Category talk:Turkey

Peace Association of Turkey Report
A report of a group of Turkish Journalists, Lawyers, Members of Parliament etc has been handed over to Pillay's UN Syria booth, for a change focusing on the crimes of the "opposition". They are seeking national and international criminal justice and focus on the situation in and role of Turkey. Much of this is known (yet often not directly sourced in the report), but it is quite useful for a handy collection of dates (where and when was the SNC founded, was the formative "Friends of Syria" meeting, etc). A good part of the report deals with "Lawsuits in Turkey and their outcome". The first criminal complaint, against the actions on Turkish soil of Riad Al-A'saad, Belhadj and to-whom-it-will-lead, was already filed in late 2011 - and stonewalled as expectable. Good luck with getting Pillay et al to move their comfortable behinds at the UN.


 * War Crimes Committed Against The People Of Syria (38 pages, 1,1 MB PDF)

--CE (talk) 14:24, 28 January 2014 (UTC)

Events at the border
Another weapons transport got busted on the weekend, under direct supervision of MIT and covered-up by them after the fact with direct Erdogan protection. This is as bold as it gets. Turkey-involvement article might be worth considering, this is the best place to park it I could think of for the moment.


 * Turkish intelligence service trucks reveal secrets, Al Monitor, Jan 20, 2014


 * After explosives-detecting dogs gave appropriate signals, the prosecutor allowed steel containers in the trucks to be opened. In six metal crates, concealed among medical supplies, were mortar shells, rockets and various other ammunition. While the trucks were being moved to nearby Seyhan Town Gendarmerie Command for a detailed search, the trucks were blocked by MIT personnel from their Adana regional office. At that point, the governor, Adana Huseyin Avni Cos, the provincial police chief and the MIT regional director arrived at the scene accompanied by 200 policemen. Cos tried for one hour to persuade the prosecutor not to go ahead with the search but couldn’t. Then Cos wrote to the Ceyhan district governor and the Adana Provincial Gendarmerie Command, warning that the MIT was attached directly to the prime minister and searching MIT vehicles without the permission of the prime minister’s office would be an offense. The vehicles then were released under the governor’s instructions and continued on their way toward Syria.

--CE (talk) 11:28, 21 January 2014 (UTC)

A year later official documents have been leaked that confirm the story and Erdogan's direct involvement. Reaction as usual: Court order, censoring and cleansing of all information from the Turkish Internet. The story on Al Monitor. --CE (talk) 16:13, 24 January 2015 (UTC)

Testimonies of arrested prosecutors show state had links with ISIL Today's Zaman, May 10, 2015 --Caustic Logic (talk) 22:36, 14 May 2015 (UTC)

Later, PM Davutoğlu admitted the aid famously intercepted was weapon aid, but still not meant for jihadists, as Today's Zaman reports He said after hesitating for about a year and a half “Yes, I am saying this without any hesitation. That aid was going to the Turkmens. There will be a war next door and we will watch our Turkmen, Arab and Kurdish brothers being massacred. Really?” --Caustic Logic (talk) 23:24, 18 June 2015 (UTC)

After the re-taking of the border crossing at Tal Abywad, Kurdish forces arrested one informed IS fighter who tried to slip back into Turkey (many others did, hiding with the civilians who tore down the fence and were allowed in). He's interviewd and give many details about recruitment. A Turkish citizen, he was brought into the fold by people affiliated with an Islamic association called Hisader, that got locals hooked on drugs, then helped them get clean and turned them onto extreme Islam, then talked them into fighting in Syria. After this made the news, authorities shut the group down (ne mention of arrests). Al-Monitor tries on-location investigation, finds locals are "evasive, then hostile" and know nothing about it. --Caustic Logic (talk) 23:24, 18 June 2015 (UTC)

Defending their Territory - inside Syria
In recent weeks, Turkey has on the one hand agreed with Saudi Arabia and a growing body of nations that foreign fighters in Syria must leave. Both KSA and Turkey still fail to acknowledge their own roles getting them there, and Turkey insists especially that all foreigners helping the government must leave. Ankara also emphasized their strange line that Syria itself created the Al Qaeda threat they now face, and that the climate breeding them comes from both government authority and also the destruction of it Turkey has helped so much in.
 * Reuters, Feb 26: "Ahmet Davutoglu told Reuters a robust international strategy including "real intelligence cooperation" and withdrawal of all foreign fighters was needed to end the conflict and help millions of Syrians devastated by violence. The crisis was "a threat to all" ... because of the presence of these terrorist groups based on the power vacuum and because of the totalitarian and autocratic nature of the regime," he said. "they wanted to focus on the threat of terrorism, which in fact was created by them."

At the same time, Ankara threatened to send their own Turkish military into Syria for the first time openly - if need be - to protect a historical site they consider theirs, that's recently become threatened. Turkish-funneled Salafists in the Aleppo area have issued threats against the Turkish tomb of Suleyman Shah, grandfather of the founder of the Ottoman Empire. They hate "idolatrous" tombs, shrines, and the like, and were surely motivated by that, not by the chance to get the Turkish Army in there, and somehow probably on their side against the Syrian government. France deeded the tomb to Turkey while they were in charge there, in 1921. For anyone worried how long ago that was, the treaty was renewed in 1936. It's been guarded ever since by a force of Turkish troops, now numbering 25. Reuters reported "Turkey threatened on Friday to retaliate for any attack on the tomb ... The Turkish warning follows clashes this week between militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), an al Qaeda breakaway group, and rival rebel groups in the area of the tomb, which lies east of Aleppo near the Turkish border."
 * Presna Latina English
 * Reuters, March 14
 * Hurriyet Daily:
 * “As of now, there has been no [move on] our soldiers or our land there. But in the event of such a threat, we are ready to take all sorts of precautions,” Davutoğlu told reporters in the eastern province of Van on March 14. 
 * The tomb sits 25 kilometers from the Turkey-Syria border and remains under Turkish sovereignty under a 1921 treaty signed between Turkey and France, which was then the colonial power in Syria. That agreement was renewed after Syria gained independence in 1936.
 * Any attack against the tomb either from “the regime, from radical groups of from anybody” would be subjected to retaliation from Turkey, which would take all measures for the protection of that land, Davutoğlu said.
 * Furthermore we can guess, any retaliation, no matter who launched the attack, will be against the "regime." --Caustic Logic (talk) 09:13, 17 March 2014 (UTC)

March 2014 false flag attack

 * ''Moved to Talk:March 2014 false flag plan

Cameron Criticism?
January 18, 2015 AWD News.com British PM lashed out Turkey, warns against Erdoğan’s dangerous agendas
 * “I told President Obama earlier that MI6 had presented us with the incontrovertible facts regarding Turkish mischievous role in Syria and we believe Turkish officials’ current policies won’t create any conditions conducive to bring peace to the battle-scarred nation,” the Kuwaiti News Agency (KUNA) quoted the British premiere as saying during a press conference in Washington.


 * “We still believe Assad must relinquish the power and United Kingdom along with her other international partners will continue to support moderate opposition factions in Syria but Mr. Erdoğan is singing a different tune by supporting the ‘the wrong guys’,” added Cameron urging Ankara to desist from its support for ISIS terrorists.

Didn't find anyone else reporting this yet. KUNA English doesn't have it in most current or most read articles. Does note most recently KUNA English service closes down for Sunday, January 18, 2015. Hm. Weird quotes, come to think of it... --Caustic Logic (talk) 02:26, 19 January 2015 (UTC)

Islamists risk rupture in Turkey’s ties with Germany
Interesting piece in Today's Zaman about Turkey-Germany relations. Was quoted in an also read-worthy Mike Whitney article on counterpunch entitled Ankara: the New Capital of Jihad. I disagree with the motivation the latter author thinks is behind Washington's seemingly bizarre behaviour - getting rid of Assad as ultimate goal. He should think of the "new middle east" maps which show a Turkey much smaller than today and an independent Kurdistan. Will megalomaniac Erdogan help to destroy his country to fulfill other megalomaniacs' plans? --CE (talk) 12:04, 28 August 2015 (UTC)

Turkish Kurds fighting ISIS

 * Turkish Kurd grief: 'They don't even let us bury our dead' - Selin Girit, BBC News, 15 August 2015
 * ''More than 4,000 people from Turkey, predominantly Kurds, have gone to fight against the IS since the assault on Kobani started late last year.
 * ''Up until recently, those killed were allowed back for their funerals. Over 200 YPG fighters have been buried in Turkey so far.
 * ''But now the bodies of 23 fighters have been stopped at the border.

-- Petri Krohn (talk) 23:44, 14 August 2015 (UTC)

Kurds

 * Turkish soldiers engage Kurdish activists in Diyarbakir, 4 wounded - report, RT, 6 Feb., 2016 --Resup (talk) 11:42, 6 February 2016 (UTC)]
 * Ankara blast: Turkey PM says Syria Kurds to blame, BBC, Feb. 18, 2016 --Resup (talk) 12:24, 18 February 2016 (UTC)
 * ''The Syrian Kurdish PYD party, to whom the YPG is affiliated, said it "completely refuted" the claims of its involvement. Saleh Muslim, co-chair of the party, also denied claims the YPG was firing into Turkey. "They don't consider Turkey as an enemy," he told Reuters news agency.
 * Turkey FM invites ambassadors of the five UNSC permanent member countries for individual discussions TASS (Rus)

Attempted military coup, July 15, 2016

 * moved to Talk:Attempted military coup in Turkey, July 15, 2016

After the Coup
On 19 Oct. 2016, the state of emergency was extended for another 3 months. And 1267 more academics dismissed. (While still on a huge European Science funding scheme. Isn't life wonderful?) --Resup (talk) 22:37, 17 December 2016 (UTC)

Dollar bills stories
Arrested for the Dollar in His Pocket -Daily Beast, December 23, 2016

[https://www.facebook.com/thedailybeast/posts/10154859316884203 An American in Turkey’s Prisons. In for a Crime? No, in for a Dollar], November 26, 2016

Turkey-Russia
"Turkey, Russia build new mechanism, direct military line on Syria" Hurriyet daily news, 10 Aug., 2016

After normalization of ties with Russia and Erdogan visit to St. Petersburg, "Turkey urges Russia to back joint operations against IS in Syria" Yahoo News, 11 Aug., 2016. However differences on Assad remain.
 * --Resup (talk) 13:07, 11 August 2016 (UTC)

"Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Saturday that Russia could possibly use country's southern Incirlik Air Base if it becomes necessary." -Sputnik News. --After Erdogan telling Poroshenko that he does not recognize Crimea joining Russia. --Resup (talk) 20:28, 20 August 2016 (UTC)

Gülenists and Karlov Assassination

 * moved here from User talk:CE

Hi, CE! I'm looking into the Altintas case (killing of ambassador Karlov in Turkey). Turkey blames Gulenists and the CIA, and that's getting a lot of credit. Ideas on what the Gulenists stand for seem confused at the moment. My impression was they're the secular-leaning moderate opposition to Erdogans extremism. They didn't seem like the "Allahu Akbarking" Islamist opposition, but maybe Islamist, in a more Gaddafi (moderate) sense. You seem to know more about Turkey than the rest of us, so what's your take? --Caustic Logic (talk) 00:04, 24 December 2016 (UTC)
 * I know, bad timing. It's for this, which isn't done yet, but might be before you get back online (if you are already?) (by which I mean - grim times aside - MERRY CHRISTMAS!) http://libyancivilwar.blogspot.com/2016/12/who-was-behind-killing-of-ambassador.html --Caustic Logic (talk) 16:13, 24 December 2016 (UTC)
 * Few rather obvious 2 p observations: Killing an ambassador is casus belli, and the acting here is of Gavrilo Princip sort. Both Erdogan and Putin very quickly were in contact and did their best to downplay this as not having something to do with Erdogan. There were some moving formal honorary tributes, articles on how Turks are indignant, etc; all that on the level of broad public diplomacy worked, for the most part. Gullen? No clue, but an analogy. Many Russian/Soviet dissidents on the personal level were honest, with high moral standards, etc, etc. Yet on the level of system-vs-the-system, more often than not they were used (rather indirectly, and on some large, generation-long time scale), even if step-by-step that was not at all apparent and hard to ever pinpoint them being a tool rather than acting on their own will. --Resup (talk) 17:12, 24 December 2016 (UTC)
 * Thanks, Resup. I'm not suspecting a direct Turkish hand, but maybe. Gulen, no. I can see how a harbored dissident could be used and how the US is cooling towards Erdogan at least. But I think it's bunch of crud in this case, however many smart people are leaping to blame the CIA. Details coming (still finding bits). Merry Christmas! --Caustic Logic (talk) 05:56, 25 December 2016 (UTC)


 * No matter how "moderate" Gülen claims to be, until recently he and Erdogan had been allies against the secular Kemalists. And it is a fact that there's something cult-like about Gülen, not only that he goes after the youth through "education", i.e. good old brainwashing. CIA ties also well documented, ask Sibel Edmonds. So I would say that what you can read in the English-language wikipedia is clearly sanitized. That said, of course Erdogan uses the "FETÖ" label as a scapegoat, and in this case I would agree with this guy that something like the Ottoman Hearths would be a more plausible ideological background for the killer. But who knows. Maybe t'was Hillary Clinton? Merry Christmas! --CE (talk) 13:32, 26 December 2016 (UTC)
 * Thanks! Okay, see, I picked up there was some network behind stuff like freeing (Sirgoluku?) after he betrayed Hussein Harmoush, maybe the judge who ordered Erdogan's aid truck searched, maybe the corruption probe blamed on Gulen, etc. This is probably so to some degree, and it's what Erdogan would call FETO - maybe including Gulenists but even more so Kemalists, others. In the finished post now it's probably "sanitized," conflating Gulenists and secularists. Will add a note, maybe like FETO can be thought of as a catch-all acronym for Foes of Erdogan Targeted for Obliteration. For the main points, this isn't too important. As you note, he still seems more like an Erdogan type (could mention the Ottoman Hearths, thx), in his apparently genuine Jihadism and his being consistently trusted by AKP. --Caustic Logic (talk) 13:38, 27 December 2016 (UTC)
 * Jihadism (religious reason) or 'us' vs 'them' (tribal reason) ? --Resup (talk) 13:42, 27 December 2016 (UTC)
 * Not sure, but they'd say religious. Turkish Islamists seem extra-vocal and emphatic, to make up for the beard shortage. Purely the word of God, for all his people, Arabs and Turks alike. --Caustic Logic (talk) 14:04, 27 December 2016 (UTC)
 * An ultra-religious person is supposed to follow every single religious commandment and this may not be easily accommodated in normal police unit, unless the whole state is like that ...As described in the blog, on his way of transitioning towards insurgency, that may be, have not followed his background. --Resup (talk) 14:14, 27 December 2016 (UTC)

Other Events

 * 28.6.2016 "At least 2 blasts rock Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport, multiple injuries reported" TASS (Rus) RT (Engl) --Resup (talk) 20:18, 28 June 2016 (UTC)

Fakes
Erdogan saved a secret services agent? Rusvesna report is telling us that the man recently saved by Erdogan from jumping from a bridge was a secret services agent... (an article with plausible photos inside) --Resup (talk) 00:34, 30 December 2015 (UTC)