else."

 

[sToRmR1dR]

The Turkey Deconstruct May Be Academic

http://journal-neo.org/2016/03/03/the-turkey-deconstruct-may-be-academic/

Did we suddenly wake up in the midst of a shadowy nightmare? Is Reuters reporting to prompt NATO into action in alliance with Turkey and Saudi Arabia against Russia? This is the reality this morning, as the UN Security Council (UNSC), is now urging Turkey to adhere to norms of international law. Almost everyone now understands that are very close to World War III, albeit powerless to prevent it. The world of geopolitics is spinning out of control, and the same goes for the world.

A recent Reuters report, backed by a slew of reporters, the narrative which is worded like a script from an old war movie.

“Turkey, Saudi Arabia and some European allies want ground troops deployed in Syria as a Russian-backed government advance nears NATO’s southeastern border.”

Where Catastrophic Ideas Come From​

This, according to the Reuters sources, leaves us a staged reality, and based on a surreal report that comes across as a being a “matter-of-fact” decision having been made to pit the Syrian Army and the Kurdistan forces against “rebels” caught in the middle in the Syrian debacle. Whereas ISIL was in the middle at a point, somehow the butchers amongst Parisian concert goers are hell bent on finishing the job, perhaps not only for Syria but Turkey as well. Reason has disappeared? Gone are the days when the US led coalition air forces were “supposed” to be decimating the ISIL menace and replaced with boots on the ground. Media only mention American and NATO backed “freedom fighters” these days. This term should be substituted for terrorists. Apparently the Western manipulated and controlled corporate media simply manufacturing convenient truth on a daily basis on a need to know only basis. But the media is not the only troubling menace that adds to the Syrian mess.

Anyone who is informed, and not just by MSM, about what is now going on in the Middle East simply has to be shaking their heads in dismay. Saudi Arabia, NATO and the United States, its allies, have essentially created Arab Spring under the guise of democratic change and now comes the Arab Storm, as [they] are collectively arming and funding ISIL and other groups. All the while [they] are openly proclaiming that it is Russia, Syria, and Iran, the dirty culprits, are the ones who encroaching on NATO’s territory and threaten regional security.

The cited report reels out one striking lie after another, accusing Russia of attacking hospitals, and the Kurds in Iraq of being the aggressors against Turkey. Everything I reality turned up-side-down, and reported on Reuters as the truth and nothing but the truth. The lead reporter, Lisa Barrington, is from Beirut. She has essentially been the official announcer for Bashar al-Assad’s opposition in the last few months. Using her position, she and the other mouthpieces of misinformation at Reuters, are well positioned to violate public trust in the media. Their professional and operational backgrounds are inextricably tied to a hodgepodge of people and organizations with obvious vested interests in the region. Barrington, either by recruiting or by innocent wandering, ended up in a master’s program at Lund University in Holland, and fell immediately into the scheme of the influencers, and absorbed ideas from her academic advisers that are better presented as the “party line” – in terms of: Arab Spring, the Euromaidan, the Balkans disaster, events the Caucasus, or any other human conflict catastrophe that brings forth political and economic benefits to the few.

Allow me to elaborate.​

The Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Lund University is headed by one of the extolled experts of Arab Spring, Dr. Leif Stenberg. Please wrap your mind around this, if you will. Stenberg, head of a respected center for expertise on the Middle East, has thrown in with the same people who invested in Arab Spring, the Syria uprising, and the anti-Assad coup being attempted today. Stenberg co-authored “Syria from Reform to Revolt, Volume 2”, which dissects Syrian society from the perspective that Assad was responsible for causing the uprisings that were in fact fueled by previous sanctions, a severe drought, and what former CIA intelligence analyst Philip Giraldi warned in December 2011, was a proxy war about to erupt, and I quote in part:

“Americans should be concerned about what is happening in Syria, if only because it threatens to become another undeclared war like Libya but much, much worse. . . . NATO is already clandestinely engaged in the Syrian conflict, with Turkey taking the lead as U.S. proxy. . . . Unmarked NATO warplanes are arriving at Turkish military bases close to Iskenderum on the Syrian border, delivering weapons from the late Muammar Gaddafi’s arsenals as well as volunteers from the Libyan Transitional National Council who are experienced in pitting local volunteers against trained soldiers, a skill they acquired confronting Gaddafi’s army…”

The Seeds of Empire​

Consequently Dr. Stenberg’s protégés and colleagues, end up becoming the fledglings of think tanks, newspapers, research institutes, and other entities, and the very ones on the payroll of western corporations and NGOs. In simple terms, knowingly or unwittingly, the most knowledgeable experts in the field of Middle Eastern study serve as the stooges of hegemony. One only need to look at this news report (use Google or Yandex translate) where Dr. Stenberg is frequently cited. The Lund University professor becomes judge, jury, and executor, and international law is flaunted by accusing Russia of its “illegal” military operations in Syria. It is not so complicated for the Reuters writer, Lisa Barrington’s part, as she readily admits having left the UK for Sweden and Lund out of economic necessity. Lund University is free for those seeking to earn a master’s degree, even foreigners.

It is only too clear; some of the best and brightest are lured into what I would call “policy incubators” – schools of thought where thought is massaged. As further proof, readers of Sweden’s most popular daily newspaper, Svenska Dagbladet, they are assured NATO and the western ideals are in tact. Learned like Dr. Stenberg are used as the dry kindling tender to set the fires of never-ending conflicts. And they are proud of their media notoriety too.

So proud in fact, Stenberg on the media publicity CMES/MECW has received in the wake of the events of 2011. He goes so far in this report, as to complain about the problems his center faced in keeping up with requests for Middle Eastern expertise by the media and governments. I don’t suppose the good doctor ever considered the business of war having need of “experts” for propaganda purposes. What Stenberg describes as “overcrowding” there at the university there in Sweden back in 2010 (PDF), it must have pumped academic heads in Scandinavia like gigantic balloons, the pride in Professor Stenberg’s dogma reflect it so.

Despite my best intention and good efforts, nowhere can I find mentions of the CIA involvement in any of the Arab Spring upheaval by any of these so-called scholars. Google their names, add the + sign, hit search …. Nothing. Plug in the reporting of Former CIA station chief Robert Grenier, correlate these NATO collaborators (like I said, unwilling or not)…. Nothing whatsoever!!

As Jeffrey Silverman, Veterans Today Bureau Chief for Georgia, puts it so mildly, “it is a win-win situation for the CIA, as the real target is not the so called terrorists, ISIL, and the corrupt Syrian regime … but nobody BACK at Langley, the Virginia Farm, are going to lose any sleep over the destabilization and weakening of the Turkish State; this may be the real target in the first place. Europe too needs to be watch out that the EURO, and the EU itself, may targets of convenience on the slippery slope of blowback—unintended consequences. ”

The depth and range of CIA operation is revealing, the untold weeks of the studiousness academic desk research of these individuals and think thanks reveal absolutely NOTHING of the alternative hypotheses purported for Middle East chaos! Nothing! Meanwhile, this report from Grenier implicates the CIA with a snapshot of their covert activities inside Syria. Furthermore, unnamed Israeli intelligence sources leaked information that NATO was neck deep in a Syria coup back in 2011:

“NATO headquarters in Brussels and the Turkish high command are meanwhile drawing up plans for their first military step in Syria, which is to arm the rebels with weapons for combating the tanks and helicopters spearheading the Assad regime’s crackdown on dissent. … NATO strategists are thinking more in terms of pouring large quantities of anti-tank and anti-air rockets, mortars and heavy machine guns into the protest centers for beating back the government armored forces. (DEBKAfile, NATO to give rebels anti-tank weapons, August 14, 2011)”

This 2002 , Democracy Now, report is most revealing, and tells us how the CIA in academia had its resurgence after the 9/11 attacks. I’ve delved into this aspect of world conflict many times, but the NGO and business connectives to professors and universities, students, and eventually professionals in many spheres, is of paramount concern. Through grants funded by NGOs and governments, like the $8 million dollar grant Dr. Stenberg’s CMES got from the Swedish Research Council in 2009, can perpetuate not only research, but an agenda with vast security and geopolitical implications. And these grants bridge continents and institutions as you can see via this University of Nebraska list. This Northwestern School of Communication profile connects Stenberg, his research, and a pretty far out range of academics.

One I found quickly, Dr. Shayna Silverstein’s research examines the politics and aesthetics of sound and movement in the contemporary Middle East. Silverstein authored “Cultural Liberalization or Marginalization? The Cultural Politics of Syrian Folk Dance during Social Market Reform,” with editing from Leif Stenberg and another Syria “expert”, Dr. Christa Salamandra, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Lehman College, City University of New York.

Any reader who has watched the George Clooney film, “The Men Who Stare at Goats” will surely be amused here. Dr. Stenberg’s protégés training to use dance music to democratize Syrians pops into my comedic (ironic) consciousness. It’s difficult to decide for sure if these professors around the world really believe governments financing them do so because of the brilliance of their research. Perhaps the goal of understanding a modernization of “Sufism” was the underlying goal? Stenberg is an authority on the mystical cult at the center of Islam. Knowing former President George Bush’s wife held a volume of the poet Mawlana Jalal-ud-Din Balkhi-Rumi’s Sufi poetry on her lap in a photo session at the White House, adds an eerie sense of irony too. But this rabbit hole of strange “coincidences” has already revealed too much craziness to grasp.

The recent death of Turkish billionaire, Mustafa Koc casts a little bit of a shadow on “Neo-Sufism” as a component in all this Middle East mess too. It turns out, exiled Turkish scholar and Sufism evangelist, Fethullah Gülen met with the energy magnate in 2014. The depth and tone of that association is far too complex to deal with here, but it’s fair to consider Turkey’s role in the Syria-Arab Spring affair as emanating from such discourse. What many scholars claim is going on in Turkey, a sort of re-Islamized nation, it seems to bear up under scrutiny now. According to anti-fascist researcher, Dave Emery, the schools of Fethullah Gülen are actually more than educational entities. In fact, a good many independent researchers lay out the double agenda of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan as part of a larger game plan drafted by Gülen, who in turn is painted as the author of a so-called “New Ottoman Empire” we hear Erdogan associated with. With the “re-Islamification” of Turkey in mind, the meetup with Turkey’s most powerful business magnate, and the Mustafa Koc’s subsequent death, take on new meaning.

Barriers to Turkey’s Re-Islamization​

Consider the abandonment of the Turkish Stream Pipeline. Look at how Turkey is at war with the Kurds now. Take into account the multinationals involved in the oil business in this region. Now, consider the whole Turkey-Russia conflict going on now, and an underlying truth no mainstream newspaper has addressed yet. How did Erdogan come to power in the first place? Who stood behind? Whoever really gave the order for Turkish-NATO jets to effectively declare war on Russia, a single act—guess who?

Let’s assume for the moment that President Erdogan, Gülen, and even Mustafa Koc had similar ideas about a new Turkish Islamification, and empire in the region. Historically, the military has served as a bulwark in modern Turkey against Islamization, essentially enforcing a secular state at the point of a gun.Military officers who would not play along are in jail now. The Erdogan government effectively broke the political power of any military opposition, years ago. So the “invisible hand” that really controls Turkey has no real opposition. Also, Erdogan’s affinity for the ultra right wing Grey Wolves attests to a far greater control, and already they may have some serious blood on their hands.

One instance of there being no limits can be seen with the Turkmen commander’ who boasted of murdering the pilot of the Russian Su-24. He openly admitted to being a member of the Turkish ultra-nationalist with membership as far afield as Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Azerbaijan and Thailand. The reader can begin to glean just how deep and dark the reality of Turkey is here. As a NATO country where terrorists, gangsters, business people, and politicians share alliances with, the place author Martin A. Lee explored in 1997 is far worse today:

“Since the earliest days of the Cold War, Turkey’s strategic importance derived from its geographic position as the West’s easternmost bulwark against Soviet communism. In an effort to weaken the Soviet state, the CIA also used pan-Turkish militants to incite anti-Soviet passions among Muslim Turkish minorities inside the Soviet Union, a strategy that strengthened ties between US intelligence and Turkey’s ultra-nationalists.”

Pan-Turanianism​

The CIA’s involvement in Turkey, naïve or complicit academic, Sufist schools of thought and ideology, and the cloak and dagger events underneath should warn us at least, that everything is not as it appears. I’ll leave you with an alarming anecdote I found while researching all this.

Declassified back in 2005, a CIA concoction called the Pan Turania Idea emerged. The plan, co-created by an unnamed German-Turkish expert, played out a scenario where a victorious Nazi Germany carve the Soviet Union into a group of puppet states based on Turanian nationalism. As crazy as this may sound, the only way western idealists think about Russia is in mincemeat fashion, where all the power and resources are fragmented for takeover. That being as it may, “Pan-Turanianism” is a British construct, one Turkish author Halide Edip Adivar wrote about in her famous novel “Yeni Turan” (The New Turan). This notion is most closely emulated in the efforts of Fethullah Gulen’s non-governmental organizations (NGOs), as well as those supported by George Soros and Freedom House, for Chechen terrorists is part of the pan-Turania concept.

I know all this is food for thought. I’ll continue with a look at the death of Mustafa Koc and the Munich Security Conference in a day or two. For now thought, the insightful among you will want to delve more deeply into such concepts as Ulrich Beck’s “Cosmopolitanism” and this Pan-Turania concept.

Turkish Deputy PM Hopes Ankara Will Not 'Engage in Syrian Conflict Alone'

http://sputniknews.com/politics/20160303/1035705218/turkey-syrian-war.html

Ankara is not considering to launch a military intervention in the Syrian conflict, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said Thursday.

ANKARA (Sputnik) — According to the deputy prime minister, Turkey hopes that Syria becomes "a state, where neither [Syrian President] Bashar Assad, nor Daesh exist."

"Turkey isn't going to engage in a war… But Turkey defends its sovereignty and will response to any attempt of attack. I hope that in this case, Turkey won't have to engage in the conflict alone," Kurtulmus told 24 TV television.

Last week, Russia and the United States reached an agreement on the ceasefire in Syria. The cessation of hostilities took effect at midnight on Saturday, Damascus time, generally holding across the country despite reported minor violations.

On February 13, Turkish artillery began shelling positions held by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), a Kurdish group with links to the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), in Syria's Aleppo Province.

On February 25, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that the truce in Syria is not obligatory for Turkey to follow if the country feels a threat against its security.

 

[angelburst29]

The Turkey Deconstruct May Be Academic

http://journal-neo.org/2016/03/03/the-turkey-deconstruct-may-be-academic/

“Americans should be concerned about what is happening in Syria, if only because it threatens to become another undeclared war like Libya but much, much worse. . . . NATO is already clandestinely engaged in the Syrian conflict, with Turkey taking the lead as U.S. proxy. . .

Despite my best intention and good efforts, nowhere can I find mentions of the CIA involvement in any of the Arab Spring upheaval by any of these so-called scholars. Google their names, add the + sign, hit search …. Nothing. Plug in the reporting of Former CIA station chief Robert Grenier, correlate these NATO collaborators (like I said, unwilling or not)…. Nothing.

Thanks for Posting and highlighting this article, StormR1dr.

I've been reading up on what happened in Yugoslavia back in 1991, with CIA and NATO involvement (as the main actors) and this article on "behind the scenes activities in Turkey", seems merely an extension of that destruction. Turkey is being used, to weaken and destroy Syria, so they can try to get their hands on Russia. Intensification of their activities in breeching Syria's Border's during this Ceasefire is of serious concern.

 

[sToRmR1dR]

Thanks for Posting and highlighting this article, StormR1dr.

I've been reading up on what happened in Yugoslavia back in 1991, with CIA and NATO involvement (as the main actors) and this article on "behind the scenes activities in Turkey", seems merely an extension of that destruction. Turkey is being used, to weaken and destroy Syria, so they can try to get their hands on Russia. Intensification of their activities in breeching Syria's Border's during this Ceasefire is of serious concern.

You're welcomed angelburst29.Yugoslavia was a beautiful dream and Turkey is just a different story with the same actors,as most countries around. :)