Today, Dutch NOS TV reports that the boss of the NATO military alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, is visiting Turkey to meet President Erdogan.
Stoltenberg praised the Turkish military invasion of Syria; which is in theory against ISIS, but in practice against the Syrian Kurds and their allies, the only effective opponents of ISIS. Stoltenberg claimed that was supposedly self-defence by the Turkish government.
Stoltenberg did not mention the Turkish regime’s killing of civilians in Turkey itself, in Iraq or in Syria. He did not mention the attacks on teachers, attacks on journalists, or other human rights violations in Turkey.
We should not be really surprised about this. When NATO was founded in 1949, one of its founder members was the fascist Salazar dictatorship in Portugal, which waged bloody colonial wars in Africa with NATO support and which taught children to do the fascist salute. In 1967 Greek colonels violently overthrew democracy in a coup according to NATO plan Prometheus. Their dictatorship banned strikes, labour unions, long hair on men, mini-skirts, the peace symbol, the Beatles, Sophocles, Tolstoy, Aeschylus, Socrates, Eugene Ionesco, Sartre, Chekhov, Mark Twain, Samuel Beckett, free press, new mathematics and the letter Z.
The colonels’ dictatorship was welcome to stay on as member of supposedly pro-democracy NATO. As welcome as Erdogan, voted as #1 in a ‘Dictator of the Year’ poll, is now.
Amid growing fears of a region-wide war in the Middle East and a mounting crisis in the European Union (EU), Turkish-NATO relations are under deep strain after an incident at a computer-assisted exercise of NATO’s Joint Warfare Centre, in Norway. Turkish officers found Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan listed as an “enemy collaborator,” and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey, on the “hostile leader list” for the exercise: here.
The threat of the US military intervention in Iraq and Syria erupting into a far wider war has increased sharply in the wake of a series of Turkish air strikes against Syrian Kurdish militia forces that are aligned with Washington: here.
JEREMY CORBYN said yesterday that no more British troops should be sent to the Baltic states and urged that the Nato members’ eastern borders with Russia be demilitarised to reduce tensions: here.
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Bayık calls upon everyone to oppose the Turkish occupation
KCK Executive Council Co-President Cemil Bayık stated that Turkey supports ISIS, Jabhat Al-Nusra and Ahrar Al-Sham against the SDF, Rojava and North Syria Federation, and called upon everyone to oppose the Turkish occupation.
KCK Executive Council Co-President Cemil Bayık spoke to Stêrk TV on the recent developments in Rojava, Antep massacre, and Turkey’s occupation of Jarablus.
ANTEP MASSACRE
Regarding Antep massacre, Bayık recalled that the ISIS attack on a wedding in Antep came a few hours after the KCK’s recent declaration on the solution of the Kurdish issue, and stated that the attack was aimed at rendering the declaration ineffective and changing the agenda in order to create the grounds for Turkey’s invasion of Jarablus. Bayık said that ISIS was assigned for the massacre carried out by the AKP, and described the reason why ISIS does not attack Turkey as the collaboration between these two parties. Bayık noted that the main goal of this collaboration was to isolate the Kurdish people and their movement both inside and outside Turkey, and offered his condolences to the families of the people massacred in Antep.
OCCUPATION OF JARABLUS
In response to a question on the silence of international powers on Turkey’s occupation of Jarablus, Bayık said that these powers are more interested in their economical, political and militaristic goals as opposed to democracy, freedom, justice and human rights, and have changed the course of the war in Syria with their ongoing silence. Bayık recalled the tensions between Turkey and several international powers, and said the Jarablus alliance among these countries was fragile and doomed to end. Bayık stated that Erdoğan teamed up with opposition leaders Bahçeli and Kılıçdaroğlu in order to hide the weakness of Turkey, which became apparent during the July 15 coup process, and decided to invade Jarablus as part of this attempt. However, Bayık noted that Syrian Democratic Forces, YPG and YPJ have been inflicting heavy blows against ISIS, and this upset Turkey’s policies in Syria, and angered Erdoğan who has decided to improve relations with the US and Russia in order to stop the advance and success of Rojava Revolution. Bayık recalled the meeting between Iran, the US, Massoud Barzani, and Turkey in Ankara, which decided to “let Turkey have Jarablus just like they let ISIS have Mosul”. He pointed out that there was no fighting in Jarablus, the town was handed over to Turkey, and ISIS gangs changed their uniforms and now disguise as FSA members.
ROLE OF BARZANİ
Regarding Massoud Barzani’s relations with Turkey, KCK Executive Council Co-President Cemil Bayık criticized Barzani’s support for Turkey and recalled that the invasion of Jarablus took place during Barzani’s recent visit to Ankara. Bayık also criticized Barzani’s lack of opposition to Turkey’s Jarablus occupation and said Barzani continues his efforts to inflict blows against the Kurdish Freedom Movement through his partnership with Turkey. Bayık refuted pro-KDP sources’ claims that Barzani visited Ankara to play a role in the solution of the Kurdish issue in Turkey, and warned Barzani to stop serving the interests of occupant forces such as Turkey in order to weaken the Kurdish Freedom Movement.
CALL FOR RESISTANCE AGAINST TURKEY IN ALL PARTS OF KURDISTAN
In response to a question on the contradiction between Turkey’s emphasis on the unity of Syria and occupation of Rojava, Bayık said that Turkey’s only concern is to further its interests in the region and prevent Syrian Democratic Forces and Kurdish people from making gains in Rojava. Bayık remarked that Turkey’s invasion of Jarablus threatens the unity of Syria and is motivated by its enmity towards Kurdish people. Bayık called upon everyone to resist Turkey in all parts of Kurdistan because Turkey is an obstacle for the democratization of Syria and Iraq.
Regarding Turkey’s occupation of Jarablus, Bayık said that Erdoğan expresses his neo-Ottoman motivations as he coincides the occupation with the day Yavuz Sultan Selim began his Battle of Marj Dābiq in 1516 and names the third bridge over the Bosphorus Strait after Yavuz Sultan Selim. He continued; “Kurdish, Arab, Circassian, Assyrian, Armenian and other peoples of Syria should set aside their differences and protect their lands from Turkey.” Bayık described the defeat of Rojava Revolution as Erdoğan’s only goal in Syria, and added that Erdoğan’s ambitions on Syria and Iraq are no different that the ambitions of Yavuz Sultan Selim, who had conquered the region five centuries ago.
‘TURKISH OCCUPATION SHOULD BE OPPOSED’
Stressing that Turkey wants to annihilate the Rojava Revolution, Bayık said this would mean annihilation of Kurds in all parts, and described it as enmity against humanity because Rojava, SDF and Northern Syria Federation, that stand and fight against ISIS today, are fighting for not only themselves but the whole humanity and world as well.
Bayık continued, underlining that; “Turkey stands against Rojava, SDF and Northern Syria Federation and it wants to make ISIS, Al-Nusra and Ahrar Al-Sham dominate over the region. This is a huge danger upon Kurds, and also for the Middle East and the world. Kurds will resist, and stand against Turkey and ISIS. In contrary case, the greatest damage will be suffered by humanity itself. Everyone should support Rojava, SDF and Northern Syria Federation. All Syrian peoples, parties, cultures and religions should oppose Turkish occupation all together. They should protect their countries, cities, lands, villages and values. Everyone should join hands and protect the integrity of Syria to not allow Turkey to occupy Syria, to not establish its own ruling, nor ISIS’, in the Middle East and the world. In the event of facing a major resistance, Turkey will come to a dead end and suffer a heavy blow. In this case, all peoples will triumph. I therefore call on everyone to oppose Turkey’s occupation.”
Source: NEWS DESK – ANF 03-09-2016
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Turkish soldiers torture six civilians from Rojava
Turkish soldiers arrested six civilians on the border between Rojava and Bakur, and tortured them violently.
As the Turkish army continues its barbaric acts against the people of Rojava, Turkish soldiers caught and tortured six people from Qamishlo and Hesekê as they were trying to cross the border into Bakur Kurdistan. Soldiers also seized the money of the civilians before torturing them savagely.
The tortured civilians, Hisên Ebdirehman (34), Xelîl Îsa (22), Hisên Elewer (24), Ebdilezîz Miemed (24), Elî Welîd Mihemed (14) and Fayiz Hesen Ehmed (20), were taken under treatment in Roj Hospital.
Source: SERÊKANIYÊ – ANF 05-09-2016
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Friday 21st
posted by James Tweedie in World
Ankara’s military opens new front in invasion
TURKISH forces blitzed Kurdish YPG militia in Syria’s Aleppo province yesterday while mounting a new ground invasion in Idlib to the south.
Starting on Wednesday night, Turkey carried out 26 strikes, as well as artillery barrages, against YPG guerillas in the north-western Afrin canton.
The military later claimed to have killed up to 200 of them.But senior YPG commander Mahmoud Barkhadan said reports from his militia around Tell Rifat and Hassajek suggested just 10 fighters had been killed and 20 wounded.
Syria’s official Sana news agency described the raids as “acts of aggression,” reiterating the government’s denunciation of Turkey’s two-month-old invasion of the north of Aleppo province.
The Kurds continued their westward push towards the Islamic State (Isis) provincial stronghold of al-Bab, which Turkey and its jihadist allies have vowed to capture.
If the YPG takes the town, it will be in a position to link Afrin with recently captured Manbij and its large area of control east of the Euphrates.
If Turkey takes the town, it will prevent the YPG and its parent organisation the Democratic Union Party (PYD) from creating a single Kurdish-controlled area across northern Syria.
Meanwhile, Turkish tanks reportedly rolled across the border into Idlib province, occupied by the al-Qaida-affiliated Levant Conquest Front and its Western-backed allies.
They occupied the village of Aqrabat to build a new border crossing south of the existing one, either to boost supplies to the jihadis or to prepare an attack on Afrin from the south.
The Turkish military claimed the YPG had fired mortar shells into Turkey’s Hatay province, from where the invasion was launched.
In Aleppo, the government opened eight humanitarian corridors so that civilians — and gunmen willing to accept an amnesty — can escape the al-Qaida-occupied east of the city and aid lorries can enter.
But the militants opened fire on the routes in an apparent bid to prevent desertions.
In government-held west Aleppo, rebel shelling killed a girl and injured a woman.Nevertheless, the government and the Russians extended the “humanitarian pause” in bombing for another 24 hours.
http://morningstaronline.co.uk/a-3cbf-Kurdish-militia-in-Syria-hit-by-Turkish-blitz#.WAnUqMmDsdU
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Friday 28th October 2016
posted by Morning Star in World
TURKISH President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday his forces would pursue Kurdish guerillas deeper into Iraq and Syria, claiming he had Washington’s blessing.
Mr Erdogan said that on Wednesday night he had discussed with US President Barack Obama the prospect of Turkish troops and their insurgent allies marching deep into Syria to capture the Isis stronghold of Raqqa.
“We said: ‘Come let’s kick Daesh out of Raqqa together’,” he claimed yesterday, adding Kurdish YPG militia should be excluded from the operation.
The White House said the two discussed “the appropriate level and form of Turkey’s participation” in the offensive to drive Isis from the northern Iraqi city of Mosul — against the government’s wishes.
Mr Erdogan also said his forces could strike at the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in the nearby town of Sinjar, as they have done in the Qandil mountains on Iran’s border.
“Sinjar is becoming a new Qandil,” he said. “We cannot permit Sinjar, because the PKK is there.”
http://morningstaronline.co.uk/a-1a84-Turkey-US-supports-Ankaras-war-on-Kurds,-claims-Erdogan#.WBMIwMmDsdU
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Hundreds in Efrîn march to the border to protest Turkish occupation
Hundreds of people from Efrîn Canton of Rojava (West) Kurdistan, marched to the border with Bakurê (North) Kurdistan border to protest the occupation of the Turkish army.
Protestors coming from Mabeta, Raco and Bilbil districts of the Efrîn Canton gathered in the Sorkê village of Raco district located on the border between Rojava (West) and Bakurê (North) Kurdistan.
Demonstrators protested the occupation of the Turkish army and Turkish soldiers who cut down 600 olive trees and 300 pomegranate trees of the villagers living near the border.
Protestors announced in a statement here that a mass demonstration will be held on Rojava side of the border in a few days to protest the invasion of the Turkish army after its soldiers cleared the mines and entered Rojava soil on October 15.
Source: EFRÎN – ANF 18-10-2016
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Kino Gabriel: Turkey’s attacks won’t deter us from our goals
Kino Gabriel from Syriac Military Council warned that they will not remain silent in the face of the Turkish state’s attacks, and that Erdoğan’s plan to take control in Bab and encircle Manbij would have grave consequences.
Kino Gabriel from Syriac Military Council stated that the Turkish state’s aerial and ground attacks on SDF forces in Shehba region for the past two days revealed, once again, Turkey’s support to the ISIS.
Gabriel pointed out that the Turkish state wanted to make its invasion in Syria permanent by attacking the Revolutionary Forces that are fighting ISIS, adding: “Turkey’s attack on Shehba and the concurrent ISIS attack on Kirkuk manifest the fact that the Turkish state and ISIS attack Kurds with the same purpose.”
Gabriel warned that they will not remain silent in the face of the Turkish state’s attacks, and that Erdoğan’s plan to take control in Bab and encircle Manbij would have grave consequences.
Kino Gabriel from Syriac Military Council spoke to ANF and evaluated the increasingly ongoing attacks of the Turkish state.
“TURKISH STATE WANTS TO SAVE ISIS”
Gabriel recalled that the Turkish state has provided every kind of support to the gangs in Syria during the past five years, and thus made the peoples suffer from their atrocity more, telling the followings:
“After the defeat of ISIS gangs resulted in a failure of their plans, Turkish state started an invasion to obstruct the SDF system that unifies the peoples. Turkey’s attack on revolutionary forces and SDF units in Shehba will deepen the problem in Syria. With the goal of keeping the gangs on their feet, the Turkish state is attacking our lands for a long while, and has been bombing our soil with fighter jets and heavy weapons for the past two days.
With the occupation of Jarablus, the Turkish state is trying to save the ISIS gangs that are headed for an end with their failed attacks on Syria and Rojava. Turkey has never touched the ISIS, nor intends to do so, as it basically targets our forces and wants to re-occupy Syrian lands with an Ottoman dream.
It is interesting that Kirkuk is being attacked simultaneously with the attacks of the Turkish state and affiliated gangs on Shehba region. These attacks are being managed from one single center. It is clear that the Turkish state is directly targeting the benefits of the Kurdish people. Gangs have attacked Kirkuk as Turkish President Erdoğan talked about their plan B amid the ongoing operation against ISIS in Mosul. The Turkish state has manifested animosity against the Kurdish people’s freedom since the very beginning. The current attacks do clearly reveal the relations between the Turkish state and the ISIS. Turkish state is attacking our forces in Shehba as the operation against ISIS in Mosul is ongoing. This truth shows that the Turkish state doesn’t want the ISIS gangs to be weakened, and it supports them in this way. Turkey is conducting these attacks to prevent the capture of Bab and Shehba region by our forces.”
“WE WILL CONTINUE TO LIBERATE SYRIAN LANDS”
Gabriel criticized the international coalition’s silence on the Turkish state’s attacks on Revolutionary Forces in cooperation with ISIS gangs, saying: “The Turkish state is striking our forces that are giving the most effective fight against ISIS. International powers should come into play and make their attitude clear.”
Gabriel emphasized that they will never stop their operations to cleanse the Syrian lands of gang groups, and that they will continue to answer the people’s demands for the liberation of their lands.
Gabriel continued: “Turkish President Erdoğan’ plan “to take Bab and encircle Manbij” could result in a disaster for the region. Nobody should expect us to remain silent on this dirty plan of the Turkish state because we are the true owners of these lands and we have paid heavy prices to cleanse these lands of the gangs. With the occupation of Jarablus, the Turkish state will make the peoples of Syria suffer more. Turkey is now trying to continue its invasion with Bab and to come between our cantons. This is a dangerous approach that could escalate the Syrian war to a regional dimension. The Turkish state bears an ISIS mentality and means to found an Islamic regime, using the ISIS for its dirty goals and desiring to obstruct the democratic forces by supporting the gangs in Syria.
The liberation of Manbij has frustrated the Turkish state’s plans on the region. This is why it doesn’t want the advance of our forces and unification of the cantons. The Turkish state is after an Ottoman dream and engaged in very dirty games on Syrian peoples by using ISIS and other gang groups to achieve its goal. The fundamental reason for Turkey’s attacks on Syria and Rojava for the past 5 years is its desire to destroy the freedom values of the Kurdish people. The concurrent attacks on Shehba and Kirkuk is a consequence of this enmity. The forces targeted by Turkish attacks include Kurds, Arabs, Syriacs, Assyrians and all other folks. SDF has aimed to achieve the freedom of all Syrian peoples since the first day it was founded. SDF has liberated the occupied areas on demand of the people, and continues to do the same in line with the demands of local residents. The peoples that want to get rid of ISIS atrocity and savagery are supporting us.”
“SDF TAKES THE BENEFITS OF ALL PEOPLES AS BASIS”
Gabriel stressed that ISIS gets strength from the Turkish state which therefore attacks the SDF forces that achieve success against ISIS. He said that with the most recent attacks, the Turkish state has once again laid bare its support to the ISIS.
Gabriel noted that Turkey carried out aerial and heavy weaponry attack on the areas liberated from Revolutionary Forces from the gangs, adding: “This bare truth reveals the dirty relations between Turkey and ISIS. The whole world knows now that SDF and its constituents are the only force that defeats the ISIS attacks and liberates peoples, from Shengal to Manbij and all across Syrian lands. The Turkish state seeks to form a force affiliated to itself in the region. This why it is engaged in dirty plans and is sacrificing all peoples for its own interests.
SDF is based on not its own interests but the benefits of the peoples and their peaceful co-existence since the first day it was founded. With the support of the people that see this reality and welcome it with their love, SDF has gained victories in Hawl, Shaddadi, Tishrin and Manbij. As was also stated in its manifesto, SDF is always ready to fight against the attacks targeting the peoples. Turkish state is attacking us under the guise of FSA.
These attacks will never be able to intimidate or deter us from our goals. We will continue our liberation battle and we will reach all the peoples under occupation in line with our philosophy based on the fraternity and freedom of the peoples. We have full commitment on this subject.”
Source: SILUK – ANF – MEHMET NURİ EKİNCİ 24-10-2016
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Thursday 24th November 2016
posted by Morning Star in World
TURKISH-backed jihadists clashed with Kurdish militia in northern Syria for a second day yesterday, with civilians killed in air raids.
Kurdish media said Turkish jets bombed villages between Manbij in northern Aleppo province and the Isis-held town of al-Bab, killing eight civilians.
Turkish-backed factions under the Free Syrian Army claimed to have captured several villages from the YPG, taken from Isis last week in the Kurds’ bid to reach al-Bab before the Turks.
On Tuesday the Kurdish al-Hawar agency said six civilians were killed in Manbij by Turkish bombs.
Earlier, the YPG-backed Manbij Military Council spokesman Servan Darwish said Turkey’s aim was to occupy the town, liberated from Isis this summer in a bloody three-month siege backed by US air strikes which killed hundreds of civilians.
http://morningstaronline.co.uk/a-bc69-Syria-Jihadists-kill-civilians-in-clashes-with-Kurds#.WDbX8H2bIdU
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Turkey and Syria: Blood, tears and walls
New Eastern Outlook
February 25, 2017
Andre Vltchek
A Turkish poet, Mustafa Goren, is standing in the middle of a street in the border town of Karkamis. He raises his index finger towards the sky prophetically, then shouts at me, with his powerful voice:
“I’m against the invasion into Syria! Is this another game of the West? These are our children, our boys that are dying there. These are innocent children of Syria that are being blown to pieces. Why do Syrian people have to run to Europe; tell me why? Why do they have to humiliate themselves, to suffer? Syria used to be rich. Those people are even more cultured than we are, more cultured than the West. How did this conflict begin?”
Mustafa Goren then strikes a dramatic pose. Suddenly he looks like the great Soviet poet Mayakovski, spitting out his verses full of anger. This is not just poetry, but a desperate j’accuse?
As if mocking him, behind his back, Turkish military trucks are moving towards the border, passing through the streets where almost all shops have been shut down, sad victims of the conflict that keeps devastating further and further an already desperate Turkish economy.
“I speak to Europe now: You will soon be drowning in the water that you are now drinking. You will pay for what you are doing to Syria and to other countries. It is entirely your fault, Europe! It is entirely your fault the West! One day, true leaders of the world will come, and they’ll cut off all the gas and petrol supplies to you, and you’ll find yourself in even deeper shit the one into which you threw this part of the world! You’ll have to burn your designer clothes and shoes, just to stay warm. You forgot, but you will soon be reminded, Europe: we are all human beings!”
Mr Goren recites in front of a humble stall, which is selling cigarettes. It is adorned with historic photographs of Kemal Ataturk. A few meters from there, an enormous watchtower is rising towards the dark, cloudy sky.
The border is right there, defined by a tall, gray, melancholic concrete wall, and by several watchtowers. Right next to the gate, a mobile medical unit and several ambulances are standing by. They are ready to cross the frontier, to move into Syria, where the Turkish military is officially fighting the terrorists, but in reality undermining the Syrian forces. The operation is called “Euphrates Shield”.
“ISIS came all the way here, to the Syrian town of Jarabulu, right across the border”, explained Bulent Polat, a trader whose shop is now half empty, due to the war.
“Jarabulus is under the control of the Turkish military. Just imagine: the Turkish government doesn’t allow Syrian President Assad to send fighter jets nearer than 3 kilometers to the border, but it allows ISIS to come as close as 3 meters. We should have never interfered with the domestic policy of Syria, and there would be peace!”
Mr. Polat is from the opposition ‘The Republican People’s Party’. He’s a Kemalist. For years he worked in both sides of the border. Now he recalls, in disgust:
“To mobilize people against Assad, the anti-government militants supported by Turkey and the West, have been dressing in official Syrian military uniforms, then shoot at the civilians, killing many. Then they say: ‘Assad did it!’ It has been happening all over Syria.”
Now Turkey is building a 900-kilometers long wall, which is supposed to seal hermetically its border with Syria. Express.co.uk quoted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan: “The problem of terrorism and the refugee problem will be resolved when we secure Syrian soil step by step”.
The Kurdish population on both sides of the border is clearly outraged about the wall. The tall ugly structure is dividing communities and marks the region like an ugly scar. Now Turkish forces can always enter Syria, using tanks and armored vehicles, while Syrians are being kept out.
It is strictly forbidden to photograph the border region. In fact, foreign journalists are forbidden to even ask questions. Turkey is under Martial Law, and anyone can be detained and questioned for days, without charge or explanation.
We left Karkamis and drove to an ancient graveyard, from where we photographed the wall and the lazy waters of the river Euphrates. The Syrian town of Jarabulus was right in front of us.
People were tense. A local farmer recalled:
“Injection of the militants began from the Turkish territory. Assad had to launch a defensive security operation. That’s how the war began.”
I knew precisely what he was saying. Back in 2012 I worked around Antakya, discovering that while officially listed as a ‘refugee facility’, Apaydin camp was in fact a training facility for the anti-Syrian jihadi cadres. The NATO facility – Incirlik air force base near the city of Adana – was allegedly training several other groups. In 2013 I returned to Antakya, making a documentary film for the South American television channel Telesur. The entire area was converted into a security zone, and my team was repeatedly stopped and intimidated. We managed to track the militants who were armed in Turkey. Those wounded in Syria were treated in Antakya.
Now from Gaziantep to Kilis, the entire area is flooded with refugees and its economy is destroyed.
We drove through villages like Ikizkaya, consisting mainly of clay houses, many of them abandoned.
Fear is everywhere. In Kalbursait Village near Karkamis, a Syrian refugee explained that he has lives here, with his animals, for four years.
If the war stops, would he go back? He doesn’t know, he replied.
“Who is to blame for the war?” I asked.
“I don’t know… ” came an immediate reply.
“Let’s go”, my interpreter insisted. “This man is petrified.”
One night I was taken by my friends from the TKP near the back entrance of Dr. Ersin Arslan State Hospital in Gaziantep. This is where wounded Free Syria Army and other militants are brought to at night. We ordered tea at a local eatery, and began conversing with the staff. Suddenly, there was a loud shout from outside:
“Allahu Akbar – bum!”
Cafe guests ran for a cover. We got out, to investigate. A bearded man, obviously an Arab speaker, was leaning against the wall. He had two bulled wounds in his foot. The wounds were infected. The man was clearly distressed. He was mumbling something about jihad.
Gaziantep is a recruitment center for militant cadres and for the Free Syrian Army; so are towns and cities like Kilis and Antakya.
At night, I was taken to a bakery near a mosque in Gaziantep, where recruitment and indoctrination of the militants takes place.
I was given photos of bodies torn apart by powerful explosions. I was shown images of dead children, of morgues and of people in total desperation.
Mr. Kutay Sirikli from the opposition TKP pointed an accusative finger at both the West and Ankara:
“Recep Tayyip Erdogan is one of the founding fathers of the so-called ‘Great Middle East Project’. He’s trying to politicize the entire Middle East. His dream is a New Ottoman Empire. Of course if there is any novel formation in this part of the world, it is always connected to the West. However, from time to time, Erdogan takes his own initiative. And he makes profit: petrol that is stolen by ISIS from the Syrian regions goes through Turkey to the West. They refine it here.”
I’m told about horrid refugee camps, where child abuse, even rape are rampant. I visited several of them in the past, around Antakya, and one near the city of Nizip this time. They don’t appear to be as bad as those in Europe, but one never knows what is hiding under the surface.
Syrian refugees get work permits now, and there is talk that soon they would be able to apply for Turkish citizenship if they pass the language test. Syrian children get one-year intensive language course, and then they can attend local schools. Some refugees get even the equivalent of the Turkish minimal wage as a support – 1.400 liras per month (almost US$400).
Turkey is demonstrating simultaneously great compassion and inordinate brutality.
In Istanbul, the historian Yigit Günay, clarified this contradiction:
“Many people believe that this government has some integrated plan. The truth is, there is nothing like that – not even some two-year plan. Nobody trusts anybody, anymore, and things keep changing overnight.”
As we are driving towards the airport in Adana, my friend and interpreter looks suddenly tired:
“As a person who visited Aleppo before the invasion I am devastated because of what happened to that ancient and stunning city… It was a thriving business hub with incredibly beautiful archeological and historical sites when I was there… . now it is a city that will need decades to recover, and most of the damage is irretrievable. The whole area is now a total disaster… ”
Before entering the city of Adana, the bright runway lights of Incirlik air force base suddenly emerge from the darkness. This airport is perhaps the most vivid symbol of NATO war games in this part of the world. One cannot just pass – almost all cars are being stopped and checked.
Fear is engulfing Southeast Turkey. When several hours earlier we drove into the Elbeyli border town, (a crossing on the way to the embattled Syrian city of Al Bab) what we faced were new mighty walls and fences, as well as high-tech security cameras. From here, the Turkish army is periodically invading Syria.
I decided to get my hair cut here, so I could chat with the locals. Just a few minutes and my barber whispered: “They are surrounding you.” Police and plain clothed security cadres were looking at us through the window, taking notes, calling somewhere. We paid and drove away from this dismal town, at neck breaking speed.
We wouldn’t be able last long here, nobody would. This cat and mouse game is exhausting and truly dangerous. But what is Turkey really trying to hide? It is a well-known fact that it is training the militants, and invading Syria. All this is not a secret. So what is?
Perhaps the true ‘secret’ is that many of its own citizens are actually against the war. And that not Syria only, but to some extent Turkey too, is now suffering and bleeding.
Andre Vltchek is philosopher, novelist, filmmaker and investigative journalist. He’s a creator of Vltchek’s World in Word and Images, a writer of revolutionary novel Aurora and several other books. He writes especially for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook.”
http://vredessite.nl/andernieuws/2017/week11/0225-turkey-syria-walls.html
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