Category: Syria

Wedding murder exposes Kurdish divisions in Turkey

Daren Butler

A Free Syrian Army member is seen behind sandbags at a checkpoint during a siege on the Kurdish city of Afrin, which is under the control of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), in the Aleppo countryside (Hamid Khatib Reuters, / June 30, 2013)

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) – When gunmen stormed a wedding and shot dead a guest in southeastern Turkey, they stirred fears of a new outbreak of bloodshed in a region increasingly destabilized by Syria’s civil war.

The killing in the city of Batman highlighted divisions between Kurds which echo the faultlines of the conflict in Syria, complicating Ankara’s efforts to draw a line under a three-decade Kurdish insurgency on its own soil.

Turkey’s peace process with the armed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), aimed at ending a conflict that has cost more than 40,000 lives, was already fragile.

But the emergence of a Kurdish Sunni Islamist party, Huda-Par, has reopened old wounds in the southeast, poorer than the rest of Turkey and scarred by the wider Kurdish-Turkish fight.

The party, established in December and now campaigning for local elections in March, draws support from sympathizers of Turkey’s Hizbullah militant group which fought the PKK in the 1990s.

“That bloodshed is the source of animosity between the two sides and is not easy for people to forget,” said Ayla Akat, member of parliament for Batman from the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), which shares the same grassroots support as the PKK.

The historical animosity has been given a new twist with the war that has fragmented Syria, where radical Sunni Islamists are now fighting fierce battles with local Kurdish forces in the north, near the border with Turkey.

via Wedding murder exposes Kurdish divisions in Turkey – chicagotribune.com.

November 19, 2013
Regional War Scenario. NATO-US-Turkey War Games Off the Syrian Coastline

According to Turkish press reports, Turkey’s High Command will be hosting NATO’S Invitex military exercise in the Eastern Mediterranean in a clear act of provocation directed against Syria.

The Invitex-Eastern Mediterranean war games are scheduled from November 4 to 14.

Deafening silence. Not a single Western media has reported on these war games.

The official release by the TKS High Command suggests a war games scenario involving a regional war, under the assumption that the ongoing US-NATO-Israeli covert war on Syria could lead to military escalation. The countries considered to be a threat to Turkey and NATO are not mentioned.

According to the press dispatch of the Turkish Armed forces, various types of naval operations are envisaged. While the word “war” is not mentioned, the stated objective consists in the “handling of a regional crisis”, presumably through military rather than diplomatic means.

Turkish frigate F-245 TCG Oruç Reis

The focus is intended “to enhance co-operation and mutual training between participant countries.” Reading between the lines this suggests enhanced military coordination directed against potential enemy countries in the Middle East including Syria and Iran.

“NATO, the U.S. Navy and the Turkish Navy-Air Force-Coast Guard platforms will participate in the exercise, a statement from Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) said Nov. 4.”(Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey)

A significant deployment of both naval and air power is envisaged. According to the TKS communique, the participant units are:

NATO SNMG-2 (three frigates), U.S. Navy (one frigate), Turkish Navy (three frigates, two corvettes, four fast attack boats, three submarines, two oilers, two patrol boats, one landing ship, one tug boat, one maritime patrol aircraft, five helicopters, one amphibious team, one Naval WMD Destroy Team, (Multi National Maritime Security Center of Excellence), Turkish Coast Guard (three Coast Guard Boats) and Turkish Air Force aircrafts. (Ibid)

Frigates are used for amphibious operations and the landing of ground forces. To be noted, the war games include seven frigates, not to mention one landing ship, and an amphibious team.

SNMG 2 refers to Standing NATO Maritime Group 2, NATO standing maritime Immediate Reaction Forces. SNMG 2 is “a multinational, integrated maritime force – made up of vessels from various allied nations, training and operating together as a single team”.The NATO member states involved in the war games was not disclosed.

Of significance, these war games overlap with bilateral military exercises between Turkey and Jordan which include the participation of special forces from both countries.

De Zeven Provinciën-class frigate (Netherlands) (right)

These bilateral Turkey-Jordan war games have not been reported upon. They are scheduled to end on November 9. These bilateral military exercises are intent upon enhancing military cooperation between the two countries, both of which are using special forces in the training and hosting of rebel mercenaries.

The objective of the war games is to threaten Syria.

The two sets of war games will be coordinated. What seems to be envisaged, in this regard, is a scenario of invasion of an unnamed enemy country from war ships stationed in the Eastern Mediterranean, supported by air power. This would be carried out in coordination with US-NATO and allied special forces on the ground operating out of Turkey and Jordan in support of Al Qaeda affiliated rebel forces.

Amply documented, Turkey and Jordan are supporting the influx of both mercenary and covert special forces including death squads into Syria, respectively on Syria’s Northern and Southern border.

Is Russia threatened by these war game? Russia is an ally of Syria. It has a naval base in the Eastern Mediterranean operating out of the port of Tartus in Southern Syria.

In a bitter irony, coinciding with the NATO Invitex military exercises, NATO is conducting large-scale war games in proximity of the Russian border. The Ukraine, which is not a NATO country is participating in these war games directed against Russia.

“The military exercise, called Steadfast Jazz, will see the Western alliance put 6,000 of its soldiers, mariners and airmen through their paces in Poland and in the Baltic Sea region from 2 to 9 November. … ”

Meanwhile, the US threatens China as part of Obama’s Asian pivot: October 25-28, U.S. Navy Carrier Strike Group Five (America’s largest Strike Group) led by the The USS George Washington staged joint military exercises in the South China Sea.

via Regional War Scenario. NATO-US-Turkey War Games Off the Syrian Coastline | Global Research.

November 6, 2013
Sex jihad in Syria: Tunisian girls return pregnant and AIDS positive

Sex jihad in Syria: Tunisian girls return pregnant and AIDS positive

The Arabic media has been full of interviews with some of the many Tunisian girls that went to the sex jihad in Syria. The other day Tunisian newspaper Al Sharaouk (“Sunrise) shed light on the horrific experiences of one of these girls. (source)

Sex Jihadist Catches AIDS Serving Servicing Free Syrian Army Holy Warriors

Posted By Daniel Greenfield On September 24, 2013 In The Point

The difference between sex trafficking and the Sex Jihad. Apparently none. Sheltered girls with little knowledge of the world are promised the sky and end up pregnant, dead or dying of AIDS.

Her name is Lamia, and she’s 19-years-old. While in Syria, she had sex with jihadis fighting to overthrow the secular Bashar Assad regime. Among other nationalities she recalls having slept with were Pakistanis, Afghanis, Libyans, Tunisians, Iraqis, Saudis, and Somalis, all in the context of the “sex jihad.”

According to Al Sharouk reporters, who went to interview Lamia at her home, the young woman began her story by saying that in 2011 she became religious, after watching an Islamic program; among other things, she took to wearing the hijab and came to believe that going out in public was a sin.

She wore a Hijab to be more modest and then went on a Sex Jihad. The internal contradictions of Islamic morality never cease.

Masrawy published a video interview with one “Aisha,” another Tunisian girl who said she had met a Muslim woman who spoke of the importance of piety, including wearing the hijab and traveling to Syria to help the jihadis “fight and kill infidels” and make Allah’s word supreme, adding that “women who die would do so in the way of Allah and become martyrs and enter paradise.”

Martyrs get 72 virgins. Female sex Jihadists get what? A break from being sexually abused by the holy warriors who somehow have caught AIDS? And her martyrdom is dying of AIDS.

At any rate, by the time war broke out in Syria, Lamia’s mind was “dough for the cleric to mold any which way he wanted.” He proceeded to send her to Benghazi, Libya, then to Turkey, and then to Aleppo, Syria.

There she found many women and young girls residing in an old hospital that had been turned into a campsite. A man claiming to be the “emir” of the sexual campground met her saying his name was Abu Ayoub, the Tunisian. But, she said, the true leader was a Yemeni, who appeared leading a group of jihadis calling themselves “Omar’s Battalion.” He was the first to take her.

Lamia confessed that she did not know how many men had sex with her and that all that she remembers is being abused, beaten, and forced to do things “that contradict all sense of human worth.” She also said that she met many Tunisian women including one who died while being tortured for trying to escape.

Finally, released back to Tunisia, Lamia has been to a doctor finding that she is five months pregnant. Both she and her unborn are carrying the aids virus.

It’s not clear what Omar’s Battalion is, but it might be the Omar al Mokhtar Battalion of the Free Syrian Army. One of our “moderate” allies.

Omar al Mokhtar was an Islamic figure who carried out attacks on the Italians in the 20s in Libya. That would suggest that she had actually hooked up with Libyan Jihadis fresh from Obama’s conquest of Libya.

There was an Omar Mukhtar Brigade in Libya. It may have just been transplanted to Syria. An early Free Officer’s communique from Syria lists the Omar al-Mokhtar of Tubruk. Tobruk is a Libyan city.

A site lists the Omar Mukhtar Brigade in Syria as affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood.

October 21, 2013
Turkish Parliament to Discuss “Sarin Came to Syria via Turkey” Claims

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Turkish newspaper Aydinlik Daily reported that Luftu Turkkan, a Member of the Parliament for Turkey’s MHP, has brought the claim that the Sarin that was used by foreign-backed terrorists in Syria to the agenda of Turkey’s Parliament.

Turkkan’s and the MHP’s initiative adds to the growing domestic and international pressure that is mounting against the AKP government of Turkey’s Prime Minister R. Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Davotoglu, for Turkey´s involvement in the unconventional and undeclared war against Syria, nsnbc reported.

The MHP and Turkkan claim, along with many others, that Turkey’s AKP government is giving militant groups connected to Al-Qaeda free reigns to operate in Turkey, writes Aydinlik Daily. Lüftü Türkkan has directed a number of questions to Foreign Minister Ahmed Davotoglu in parliament, stating among others:

“In the Tunisian press, it has been claimed that the materials used in the production of chemical weapons were taken by armed groups in Libya to Syria via Turkey; . … The claims include that the Ansar al-Sharia (Partisans of Sharia) organization has produced both mustard gas and sarin in Libya and brought it via Turkey to Syria.”

Aydinlik Daily reports that Türkkan then proceeded, asking a number of questions to Foreign Minister Ahmed Davotoglu, focusing among others on Turkey assisting the armed groups with transferring the chemicals to Syria via Turkey.

Türkkan asked Davotoglu whether the claims that the chemicals were transferred by armed groups from Libya via Turkey are true, and if they are true, Türkkan added, which justification is there for Turkey to provide such assistance to the armed groups. Türkkan continued, asking Davotoglu:

“Does Turkey have any kind of relationship with the organization named Ansar al-Sharia, and why was the sending of sarin and mustard gas by this organization first overlooked, and the permission only denied in September? . … While the question of who carried out the chemical weapons attack in Syria occupies world public opinion, is Turkey trying to mediate the procurement of chemical weapons to the Syrian opposition?”.

Several investigations have documented that Turkey, along with Jordan is a main hub for the delivery of both weapons and troops to the terrorist or mercenaries in Syria. Only recently, Turkey attracted additional international attention when the Tunisian government complained that young Tunisian girls who were kidnapped to be sent as sex slaves for the terrorists in Syria were being trafficked through Turkey.

The MHP and Türkkan’s questions to Foreign Minister Davotoglu come nine days after political analyst and nsnbc international editor, Christof Lehmann, who has been following the development of the situation in Syria closely since 2011, published an analysis that places the political and command responsibility for the chemical weapons attack in Eastern Ghouta, Damascus on 21 August, directly at the highest level of the White House, the Pentagon, the CIA and the Saudi Interior Ministry.

The discussion that was sponsored in Turkey’s parliament by MHP MP Türkkan could initiate a process that ultimately also places direct political and command responsibility for war crimes committed in Syria among top government and military officials in Turkey.

via Farsnews.

October 20, 2013
The Independent: How Turkey blew its chance to lead this troubled region

The country could have enhanced its influence and saved a lot of lives. It did the exact opposite

Whatever happened to the idea that Turkey was the coming power in the Middle East, with its surging economy and stable democracy under a mildly Islamic government which might be the model for Arab states as they ended decades of police state rule in 2011? Turkey seemed perfectly positioned to lead the way, with no serious enemies in the region and with good relations with the US and the EU. Oversimplified headlines comparing modern Turkey with the Ottoman empire in the days before it became a great power in the 16th century did not seem wholly exaggerated.

Two years later, none of these good things has come to pass for Turkey, and it is very short of friends in the Middle East. It has managed simultaneously to make enemies of the four powers to its south and east: Iran, Iraq, Syria and Hezbollah in Lebanon – as well as the monarchies of the Gulf with the exception of Qatar. Turkish pilots are kidnapped in Beirut and Turkish truck drivers arrested in Egypt. Turkish support for the former president of Egypt Mohammed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood has infuriated the military regime, which has even intervened to stop the showing of Turkish soap operas on Egyptian television.

Most serious of all, Turkey’s entanglement in support of what may well be the losing side in the Syrian crisis is bringing nothing but disaster. It did not have to be like this: at the start of the Syrian crisis Ankara was well placed to play a moderating role in the crisis, since it was on good terms with President Bashar al-Assad but able to put pressure on the insurgents who depend on keeping open the 560-mile Turkish-Syrian frontier. But the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, overplayed his hand, assumed that Assad would go down as quickly as Muammar Gaddafi in Libya and gave full support for the armed groups Many other governments made the same mistake, but the consequences of the failure of the armed groups to win a decisive victory is most serious for Turkey.

via Syrian TV – The Independent: How Turkey blew its chance to lead this troubled region.

October 20, 2013
Turkey becomes a victim of its own arrogance

Ben Levitas

Well Halleluya! Turkey has started to build a wall along its border with Syria. Guess what, most of the wall is 2 metres tall and will ‘have barbed wire fencing over it’ according to the Hurriyet Daily News, making it nearly 2,5 metres high. The first part of the wall that could extend over the 900 kilometres border between Turkey and Syria, is being built near the city of Nusaybin.

According to the Times, of October 11th, “It is a largely Kurdish area, and the first aim is to make it more difficult for Syrian Kurds to join radical Kurdish groupings in Turkey”. Walls separate people and break up families. Walls cut people off from each other and their fields. This wall will split vulnerable refugees from their kith and kin across the border.

This wall will divide Turkish Kurds from Iraqi and Syrian Kurds, and Turkey’s ruthless war against Kurdish nationalists has already claimed more lives than the Israel Arab dispute and dragged on for a longer time.

Haven’t we heard all this before about the ‘Security fence’ that Israel built to stop attacks on its civilians. Yes, indeed and that one has been dubbed an ‘Apartheid Wall’, by Israel’s detractors. So why should this wall, which is likely to be longer and higher, not be painted with the same brush. Is it ok to separate Muslims from Muslims, but not Muslims from Jews?

Surely if it permissible for Turkey to prevent terrorists from penetrating into its territory, the same rules should apply to Israel? Surely a wall is a wall, irrespective of where it is built!

In 2003, while Israel was building its ‘wall’ there was an international outcry. No one expressed any concern while suicide bombers entered Israel at will and blew up thousands of civilians. In November, 2003 Pope John Paul II criticized Israel’s building of a wall to keep Palestinians out, and he called for a global movement against terrorism following deadly attacks in Iraq and Turkey.

At a Sunday blessing on November 16th , 2003 the Pope said ; “In reality, the Holy Land does not need walls but bridges. Without reconciliation of souls, there can be no peace…The construction of a wall between the Israeli and Palestinian people is seen by many as a new obstacle on the road to peaceful coexistence.”

Surely Israel’s detractors will need to acknowledge that the Pope’s words apply fittingly to the Turkish wall as well! Let’s see whether Turkey being a member of the NATO alliance, will draw any ire from the organization. It begs the question whether the European Union and even the International Criminal Court, which have pronounced on Israel’s Security barrier, will have equally vocal opinions.

Is it not ironic, that Turkey who so arrogantly led an illegal flotilla to breach and deliberately challenge Israel’s blockade of Gaza, is now falling prey to its own venom. Turkey was shrill and defiant in its assault on Israel. Even after Israel apologized to Turkey, and offered compensation to the kin of those killed in the raid, Turkey has rejected with disdain Israel’s overtures.

Turkey is now being ‘hoisted with their own petard’ and is culpable of the very same actions it so vociferously accused Israel of. Remember how Turkey reacted with brute force against its own citizens, over 3 million of them, when they protested in Gezi Park and elsewhere. The Turkish Police and military killed 11 protesters, injured about 8,500 some critically and arrested over 5,000 people.

Remember how Turkey invaded Cyprus twice during 1974 and is still occupying 40% of the Island. Remember how the Greek majority that were living in Turkish occupied Cyprus, about 200,000 people were forced to flee to the south. Bear in mind that United Nations forces are required to man the ‘Green line’ separating the Turkish north from the Greek, south. Recall that a week ago, the Turkish parliament voted to extend by a year a mandate authorizing a military deployment to Syria if needed. Note with concern the firing of a TV presenter, Godze Kansu, only because she wore a revealing dress, while on air.

Heed the move to Islamisize the country by the removal last week of the restriction on wearing headscarves, which exemplified Turkey’s status as a secular country since 1920. Observe with concern the continued imprisonment of journalists, more than any other country, as the Committee to Protect Journalists reported;

“In Turkey, the world’s worst jailer with 49 journalists behind bars, the authorities held dozens of Kurdish reporters and editors on terror-related charges and a number of other journalists on charges of involvement in anti-government plots.”

I await with anticipation an outcry from the multitudes of human rights activists who find walls and infringements of constitutional rights so cantankerous.

via Turkey becomes a victim of its own arrogance | News24.

October 19, 2013