Erdogan Orders Schools to Teach Muslim Discovery of Americas ?

[Yervant1]

22 TURKISH AIR FORCE PILOTS KILLED

February 19, 2016

According to Turkish Ulke TV station, the victims of the February
17 terrorist attack in Ankara include 22 Turkish Air Force pilots,
out of 28 total fatalities.

Turkish government has not issued an official confirmation but,
according to Turkish media, Erdogan is deliberately trying to conceal
that fact.

The explosion took place next to the Turkish Armed Forces headquarters
building, as well as the parliament and government buildings. The
fatalities included 26 military and 2 civilians. Another 60 people
were wounded.

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[Yervant1]

20.02.2016 Author: Martin Berger
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__journal-2Dneo.org_author_martin-2Dberger_&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m·HpkOwG6LDAo8SWS32Pi7kzd61SKKOHDJupaHP3ZZE&s=-ExiRHt0AjXD9Li0vI4MNwwa8oD-QmnsAQbi5dXoMoE&e= >

Will Turkey Become a Failed State if Erdogan Refuses to Step Down?
Column: Politics
Region: Middle East
Country: Turkey

[image: 43534534544]

The policies that have been pursued by Turkey's president lately are
turning even his former supporters into sworn enemies. He is
particularly reviled in Europe today due to the encouragement of
unprecedented levels of migration that Erdogan has been using to
blackmail European authorities. Moreover are the scandals uncovered
regarding the Turkish president and his family members involving
stolen oil from ISIS smuggled for profit which have resulted in
Erdogan's reputation going down in flames.

Outright destructive activities that Turkey has been pursuing in the
Syrian conflict have also contributed to its universal rejection. Many
experts agree that it's Tayyip Erdogon who is obstructing the Syrian
settlement, due to his obsessive desire to kill Kurds no matter
what. And Kurds are turning out to be the most effective allies in the
fight against ISIS, both for Washington and Moscow. Therefore experts
are convinced that Turkey's president is becoming a major headache for
both the US and Russia, states which are in two different camps
regarding the Middle East today but still share a common goal of
fighting ISIS.

No matter what your position is, it doesn't seem that Washington is
particularly ecstatic about its former lapdog going berserk.The Wall
Street Journal openly states that:

Turkey's growing hostility to one of America's most effective allies in
the fight against Islamic State-Syrian Kurdish fighters-is undermining
efforts to step up the campaign against the extremist group,
U.S. officials say.

Moreover WSJ states that US officials regard Ankara's statements regarding
Syrian Kurds arming PKK units to be completely unfounded. They believe that
Turkey is becoming a hotbed of tension and Erdogan nothing more that a
political problem, especially for his allies.

However, Tayyip Erdogan prefers to turn a blind eye to such warnings
since he has completely lost touch with reality. After making a major
stake on the creation of a Neo-Ottoman Empire, the Turkish president,
even after a meeting with US Vice-President Joseph Biden that was held
in late January, is still willing to bomb American allies in Syria. The
Associated Press notes that in his euphoria, Erdogan has been demanding
the US to make a choice between cooperation with Turkish authorities and
the Kurds.

Erdogan carried on blackmailing Washington after the recent tragic
events in Ankara, when Turkey's president placed the blame on Syrian
Kurds for the brutal terrorist attack that claimed the lives of 28
people, notes The New York Times.

According to the Turkish journal Hurriyet, recent events have clearly
shown that Turkey's politics in Syria have been an utter and complete
failure both in militarily and political terms. This media is convinced
that Erdogan has lost Washington's trusts and, what's even worse,
depleted all of his options that could make any difference in this
situation.

Erdogan, has lost a sense of reality and has decided that he can use any
option against opponents of his policy for a `future world domination by
the Ottoman Empire', he even went as far as mocking Russia's President
Vladimir Putin. Bloomberg notes Erdogan's comments: `What are you doing
in Syria? You're essentially an occupier.' Perhaps Erdogan has forgotten
that Russian military forces in Syria have arrived after the request of
the legitimate government of Syria to help it fight terrorists in
accordance with international law, and therefore they would be the last
ones to be called `invaders.=80=9C

It's ironic that Erdogan fits the description of an `occupier' better
than anybody else. How else can one label the ongoing shelling of the
Syrian military in north-west Latakia? Or the incursion of Turkish
forces into Syria, that has even become the subject of a UN Security
Council discussion? The massacre of the Kurdish population along both
sides of Turkish-Syrian border reminds one of the Armenian genocide,
which Turkey has denied to this day despite universal condemnation.

It's been reported that after crossing the border with Syria, Turkish
military units have started digging trenches within 200 meters from the
border. At the same time Turkish artillery units continued shelling Kurdish
forces and civilians alike near Afrin and Aazaz.

It has been underlined more that once that Turkey's policies have become
increasingly unhinged, due to oppressive policies of Tayyip Erdogan.
According to the American political scientist David Goldman,
in the nearest future Turkey runs the risk of becoming a `failed' state.
This is the direct result of misguided Turkish authorities and the
oppression of the Kurdish people, which started with Mustafa Kemal Ataturk
and is being carried on to the present day. And Erdogan's recent actions
can be labeled as a veritable genocide that should be condemned by the
international community. Western military analysts also believe that, if
there is no change in the political leadership of the country, in the
medium term, Turkey won't be able to preserve its borders, and Kurdish
separatism will become the start of an end for it.


Martin Berger is a Czech-based freelance journalist and
analyst, exclusively for the online magazine `New Eastern Outlook
journal-neo.org.

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[Yervant1]

Political Analyst: Ankara Explosions Masterminded by Turkish Intelligence

Sat Feb 20, 2016 4:6
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TEHRAN (FNA)- A senior political analyst underlined that the recent
explosions in the Turkish capital have masterminded and carried out by
Turkey's spy agency.

"Erdogan is the only one who benefits from the recent explosions in
Ankara; the Kurdish groups and organization not only do not benefit
from such explosion as they are fully aware that political solution is
the only way to achieve their rights," Syrian political analyst Michel
Kalaqasi wrote in the Arabic-language al-Manar newspaper.

Kalaqasi's remarks came while the Turkish authorities blamed Kurdish
organizations for Wednesday's blast in Ankara that killed 28 and left
61 people wounded.

He reiterated that the Turkish intelligence agency has orchestrated
the recent terrorist attacks in Ankara.

In relevant remarks on Friday, Chairman of the International Union of
Kurdish Public Associations Merab Shamoyev underlined that the Syrian
Kurds have nothing to gain from carrying out terrorist attacks on
civilians in Turkey.

"Syrian Kurds immediately denied these allegations. Why would Syrian
Kurds do this? The Kurds currently have a good reputation," Shamoyev
said during a press conference in Moscow.

The politician added that the terror attack could have been a
provocation carried out by Turkey's Justice and Development Party to
justify Ankara's shelling of Syrian Kurds and to start a ground
operation in Syria.

According to Shamoyev, Kurds do not want to secede from Turkey and
only desire autonomy.

In recent weeks, Turkish forces have repeatedly attacked Kurdish
People's Defense Units' positions in northern Syria, claiming the
Kurdish militia threatens Turkish security.

The Kurds are a Middle Eastern ethnic group with a population of some
30-35 million, living mainly in Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria. They do
not have their own state, however, the Kurds have made several
attempts to gain independence and have already obtained autonomy
within the framework of the Iraqi state.

[Yervant1]

Erdogan 'Continues to Play the Fool as He Paints Himself Into a Corner'

© AP Photo/ Basin Bulbul, Presidential Press Service Pool
POLITICS
13:15 20.02.2016(updated 14:52 20.02.2016) Get short URL


President Erdogan's politics of confrontation with the Kurds will only
further complicate Ankara's relations with Russia and the US, and lead
to an escalation of internal tensions, writes Deutsche Welle columnist
Kersten Knipp. The Turkish president, he says, is painting himself
into a corner, while continuing to project a false image of strength.

© AFP 2016/ DELIL SOULEIMAN
Crying Wolf: Ankara Adopting 'Terror' Methods in War Against Kurds
The international community, Knipprecalls, has responded with a sense
of astonishment that the Turkish police managed, in a matter of mere
hours, to identify the perpetrator of Thursday's deadly attack in
Ankara ` allegedly the Syrian Kurd Salih Necar. Meanwhile, the
columnist suggests, "conclusive evidence of the young Syrian's
responsibility" has not yet been provided.

Erdogan, Knipp notes, has spoken about 'information and documents',
but has yet to present the evidence. "At the same time, the PYD denied
any connection to the attack," which failed to make an impression on
authorities, who "launched new deadly attacks on PYD areas around
Aleppo."

Unfortunately, the journalist writes, "Turkey is waging a war not
against Daesh (ISIL), and not so much against Syrian President Bashar
Assad, as against the Syrian Kurds. The fact that they seek to build
their own government in the immediate vicinity of Turkey is an
abomination for Ankara."

Erdogan's decision to fight the Kurds "will not be without foreign and
domestic political consequences. In foreign policy, it is likely to
strain the relationship with both the US and Russia." Both countries
cooperate with the YPG, the armed wing of the PYD. "For both, the YPG
is a valuable partner in the fight against Daesh."

As a result, "How Turkey, in view of these two protective powers, will
effectively be able to combat the YPG, remains a mystery to Turkish
generals. If Turkey invades Syria or even sends its aircraft there, it
will immediately find itself opposite the Russian military."

© AFP 2016/ BULENT KILIC
Turkey Continues Shelling of Northern Syria
Moreover, Knipp notes, domestically, Erdogan must deal with the fact
that "the Kurds living in Turkey are closely monitoring how the
president is treating their compatriots living on the other side of
the border."

"Altogether, none of this is good for Turkey. Fewer tourists are
coming into the country, the economy is faltering, inflation is on the
rise. Add to this the Syrian refugees, whose acceptance is falling
among the Turkish population, which in itself may [also] increase
domestic pressures. But Erdogan is doing nothing in his foreign and
domestic policy to lower them, and that could get him into trouble in
the long term."

By acting as if he hasn't noticed the problems resulting from his
policies, the columnist says, Erdogan, attempting to present an image
of strength, has only demonstrated his political weakness. "For the
strong man Erdogan wants to make himself out to be, he is looking
very, very weak right now."

Ultimately, the columnist slyly suggests, Turkey needs a partner in
foreign policy. Brussels, he says, might be such a partner to Ankara,
because it desperately needs Turkey's help to solve the migrant
crisis. "For Turkey and the EU, this could be an opportunity for
enhanced cooperation," Knipp concludes.



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[Yervant1]

The karma will get them!

FORECAST: FOR TURKEY THERE IS NO GOOD SCENARIO FROM NOW ON

by Anzhela Stepanyan

Monday, February 22, 12:26

"I'm not saying that Turkey has lost its mind and is poised for war,
but the posture in Ankara is very strange and could lead to surprises,"
said Gokhan Bacik, professor of international relations at Ankara's
Ipek University.

Washington Post quotes Bacik as saying, "What's happening in Syria
is a question of survival for Erdogan, so it is not possible to rule
anything out." "For Turkey," he added, "there is no good scenario
from now on."

"Turkey is facing a multifaceted catastrophe." "This is a country
that has often had problems in the past, but the scale of what is
happening now is beyond Turkey's capacity for digestion," he said.

According to Professor Bacik, Turkey is confronting what amounts to
a strategic nightmare as bombs explode in its cities, its enemies
encroach on its borders and its allies seemingly snub its demands.

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[Yervant1]

TURKEY CONSULATE ATTACHE IN BULGARIA IS DECLARED PERSONA NON GRATA

17:35, 23.02.2016

The Religious Affairs Attaché of the Turkish Consulate General in
the Bulgarian town of Burgas, Ugur Emiroglu, has been declared persona
non grata.

The Bulgarian authorities have accused Emiroglu of interfering in
the internal affairs of Bulgaria, and given him 72 hours to leave
the country, according to Sözcu daily newspaper of Turkey.

And the Turkish authorities have acted in response to their Bulgarian
counterparts by declaring the Consul General of Bulgaria in Istanbul,
Angel Angelov, persona non grata, and giving him 72 hours to leave
Turkey.

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[Yervant1]

SYRIAN IMPASSE AND RUSSIAN SIEGE

Today's Zaman (Turkey)
February 23, 2016 Tuesday

Turkey has paid a very heavy price for the misguided Syria policy the
Justice and Development Party (AKP)/President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
regime has been pursuing since 2011.

The cost of the adventurous strategy of "changing the regime of a
neighboring country" -- which was in stark contrast to traditional
Turkish foreign policy -- has not been restricted to bilateral
relations and regional policies. The deviant Syria policy has relied
completely on pipe dreams and personal ambitions, and, therefore,
has poisoned Turkey's ties with international powers and organizations
as well. Moreover, it has started to threaten the country's domestic
security, territorial integrity, national unity, social peace and
economy.

This article is not spacious enough to describe thoroughly the
damage the AKP/Erdogan regime's erroneous Syria policy has done to
Turkey's critical bilateral and international relations. But we can
cite Turkey's ties with Iran, Iraq, Russia, the United States, the
European Union and even NATO at once. If the AKP/Erdogan regime does
not accept the total failure of its Syria policy and refuses to make a
sharp turn away from it, I am afraid the price it will make Turkey pay
will become higher. And the losses we suffer will become irreversible.

Even if we look solely at the miserable state of Turkish-Russian
relations, we can still see the devastating consequences of Turkey's
failing Syria policy on the country's national interests. Thanks to
Turkey's poorly calculated policies, Russia has already attained
the type of vast geostrategic opportunities it has been unable to
attain for centuries. Russia relies on legitimate excuses it can
easily support under international law and is able to ride on the
international community's justified hatred of the Islamic State of
Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). And it has been able to settle in military
and political terms in Syria, a country having a 910-kilometer common
border with Turkey. In this way, Russia has created the kind of sphere
of influence in the east Mediterranean region it has been dreaming
of for centuries.

Until very recently, Turkey had been enjoying extremely amiable
relations with Russia to the extent of holding joint Cabinet meetings
and mutually lifting visa requirements. But the political, commercial
and economic relations between the two countries are steeply declining
today. Having once reached the level of $32 billion annually, any
improvement in the Turkish-Russian economic ties is now a fancy.

Likewise, Russian tourists who would frequent Turkey in the past are
already a distant memory.

The political, economic, military and strategic price Turkey has paid
is hardly restricted to these. Since Turkey downed a Russian warplane
last November, citing an airspace violation that lasted all of 17
seconds, Turkey has been besieged militarily by Russia. Moreover,
Russia is trying to pull Turkey into a conflict in retaliation for
its downed aircraft. Looking at this picture, we may come with the
following analysis: Largely taking advantage of the opportunities
created by the AKP/Erdogan regime's misguided policies, Russia has
installed itself in Syria, ready for all sorts of potential conflicts.

There is no indication that Russia's military presence in Syria will
be temporary.

With this move, Russia has considered all sorts of potential reactions
from Turkey. It could be said it is even trying to provoke Ankara into
military action. As it does not expect the US, the EU and NATO to show
any serious reaction, Russia is very likely to stay in Syria forever.

Moreover, the political and military system that will take shape in
Syria will certainly be in line with Russia's interests.

Having turned the downing of its warplane into a tremendous strategic
move, Russia has effectively eliminated the presence of Turkish
aircraft in Syrian airspace. Thus, the only thing Turkey could do in
Syria is to shell the positions of the Democratic Union Party (PYD),
People's Protection Units (YPG) and Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Moreover, even this action runs the risk of Russia viewing this
shelling, which has had a limited effect, as an "aggressive action"
against "legitimate" groups in Syria. Indeed, the Bashar al-Assad
regime treats the PYD/YPG forces as legitimate groups. And its
official position was noted in the records of the United Nations
Security Council. And Russia has officially referred to the armed
PYD/YPG forces as "patriotic opposition groups" in Syria.

The critical question is: Will the Russian military presence -- which
came to Syria under bilateral defense agreements concluded between
the Kremlin and Damascus -- choose to retaliate for the Turkish
artillery fire targeting PYD/YPG/PKK forces in the country? What
would the practical consequences of such an intervention be? As the
Turkish army cannot enter Syria in response to this reaction, isn't
it likely that Turkey would lose any military action beyond or along
the border? If the intense shelling fails to prevent the YPG from
making progress, why doesn't Turkey review this strategy?

Ahead of the cease-fire that will enter into force on Feb. 27, the
groups in the field are expected to act swiftly to expand the area
they control. In such a case, does the policy of sending the dissident
fighters defined as terrorists by the Assad regime and Russia into
Syria from the border at night serve Turkey's interests? Isn't it
obvious that this practice is giving Russia new cards to play?

While the common border between Turkey and Syria is largely controlled
by the PYD, everyone knows that this is only possible thanks to
Russia. In other words, Turkey has come to effectively share virtually
all of its 910-kilometer Syrian border with Russia. Moreover, the
Russian siege of Turkey is not restricted to the Syrian border. As a
matter of fact, Russia historically continues to act as the Orthodox
protector. In this context, Armenia, Greek Cypriots and Greece are
Russia's natural allies. Russian S-300 and S-400 missiles installed
in these countries as well as in Iran surround Turkey on all sides.

Furthermore, Russia has increased the number of warplanes it has
deployed in Armenia and will start to patrol the area in March. Out of
29 outposts of Armenian Border Forces -- where 1,500 Russian officers
serve -- 14 are very close to the Turkish border. The Russian siege on
Turkey is also increasing from the Black Sea. Sending 40 new warplanes
and helicopters to the Kuban airbase, Russia has seriously undermined
the reconnaissance capabilities of Turkish planes over the Black Sea.

As is clearly seen, the Syrian predicament into which Turkey is being
pulled by the AKP/Erdogan regime is making Turkey lose on all fronts.

The way to thwart the Russian siege is to get away from the Syrian
dilemma by retreating from the obvious errors regarding this crisis.

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[Yervant1]

It's Time to Kick Erdogan's Turkey Out of NATO
02/23/2016 04:50 pm ET | Updated 22 hours ago
24/2/16

-
Stanley Weiss
Founding Chairman, Business Executives for National Security

Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

It has always been a matter of historical curiosity that one of the
American diplomats who was deeply involved in the creation of the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization was named Achilles. As the head of the State
Department's Office of Western European Affairs after World War II and the
eventual U.S. Vice Deputy of the North Atlantic Council, Theodore Achilles
played a lead role in
drafting the treaty that was designed to deter an expansionist Soviet Union
from engaging in an armed attack on Western Europe. With 11 European
nations joining the U.S. as founding members in 1949, the alliance quickly
grew to include two other countries - Greece and Turkey - by 1952 and today
encompasses 28 members.

It's a reflection of how difficult it was to imagine that any member of the
organization would betray the rest of the alliance that to this day, NATO
has no formal mechanism to remove a member in bad standing or to even
define what would constitute "bad standing." Yet, nearly three decades
after the collapse of the Soviet Union, NATO members still make the same
solemn vow to one another, known as Article 5,
that they made in 1949: that an attack against any member state will be
considered an attack against all member states, and will draw an immediate
and mutual response. For nearly seven decades, this combination of factors
has been the potential Achilles heel of NATO: that one day, its members
would be called to defend the actions of a rogue member who no longer
shares the values of the alliance but whose behavior puts its "allies" in
danger while creating a nightmare scenario for the global order.

After 67 years, that day has arrived: Turkey, which for half a century
was a stalwart ally in the Middle East while proving that a
Muslim-majority nation could be both secular and democratic, has moved
so far away from its NATO allies that it is widely acknowledged to be
defiantly supporting the Islamic State in Syria in its war against the
West. Since Islamist strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan came to power in
2003, Turkey has taken a harshly authoritarian turn, embracing Islamic
terrorists of every stripe while picking fights it can't finish across
the region - including an escalating war with 25 million ISIS-battling
Kurds and a cold war turning hot with Russia, whose plane it rashly shot
down in November. With those fights coming home to roost - as bombs
explode in its cities and with enemies at its borders - Turkish leaders
are now demanding unconditional NATO support, with Prime Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu declaring on Saturday that he expects "our U.S. ally to
support Turkey with no ifs or buts."

But it's too little, too late. NATO shouldn't come to Turkey's defense -
instead, it should begin proceedings immediately to determine if the
lengthy and growing list of Turkish transgressions against the West,
including its support for Islamic terrorists, have merit. And if they do -
and they most certainly do - the Alliance's supreme decision-making body,
the North Atlantic Council, should formally oust Turkey from NATO for good
before its belligerence and continual aggression drags the international
community into World War III.

This is an action that is long overdue. As I argued five years ago,
"Erdogan, who is Islamist to the core, who once famously declared that
"the mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our
bayonets, and the faithful our soldiers"--seems to see himself as the
Islamic leader of a post-Arab-Spring Muslim world." He has spent the
past 13 years dismantling every part of Turkish society that made it
secular and democratic, remodeling the country, as Caroline Glick of the
Center for Security Policy once wrote, "into a hybrid of Putinist
autocracy and Iranian theocracy." Last fall, he even went so far as to
praise the executive powers once granted to Adolph Hitler.

Under Erdogan's leadership, our NATO ally has arrested more journalists
than China, jailed thousands of students for the crime of free speech,
and replaced secular schools with Islamic-focused madrassas. He has
publicly flaunted his support for Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood while
accusing long-time ally Israel of "crimes against humanity," violated an
arms ban to Gaza, bought an air defense system (and nearly missiles)
from the Chinese in defiance of NATO, and denied America the use of its
own air base to conduct strikes during the Iraqi War and later against
Islamic terrorists in Syria. As Western allies fought to help repel
Islamic State fighters in the town of Kobani in Western Syria two years
ago, Turkish tanks sat quietly just across the border.

In fact, there is strong evidence (compiled by Columbia University) that
Turkey has been "tacitly fueling the ISIS war machine." There is
evidence to show that Turkey, as Near East Outlook recently put it,
allowed "jihadists from around the world to swarm into Syria by crossing
through Turkey's territory;" that Turkey, as journalist Ted Galen
Carpenter writes, "has allowed ISIS to ship oil from northern Syria into
Turkey for sale on the global market;" that Erdogan's own son has
collaborated with ISIS to sell that oil, which is "the lifeblood of the
death-dealing Islamic State"; and that supply trucks have been allowed
to pass freely across Turkey in route to ISIS fighters. There is also
"evidence of more direct assistance," as Forbes puts it, "providing
equipment, passports, training, medical care, and perhaps more to
Islamic radicals;" and that Erdogan's government, according to a former
U.S. Ambassador, worked directly with the al Qaeda affiliate in Syria,
the al-Nusrah Front.

While Ankara pretends to take military action against ISIS, with its
obsessive view of the Kurds, it has engaged in a relentless series of
artillery strikes against the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units
(YPG) that are routing ISIS troops in northern Syria. The Kurds are the
largest ethnic group on earth without a homeland - 25 million Sunni
Muslims who live at the combined corners where Syria, Iraq, Iran, and
Turkey meet. Turkey has waged a bloody, three-decade civil war against
its 14 million Kurds - known as the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK -
claiming more than 40,000 lives. The most recent peace process failed
when Turkey again targeted the PKK, plunging the southeast of the
country back into war while increasingly worrying Erdogan that Syrian
and Turkish Kurds will join forces just across Turkey's border.

The Kurds, like the Turks, are sometimes seen through the lens of who
they used to be, and not who they are now. In 1997, Turkey convinced the
U.S. to put the PKK on its list of terrorist organizations, and Erdogan
claims Syria's Kurds are guilty by association. But in fact, the YPG has
worked so closely with the U.S. against Islamic terrorists that the
Washington Post recently referred to its members as "U.S. proxy forces."
The Kurds - whether in Syria, Iraq, or Turkey - are, by all accounts,
the fiercest and most courageous fighters on the ground in the war
against the Islamic State in both Iraq and Syria. What's more, the
group represents a powerful alternative to the apocalyptic vision of
Islamic jihadists, embodying what has been described as "a level of
gender equality, a respect for secularism and minorities, and a modern,
moderate, and ecumenical conception of Islam that are, to say the least,
rare in the region."

The Turkish government has tried to lay blame for recent bombings in
Ankara at the feet of the YPG in an attempt to sway the U.S. to oppose
the Kurds. An exasperated Erdogan railed about the loyalties of the
West, accused the U.S. of creating a "sea of blood" in the region by
supporting the Kurds, and issued an ultimatum: he demanded that the time
had come for America to choose between Turkey and the Kurds.

I couldn't agree more: the time has come for the U.S. to choose the Kurds
over Erdogan's Turkey.

Critics argue that the Kurds are unwilling to take the fight to ISIS
beyond their borders, but this actually presents the U.S. with an
opportunity. In exchange for fighting ISIS throughout the region, an
international coalition can offer the Kurds their own state. A Kurdish
state would become a critical regional ally for the US and play an
invaluable role in filling the power vacuum that has emerged in the
Middle East. With the help of the U.S., a Kurdish state could also help
to accommodate Syrian refugees that have overwhelmed immigration systems
in Turkey and Europe. In the long term, it would serve as a valuable
regional partner to stabilize the region, and it would set a strong
example of successful democracy. In other words, Kurdistan could play
the role that Turkey used to play.

It's been said that the difference between being Achilles and almost being
Achilles is the difference between living and dying. NATO can do without an
Achilles heel: It's time to kick Turkey out for good.

Stanley Weiss, a global mining executive and founder of Washington-based
Business Executives for National Security, has been widely published on
domestic and international issues for three decades.

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.huffingtonpost.com_stanley-2Dweiss_its-2Dtime-2Dto-2Dkick-2Derdogans-5Fb-5F9300670.html&d=CwIBaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=rpCUP1kw0OMYvroRxpBVWizLGk69azQckoafgcF5o-k&s=1_dSKMSBKIYr48taniNkKoMjyu3ts4wTLNY0NPdcMMg&e<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.huffingtonpost.com_stanley-2Dweiss_its-2Dtime-2Dto-2Dkick-2Derdogans-5Fb-5F9300670.html&d=CwIBaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=rpCUP1kw0OMYvroRxpBVWizLGk69azQckoafgcF5o-k&s=1_dSKMSBKIYr48taniNkKoMjyu3ts4wTLNY0NPdcMMg&e= >

[Yervant1]

In Hussein's Footsteps? Erdogan is Walking Straight Into Washington's Trap

Feb. 25, 2016

[Washington has set a trap for impulsive Turkish President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan, US journalist Mike Whitney notes, adding that a 'color
revolution' in Turkey may one day become a reality.]

On February 19 Washington dismissed a draft resolution by Russia aimed
at preventing a Turkish invasion of Syria at the United Nations
Security Council (UNSC); by making move the Obama administration is in
fact giving the green light to Ankara's ground operation in Syria, US
independent journalist Mike Whitney believes.

"It suggests that the Obama administration thinks that Turkish ground
troops could play an important role in shaping the outcome of a
conflict that the US is still determined to win. Keep in mind, if the
resolution had passed, the threat of a Turkish invasion would have
vanished immediately," Whitney writes in his analysis for
CounterPunch.org, adding that the quashing of the resolution clearly
signals that Washington does not want peace in Syria
[https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.counterpunch.org_2016_02_24_regime-2Dchange-2Din-2Dankara-2Dmore-2Dlikely-2Dthan-2Dyou-2Dthink_&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=Uifr8bmocGW_mrI8TTETIDGAxmC4wKcP9FOrmy6ajOk&s=_o-2lSF-SU1djYxUsVLL6se5ZCyYwPiPbwX5x7Xb4qI&e= ].

Although it is believed that Recep Tayyip Erdogan has "dictatorial
powers" and can launch the much-discussed ground operation in northern
Syria whenever he wants, it is not true: Turkish generals do not want
to bear the responsibility for invading a sovereign state. Therefore,
Ankara is seeking either US/NATO or the UN's blessing, the journalist
explains.

Meanwhile, Ankara continues to wage a covert war against Syrian
Kurdish militias by shelling northern parts of Syria and giving Sunni
jihadists, fighting against the YPG (Kurdish People's Protection
Units) forces and the Syrian Arab Army, a free pass to cross the
Turkish-Syrian border and re-enter the war zone.

Whitney underscores that the Obama administration is fully aware of
what is going on. However, while admonishing the Erdogan government
for shelling northern Syria, Washington has vocally recognized
Turkey's "right to defend itself."

"This alone speaks volumes about the duplicity of Washington's
approach," Whitney notes.

According to the journalist, there is something very fishy about the
White House indulging Ankara's warmongering.

On the one hand, Washington is indirectly pushing the impulsive
Turkish President toward a military conflict with Moscow and Damascus
in Syria thus upsetting the Russo-Syrian successful operation. On the
other, a Turkish invasion would aggravate domestic tensions inside
Turkey.

"A Turkish invasion would exacerbate divisions inside Turkey seriously
eroding Erdogan's grip on power while creating vulnerabilities the US
could exploit by working with its agents in the Turkish military and
Intel agency (MIT)," Whitney writes.

"The ultimate objective would be to foment sufficient social unrest to
incite a color-coded revolution that would dispose of the
troublemaking Erdogan in a Washington-orchestrated coup, much like the
one the CIA executed in Kiev," he stresses.

American researcher, historian and strategic risk consultant F.
William Engdahl shares the similar stance. The historian has
repeatedly warned that Washington's cunning geostrategists have set a
trap for both Erdogan and King Salman in Syria and Iraq.

"While the only-too-clever Prince Salman and Erdogan are convinced, by
all the soft, subtle encouragement from John Kerry, from Joe Biden and
those in Washington that they have a green light to invade and take
over the rich oil and gas fields of Syria and of Turkey's next-door
neighbor Iraq and its huge Mosul oil riches, in fact they are about to
fall into a horrendous trap," Engdahl writes in his article for New
Eastern Outlook
[https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__journal-2Dneo.org_2016_02_21_mr-2Dpresident-2Dsir-2Dare-2Dyou-2Dabout-2Dto-2Dblow-2Dup-2Dthe-2Dmiddle-2Deast-2D2_&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=Uifr8bmocGW_mrI8TTETIDGAxmC4wKcP9FOrmy6ajOk&s=acjU9Ukrjg_95xDPj3DnZT7l_Fr3DA75xpIw3nJwZLo&e= ].

As a result, "the trap will likely see the map of the entire Middle
East redrawn fundamentally for the first time since the secret¦
Sykes-Picot Plan," the historian stresses.
[https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__sputniknews.com_politics_20160130_1033976161_sykes-2Dpicot-2Dagreement-2Deuropean-2Dpowers-2Dreshaped-2Dmiddle-2Deast.html&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=Uifr8bmocGW_mrI8TTETIDGAxmC4wKcP9FOrmy6ajOk&s=xD9tPqtAXZxJ_IWl3yEQ5dmnTGd0_7GDQhlKbdLDjoQ&e= ]

And there is a good reason to think such a trap is not a "conspiracy theory."

Whitney draws historic parallels between the ongoing Syrian conflict
and the Gulf War of 1990-1991.

Incredible as it may seem, it was US Ambassador to Iraq, April
Glaspie, who gave Saddam Hussein the nod to invade Kuwait in 1990.

However, "the Iraqi Army had barely reached its destination before the
US launched a massive military campaign (Operation Desert Storm) that
forced Saddam to speedily withdraw along the infamous Highway of
Death," the journalist narrates, adding that it was the first phase of
Washington's plan to overthrow Hussein and replace him with a
pro-Western stooge.

It seems Erdogan is walking straight into a similar trap.


https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__sputniknews.com_politics_20160225_1035341962_erdogan-2Dwalking-2Dinto-2Dwashington-2Dtrap.html&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=Uifr8bmocGW_mrI8TTETIDGAxmC4wKcP9FOrmy6ajOk&s=c8AZYQAGfrTP90ObTBRmkmtEwjC34iHi0VhHyzGbEvk&e=

[Yervant1]

DAVUTOGLU'S AFFRONT: TURKISH PM COMPARES PRO-RUSSIAN KURDS TO "ARMENIAN GANGS"

Genocide | 29.02.16 | 15:09

In a recent public statement Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu
has used an expression that incites enmity towards Armenians.

In criticizing the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP)
of Turkey, Davutoglu reportedly said: "They're collaborating with
Russia, just like the Armenian gangs. They are going and opening a
representation in Moscow."

Turkey has been increasingly at loggerheads with Russia over the
Syria crisis. The relations between the two countries escalated last
November when Turkish air forces shot down a Russian warplane at the
Syrian border.

Turkey denies it exterminated 1.5 million Armenians in a planned
genocide during the First World War when it fought against the Russian
Empire in the Caucasus front.

Ottoman authorities routinely referred to ethnic and religious
minorities that tried to put up resistance to their policy of
animalization as "gangs". Ottoman Armenians also tried to defend
themselves with arms in several districts of Turkey during those years.

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__armenianow.com_genocide_70263_armenia-5Fdavutoglu-5Fturkish-5Fpm-5Farmenian-5Fgangs-5Fkurds-5Frussia&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=ZR_qkoYFkEyBpz7ne-901nJ-jAmXS0f3x_xdYipfDtM&s=5xblAcfRnw_4_9iaYnP2DQN0pdaWV9ZW1HfDiLcBJh8&e=

[Yervant1]

TURKEY BLOCKS NATO SHIPS FROM ENTERING ITS TERRITORIAL WATERS

16:15, 2 March, 2016

YEREVAN, MARCH 2, ARMENPRESS. Turkey blocked NATO ships from
patrolling its territorial waters in Aegean sea in order to intercept
people-smuggler boats carrying refugees to the Greek islands, from
where the refugees take different directions, "Armenpress" reports
citing "France Presse".

A number of diplomatic sources in Brussels have confirmed the
information for the agency.

It has been previously agreed that NATO warships would be patrolling
Aegean waters between Greece and Turkey in an effort to deter human
traffickers from carrying refugees and migrants from Turkey to Greece
on their way to northern Europe.

NATO warships located in the Aegean under German command are to
monitor the movements of smugglers. However, according to an AFP
report citing diplomatic sources from Brussels, Ankara said "no"
to the demands of the German command of the NATO naval mission. This
claim was confirmed by a second diplomat.

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__armenpress.am_eng_news_838055_turkey-2Dblocks-2Dnato-2Dships-2Dfrom-2Dentering-2Dits-2Dterritorial-2Dwaters.html&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=8kkNBupY9eDhkxQgwZQ0W5DFPoq3769bc7Wx7jPurok&s=58fNwsb0eRuE2GjZo-MpWmpA0vglekDFC_lWA67Lc5E&e=

[Yervant1]

THE PRIME MINISTER'S POISONOUS POPULISM

Today's Zaman (Turkey)
March 1, 2016 Tuesday

What was Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu thinking when he
spoke at a meeting with NGOs last Saturday in the Kurdish-majority
city Bingol?

As was to be expected, the leader of the ruling party first reminded
his audience of the many achievements of the Justice and Development
Party (AKP) in improving the situation of Kurds living in Turkey. But
then he switched to extremely incendiary rhetoric, insulting Armenians
and threatening Kurds. Using the undefined word they, Davutoglu said:
They are taking advantage of the situation in Sur and Silopi. Like
Armenian gangs, they are collaborating with Russia. They are opening
diplomatic missions in Moscow. Who has turned the region into an
arms depot? Who placed snipers there? Who is tricking young children
and taking them to their deaths? Ã~B¦ You saw what happened in
Aleppo. This is what they want to do to our cities Ã~B¦ They are
going to do this and we, the government that you voted for, is going
to just watch; would you accept this?

I am afraid that after years of offensive language against Armenians
and Kurds used time and again in public discourse, most Turks have
become insensitive to this kind of vulgar populism -- accusing someone
one disagrees with of being of Armenian descent or grossly insulting
all Kurds when one is furious about the Kurdistan Workers' Party
(PKK). Still, this is different and for several reasons, Davutoglu's
speech in Bingol should not go by unnoticed or uncommented.

First, this was not said by a hot-heated person in the middle
of a private discussion. These are the words of one of Turkey's
leading politicians, carefully drafted in advance and spoken in
public. They were expressed by the man who only one year ago on the
eighth anniversary of the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant
Dink and in the run-up to the centenary of the Armenian genocide,
stated that Turkey wants to share the pain of the Armenians, wants to
heal the wounds and establish friendship: Our course is set towards
a horizon of friendship and peace.

It is hard to believe in the sincerity of those words when, one year
later, the same person refers to the infamous Armenian gangs from 1915
to intimidate and frighten the Kurdish citizens of Turkey. Davutoglu
knows very well that the fact that some Armenians in 1915 took up arms
against the Ottoman authorities and collaborated with the Russians
was used as an excuse by the Young Turks to set in motion a murderous
campaign against all Armenians on Ottoman lands. We are all informed
about the end result: the death of approximately 1 million Armenians.

The prime minister's reference to Armenian gangs not only repeats a
key element of the standard policy of denial by the Turkish state when
it comes to the Armenian genocide but it opens up all the old wounds
among the Armenian community in and outside Turkey. On top of that --
which brings me to the second reason why this is such a despicable
comparison -- it is also a thinly veiled threat to the Kurds that
they could face the same fate.

In order to achieve the maximum menacing effect, Davutoglu deliberately
put all Kurdish groups and parties in the same basket. It was the
Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) that opened an office in
Moscow, not the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP). It is the PKK and
Kurdish youngsters affiliated with it that are engaged in terrorist
activities, not the HDP. Davutoglu's speech in Bingol was, of course,
not the first example of the AKP's well-calculated strategy of not
drawing a distinction between Turkish and Syrian Kurds or between
elected Kurdish politicians and armed Kurdish militants. What makes
it an extremely worrying incident is the link with the Armenian
genocide. In 1915, the violent resistance of some Armenians was used to
legitimize the expulsion and massacre of all Armenians. What Davutoglu
basically implied last Saturday is that the same could happen to the
Kurds: Because a tiny minority of Kurds in Turkey is using terrorist
methods, the Turkish state has every right to target all Kurds.

This kind of poisonous populism is not befitting for an
academician-turned-politician who should realize that his Bingol
rhetoric is both disgraceful and counter-productive; it terrifies
a substantial part of the Turkish population and only deepens the
divisions in the country he is supposed to unite.

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.todayszaman.com_columnist_joost-2Dlagendijk_the-2Dprime-2Dministers-2Dpoisonous-2Dpopulism-5F413700.html&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=LpDVtg2QobKUkaA81DvW9BHl5LCu-HcAFTwXGxUrEn8&s=OzhNggHcSzw0vRotXfNrpMyti4t0UmStpJ1IuoK5Nik&e=

[Yervant1]

ARMENIA MFA: NOT MUCH CHANGED IN TURKEY RULING ELITE IN 100 YEARS

15:46, 03.03.2016

YEREVAN. - Not much has changed in Turkey's ruling elite, over the
course of the past one hundred years.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian on Thursday stated the
aforesaid, at his talk with the academic council members and students
at Yerevan State University.

To the query on his assessment regarding Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu's recent statement that the Kurds are collaborating with
Russia, just like the Armenian "gangs" had done in the past, thus
justifying Turkey's current actions against the Kurds, Nalbandian
responded: "Official Ankara publicly declares that, in fact,
the genocide committed against Armenians had been intentional and
planned, on the grounds that the Armenians were collaborating with
the Russians."

In his words, the history of crimes against humanity has numerous
things in common.

"One of them is discrediting the victim, labeling him as treacherous
and unworthy," the Armenian FM added. "The persecutions, the
murders against them are justified in the sick imagination of the
executioners."

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__news.am_eng_news_314923.html&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=viBzgiGlLA05jr64vpmIQ8lGpbv4wHzfBhk_0ey6Rb4&s=VRYLALIPtCgbDW2_nRNxWWNNvXQk1ZLxDyQ-jWngQFw&e=

[Yervant1]

ARMENIAN MEMBER OF TURKISH PARLIAMENT SLAMS DAVUTOGLU'S ANTI-ARMENIAN ANNOUNCEMENT

16:12, 3 March, 2016

YEREVAN, MARCH 3, ARMENPRESS. The latest racist announcement made
by Prime Minister of Turkey Ahmet Davutoglu has become subject
for broad discussions. Garo Paylan, Armenian member of the Turkish
parliament from Pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) severely
criticized the Prime Minister during the discussion of the budgets of
the ministries of Interior, Health, Culture and Tourism. "Armenpress"
reports the Turkish Demokrathaber.net informed about this.

Paylan showed a photo reading "Armenian dregs". "Unfortunately,
it is not only the security forces that do this", he mentioned. The
MP reminded Davutoglu's anti-Armenian announcement, where the Prime
Minister, criticizing the HDP, had said, "Armenians seek to cooperate
with the Russians like gangs. Today Turks cooperate with the "Islamic
State" and if I say Turkish gangs, it will be a racist announcement.

Mr. Prime Minister openly made a racist announcement", Paylan
mentioned.

In respond to Paylan's statement, head of the ruling "Justice and
Development" party faction Naci Bostancı stood for Davutoglu saying
that in "in fact Paylan himself makes a hate speech"

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__armenpress.am_eng_news_838216_armenian-2Dmember-2Dof-2Dturkish-2Dparliament-2Dslams-2Ddavuto-25C4-259Flu-25E2-2580-2599s-2Danti-2Darmenian-2Dannouncement.html&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=rKgHtgxIx2PQOHqEMAd0YcZToSsdcVVzjHTqhz83C-I&s=3MKx0niV5F9R1yVCtY6_pGpJaPK5-Fj-mWHcxHfPnA0&e=

[Yervant1]

'ARMENIAN BASTARDS!'

Today's Zaman, Turkey
March 3 2016

March 03, 2016, Thursday/ 18:16:00/ GUNAL KURÅ~^UN

Garo Paylan, a member of Parliament of Armenian descent who belongs
to the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), gave a speech and showed some
photos in the Turkish general assembly on Thursday.

The photos showed some of the graffiti that had been daubed on the
ruined walls of southeastern villages during the recent curfews. The
words "Armenian bastards" can be clearly seen on the photos and the
situation has triggered a serious racism debate in Turkey.

Paylan first showed the photos and then stated that the situation is
in itself a crime. He said this crime was committed not only by the
security forces but also by the prime minister. As you might recall,
last week Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was in Bingöl and said
"the Armenian gangs cooperated with the Russians during World War I".

Paylan wisely asked in Parliament whether it would be fair for him to
say "Turkish gangs" about the Turks and Kurds who sometimes join the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)? Lastly, he asked "what
kind of racism is it?", drawing a thunderous commotion in Parliament
from Justice and Development Party (AKP) and Nationalist Movement Party
(MHP) deputies.

Let's visualize that our father committed a crime, namely killed
our neighbor and buried him in our backyard. We were four years of
age, but we saw the situation. Now we are grown up, but the reality,
which lies in our sub-conscious, occasionally comes to the conscious
surface. I believe that it was such a moment when Paylan showed the
pictures yesterday. Being confronted by reality is always painful, but
to postpone the confrontation only creates bigger and ongoing mistakes.

We have an unconfronted racism inside us. Whatever we say, it becomes
visible at key moments. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he will
not abide by or respect the decision of the Constitutional Court,
Turkey's top court, after it declared on Feb. 25 that the imprisonment
of Cumhuriyet daily's Editor-in-Chief Can Dundar and its Ankara
representative Erdem Gul for publishing photos on an alleged illegal
weapons transfer to Syria was a violation of their basic rights. If
the president has no respect for the rule of law, we can not expect
any positive developments in the area of democratization.

I send my deepest regards to all Armenians living in Turkey
and outside. Although it is not my duty, I apologize for every
individual who has suffered. The Armenians living in the diaspora
should remember that there are still people living in Turkey who deem
themselves allied to law and there are still people who have not lost
their conscience. We will not leave our neighbors alone and won't
let racism reign over Turkey. The Union and Progress (Ä°ttihad ve
Terakki) mentality is still alive in Turkey and its representatives
are not giving up. Let me recall that there are more deputies in
Parliament to stop this racism and that Paylan also found support
from the Republican People's Party (CHP). The most important thing
to confront is the reality that has racist backgrounds forcing us to
continue the mistakes of the past. The belief in law and conscience
is the key to confronting this reality.

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.todayszaman.com_columnists-5Farmenian-2Dbastards-5F413946.html&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=2TlleDcZ3F2WSO-p5OO5gDw9_vffhoVCenCSh45ipTE&s=XbeR-cytLSB1-pPQ4hTTNzmm8GG9NUip_JUXI6b68g0&e=

[Yervant1]

Interfax: Russia & CIS Diplomatic Panorama
March 4, 2016 Friday 5:44 PM MSK


Kurds facing genocide in Turkey - Armenian foreign minister

YEREVAN. March 4

The Kurdish population in Turkey is facing extermination, Armenian
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian has said.

"Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has openly said that his
previous theory of the Armenian genocide being caused by the war, the
hostilities and everything fitting that logic was a fantasy. In fact,
Ankara authorities are publicly declaring that everything that
happened to the Armenian people was intentional and planned, because
the Armenians were cooperating with the Russians," Nalbandian said at
a meeting of the Yerevan State University Academic Board on Thursday.

The Turkish prime minister has compared the events happening in
Turkish areas populated by the Kurds to the events which happened 100
years ago in Armenian provinces of the Ottoman Empire in WWI.

"The contemporary Kurdish militants are similar to the Armenian
bandits who cooperated with the Russians. They [the Kurds] have even
opened their diplomatic mission in Moscow," Davutoglu said.

Turkey "is threatening the Kurds for the same reason," the Armenian
foreign minister said.

"This is a serious message for the international community as to what
may happen to the Kurds, what may be done against them. Nothing has
changed in the Turkish ruling elites in the past 100 years,"
Nalbandian said.

[Yervant1]

ANALYST: MERKEL AND HER COUNTERPARTS WITHIN EU HAVE GIVEN MONEY FOR FORMATION OF A MODERN CORPS OF JANISSARIES

by Anzhela Stepanyan

Wednesday, March 9, 13:19

Today one can rightfully argue that German Chancellor Angela Merkel
and her counterparts within the EU have given money for formation of a
modern corps of janissaries, independent analyst, ex-foreign minister
of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Arman Melikyan has told ArmInfo.

To note, European Union leaders welcomed Turkey's offer on Monday to
take back all migrants who cross into Europe from its soil and agreed
in principle to Ankara's demands for more money, faster EU membership
talks and quicker visa-free travel in return (EU leaders acceded to
Turkey's surprise demand to double its payouts to EUR6 billion by
the end of 2018).

"Actually, the EU has not simply bribed its way out of the refugee
problem. Brussels must realize that it has agreed to fund Turkey's
training of a multipurpose military contingent and that the launch
of this contingent will result in the second wave of refugees rushing
into the West in 1.5-2 years," Melikyan says. He thinks it is obvious
even today that Turkey is not going to build resorts for the refugees -
they will be staying in camps.

If one takes into account that the major part of the refugees consists
of male representatives under 30, it will be no wonder if most of them
are forced by the Turkish authorities to undergo military training
funded by the European Union's 6 bln EUR. The analyst thinks that
Turkey will be able to use them against Kurds, the Assad regime,
Hezbollah and anyone else at just the right time and place.

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.arminfo.am_index.cfm-3Fobjectid-3D02C8F850-2DE5D8-2D11E5-2D84F00EB7C0D21663&d=CwIBaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=UqaOnaQXqvwVJooSRQ4QAbUgtX9kGaZnz0KMS6qMA2E&s=eqMFY-YRwDfpbFGH3Q1YAeeTqTuFaeyMD7mso6rYkGI&e=

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TURKEY AMONG 50 COUNTRIES WHERE CHRISTIANS FACE THE MOST PERSECUTION

March 9, 2016

Open Doors has released its latest World Watch List (WWL). The annual
list ranks the top 50 countries "where Christians face the most
persecution," aiming to create "effective anger" on believers' behalf.

Turkey ranks 45 in the top 50 list of countries where Christians face
the most persecution.

TURKEY

Leader: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Population: 79.6 million (219,000 Christians) Main Religion: Islam
Government: Republic World Watch List Rank: 45 Source of Persecution:
Islamic extremism/ Religious nationalism

The presence of radical Islam, the ethnic conflict, and a regime that
aims to Islamise the country are all affecting the church in Turkey.

The renewed fighting between the government's military forces
and the Kurds is stimulating Turkish nationalism to new heights,
which is impacting all believers, but converts from Islam most of
all. Pressure on them from both family and community is especially
acute. The presence of Islamic fundamentalists in Turkey has already
proved to be a huge threat for Protestant pastors; Muslim-background
believers can expect similar treatment.

ENGINES OF PERSECUTION

Why are Christians persecuted, though? What is it that drives
persecution? Open Doors has identified eight main 'engines' of
persecution.

Islamic extremism - bringing the country/world under the 'House of
Islam' through violent/non- violent actions

Religious nationalism - one religion is defined as the sole basis of
national/ethnic identity, either by the state or by extremist groups
eg Hindutva ideology in India

Tribal antagonism - the continuing influence of age-old norms and
values shaped in tribal context

Denominational protectionism - churches do not recognise or want
to give room to Christians outside their structure or theological
definition

Communist oppression - seeking to maintain communism (however defined)
as the prescriptive national ideology

Aggressive secularism - attempting to eradicate the Christian faith
from the public and private domain

Organised corruption - the creation of a climate of impunity, anarchy
and corruption as a means for getting rich

Totalitarian paranoia - in which religious freedoms suffer, alongside
other freedoms, in the attempt to maintain power.

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.horizonweekly.ca_news_details_82145&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=dCgMU8_r6n3g5gXus1yr_5gy0Rd_uH5R-bTozxSqWJU&s=ytJhWP4ZPXMlP4Xxota97UZ2HAE6W_miQJM8OhnDeVI&e=

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NALBANDYAN: IF TURKEY WANTS KARABAKH SETTLEMENT IT SHOULD REFRAIN FROM MEDDLING THE PROCESS

Politics 14:22 09/03/2016 Armenia

If Turkey is really interested in the resolution of the Karabakh
conflict, it should not meddle in the settlement process - wherever
possible, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan said in an
interview with Kommersant newspaper.

Asked to assess the Turkish statements that "it (Turkey) would exert
every effort "to return Azerbaijani territories,"" Nalbandyan said:
"My impression is that the Turkish leadership is losing the sense of
reality in the sphere of both foreign and domestic politics. Prime
Minister Davutoghlu recently accused the Kurds of being like "Armenian
gangs" and collaborating with Russia. Those statements are an alarming
signal for the International community what may happen to the Kurds
as well. Talaat ***** in the early 20th century accused the Russians
of "arming and provoking the Armenians" as well. Obviously, little
has changed in the Turkish clique over 100 years," Nalbandyan said,
adding that if Turkey is really interested in the resolution of the
Karabakh conflict it should not meddle in the settlement process."

On another note, the foreign minister reflected on the Armenian-Iranian
cooperation and the lifting of the international sanctions against
the Islamic State. According to the minister, Armenia has neighborly
relations with Iran, and the newly occurred circumstances (lifting
the sanctions) provide an opportunity for the implementation of
the joint projects as well as for speaking of the new mechanisms of
economic cooperation.

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.panorama.am_en_news_2016_03_09_Nalbandyan_1541584&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=AYuhZ8YE1ZdS_R9YZdED9H-8ThxzcEj37ngyfwIOv6I&s=TToj2Jq2mYCK4YnFboMKVAuXAhtcSrO-43tAh4Skjew&e=

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TURKEY IS NO FRIEND OF EUROPE - HER BEHAVIOUR IS BLACKMAIL

19:02 â~@¢ 09.03.16

Below is an article posted by The Telegraph

Haggling in a Turkish bazaar is not an experience most Westerners
enjoy at the best of times. But it becomes especially unpleasant when
you discover that, having agreed a price, you then become a victim of
blatant extortion. That is certainly how EU leaders must be feeling
after their bruising encounter with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu to find a workable solution to the refugee crisis that is
threatening mainland Europe.

Writing on these pages on Tuesday, William Hague, our former foreign
secretary, revealed the high regard in which he held Mr Davutoglu
during his four-year tenure at King Charles Street. And it is easy to
understand why the Turkish politician became the object of Mr Hague's
admiration when you look at the way he has run rings around his EU
opposite numbers.

Not so long ago it was the case that, in terms of the EU's relations
with Turkey, it was Brussels that held all the trump cards. Numerous
initiatives undertaken by Ankara to join the EU were hindered by the
demands of Brussels - from resolving the long-standing dispute over
Cyprus to improving Turkey's woeful human rights record.

Now, thanks to the migration crisis, the tables have turned
dramatically, so that it is Ankara, not Brussels, that finds itself
holding all the aces, a drastic change in circumstance the Turks are
determined to exploit for their own advantage.

The most graphic illustration of Turkey's new assertiveness emerged
in Brussels in the early hours of Monday morning after Mr Davutoglu
had invited German Chancellor Angela Merkel to dinner at the Turkish
Embassy, ostensibly to discuss the terms of the refugee deal negotiated
over several weeks by EU President Donald Tusk. Instead Turkey's
prime minister presented her with a completely new set of demands
that read more like a ransom note than a bargaining position.

In return for agreeing to the repatriation of migrants being shipped
to Greece by Turkish people-smuggling gangs - the so-called "one in,
one out" deal - Turkey is demanding an extra three billion euros added
to the three billion euros the EU has already pledged. In addition,
Ankara wants full-scale visa liberalisation for Turkish citizens
visiting the EU by June, an acceleration of Turkey's application for
EU membership and a pledge to resettle in Europe many of the Syrian
refugees Turkey agrees to take in.

Such is the EU's desperation to fix the migrant crisis that it now
has little option other than to accede to Ankara's demands. But if
the Turks think that by indulging in blackmail this will somehow help
to improve their relations with Europe, they should think again.

For a start, the suggestion that Turkey still remains interested
in joining the EU can only be described as a bad joke. Just a few
days before Mr Davutoglu's démarche to Mrs Merkel in Brussels,
Turkish riot police were busy raiding the offices of Turkey's main
anti-government newspaper, Zaman, arresting its senior journalists
and firing tear gas at demonstrators. This is not the conduct of a
country that is serious about joining an organisation like the EU,
where the protection of all human rights - including press freedom -
is pursued with obsessive zeal.

Moreover, the increasingly pro-Islamist agenda being pursued by Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has placed him on a far more worrying
collision course with his European neighbours.

Mr Erdogan likes to claim that, with an estimated three million Syrian
refugees already seeking sanctuary in Turkey, his country cannot cope
with the influx. But he is conveniently overlooking the fact that
Turkey would not be in this position if its government had prevented
jihadists from freely crossing its borders to travel to the war
zones in Syria and Iraq. Indeed, it has been suggested that Ankara,
which supports the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad,
has links with Islamic State (Isil) militants fighting across the
border in Syria.

Furthermore, when British counter-terrorism officials warn, as they
did earlier this week, that Britain today finds itself at risk from
"enormous and spectacular" terrorist attacks, this is in large part
due to Turkey's disinclination to monitor the hundreds of thousands of
Syrian refugees crossing its border. Many of the returning jihadists
who now pose a threat to our security have made their way to the UK
courtesy of Turkey's unpoliced migrant routes.

If Turkey were really serious about forging a closer relationship with
Europe, then it would be more proactive in monitoring those from Isil
and other Islamist-inspired terror groups that seek to do us harm.

For the moment the EU might be desperate to keep the Turks onside as
it tackles the worst migration crisis in living memory. But in the
long term we should take the view that, so long as Turkey remains
under its present leadership, it would be foolhardy to regard her as
an ally in whom we can place our trust.

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.telegraph.co.uk_news_worldnews_europe_turkey_12188033_Turkey-2Dis-2Dno-2Dfriend-2Dof-2DEurope-2Dher-2Dbehaviour-2Dis-2Dblackmail.html&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=q3SrxfWfyuKMd4sQgwBKFzgmEa2L0plRljDsR-17qiM&s=HVZKGqtukZJUvD5cbaVzBpIk2lebnB4yelG_o0tMneA&e=

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.tert.am_en_news_2016_03_09_turkey_1956847&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=q3SrxfWfyuKMd4sQgwBKFzgmEa2L0plRljDsR-17qiM&s=TLGjXONTq6a53hDP3LoGiC8sMyt-dBL1BFjJoXR_kBE&e=

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PRAISE HITLER, GET BILLIONS: EU FALLS PREY TO ANKARA'S BLACKMAIL

9/3/16

Turkish police raiding crowds outside Zaman Headquarters and spraying
them with tear gas. (Source: Today's Zaman)

BY ARA KHACHATOURIAN

The lessons learned from Europe's decision to reward Turkey is, if you
are a despotic leader like Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
you can murder and imprison your citizens and praise Hitler as an
"effective leader" and get billions of dollars in taxpayer aid. Hurray
for the new world order.

European leaders demonstrated their enslavement to Ankara's policies,
which ignore basic human rights and condone terrorism, by rewarding
Turkey billions of dollars in aid and guaranteeing other perks,
including the establishment of a visa-free regime.

This kowtowing to Ankara sets a new precedent in international circles
of how to hold nations accountable to basic human rights abuses and
sends a clear message to despots around the world that killing and
maiming their citizens and forced closure of media outlets are not
only tolerated, but can also be rewarded if the perpetrator nation
can pledge minimum action as long as it preserves European nationalist
interests.

International rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch,
Amnesty International and UNHDP, as well as some European Parliament
members are up in arms with the European leaders' decision to grant
Ankara a carte blanche in the name of suppressing the tide of migrants
into European countries.

By turning a blind eye on human rights abuses, which in Turkey's case
include waging a violent and indiscriminate war against its own Kurdish
and other minority citizens, stifling dissident voices by shutting
down media outlets through the use of barbaric force and imprisoning
any individuals who dares to oppose the regime, European leaders
are trampling upon the very democratic value system, based on which
Europe's partnerships are determined with other--developing--nations.

This is a direct consequence, if not a natural progression, resulting
from the West's general and historic ambivalence--or outright
disregard--for the realities on the ground, be they in Syria, the
Middle East or elsewhere in the world. All one has to do is reflect
back on Europe's posturing in the same part of the world a hundred
years ago to know that the more things change, the more they stay
the same. A 100 year ago, while Germany and France seemed to be on
opposing sides, Germany's support for the Ottoman Empire and France's
and Britain's ignoring of the so-called realities on the ground paved
the way for the Armenian Genocide.

So Europe's pledge of billions of dollars in aid and easing of travel
restrictions among other perks, will, most definitely, allow Ankara
to carry out its crimes and perhaps escalate its campaign against the
Kurds into a full-blown Genocide, since nobody is watching, or those
that are have relinquished their powers to intervene.

The same forgiving policy is also being carried out by the United
States. Despite voicing "concern" over human rights violations
by Ankara, which don't even amount to a slap on the wrist, the US
continues to defend Turkey and praise it as an important and critical
ally in this farce that also known as the "war on terror" or the
"fight against ISIS."

In fact, as recently as Tuesday, US Ambassador to Armenia, who
is on a tour of Armenian communities on the West Coast (the press
has been excluded from this visit--at least Asbarez has been) has
dismissed criticism of Turkey by praising Ankara for its generosity
in allowing the US to use the Incirlik airbase in the fight against
the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, ISIL or Da'esh. I am certain
that Ambassador Mills has also dismissed the notion that Turkey has
aided and abetted the rise of ISIS, despite his own colleague's,
former US Ambassador to Turkey Francis J. Ricciardone's assertion
that Turkey has systematically turned a blind eye on the flow of
Islamic militants into Syria through it porous border.

How long will it take for the Obama Administration to further sweeten
the already saccharine pot and embrace Turkey's uncivilized regime?

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__asbarez.com_147232_praise-2Dhitler-2Dget-2Dbillions-2Deu-2Dfalls-2Dprey-2Dto-2Dankaras-2Dblackmail_&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=GicKkscvSXXwkfK00Vq-6b8kQZfLTI8zS86oDDEkaNw&s=P8bw-f7VzGY7t347ENHJWLIn3vr-X-3T7rXESf8M2kI&e=

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Strategic Culture

ERIC ZUESSE | 16.03.2016 | WORLD | HISTORY & CULTURE

America's Ally Turkey Again Stirs Anti-Armenian Bigotry

On March 11th, a news-report was headlined «VIDEO: Kurds in Turkey
Accuse Erdogan for Mass and Genocidal Massacre», but the resurgent
fascist-nationalist, and self-righteously Sunni-Islamic, Saudi and
US-allied government of Turkey doesn't hate and despise only Kurds `
as horrific as those reports are. (And those videos and pictures make
clear the government's bloody contempt of Kurds.)

A news-report also appeared recently that the Turkish government is
again stoking hatred against Armenians ` the victims of the 1915
Turkish genocide that Hitler admired. This news-report received
virtually no coverage in the West. The little coverage that it did
receive was attacked by some because the news was reported on
Al-Monitor, which is a Washington DC-based site created in 2012 by US
corporations and their academics ` it was an ad-hominem `criticism',
regardless of whether those funders raise reasonable doubts about the
truthfulness of the report. But, in any case, the report itself was
linked to credible sources, and so is credible.

It opened: «Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu gave a searing
speech Feb. 27 on the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) in
the eastern province of Bingol. In his speech he accused the Kurds of
taking advantage of the situation in the southeastern border towns of
Sur and Silopi. 'They are collaborating with Russia like the Armenian
gangs used to do». His assertion in context was that Turkey's enemies
«want our Kurdish citizens to get into another fight with us patriotic
Turks. They try to appeal to the people of this country by honoring
the Armenian gangs who cooperate with the Russian invaders».

This Al-Monitor article commented: «Nurhan Becidyan, an
Armenian-American who served in the Turkish army as a reserve officer
in the 1970s, told Al-Monitor about the meaning of the term 'Armenian
gangs.' He said, 'When an Armenian hears the term, he immediately
recalls the official Turkish government history lessons of the past
century that talk about how the Armenians in 1915 collaborated with
the `enemy' [Russians] and revolted against the Ottomans», which is
the traditional Turkish-government rationalization for the genocide
that Turkey's officials (to this day) deny was a «genocide». (Even
Hitler acknowledge it was, but they don't acknowledge it.)

Why is Turkey in NATO, except that Turkey's government is hostile to
Russia? Is that enough to qualify Turkey's government to be in NATO?
Apparently.

Back in 1915, when Turkey's government slaughtered approximately a
million Armenians, it wasn't only Armenians whom the Turkish
government aimed to exterminate. The article from Wikipedia states,
«Other indigenous and Christian ethnic groups such as the Assyrians
and the Ottoman Greeks were similarly targeted for extermination by
the Ottoman government, and their treatment is considered by some
historians to be part of the same genocidal policy». This was Turkey's
extermination policy against peoples whose cultures were
Christian. Russia was an overwhelmingly Christian-majority nation
then, prior to the 1917 communist revolution; and Turkey was hostile
toward Russia, and also to Greece ` it was a religious hatred, of
Christians, which Turkey reflects, then and now.

That Wikipedia article on the Armenian genocide says, «Writing in the
late 1890s after a visit to the Ottoman Empire, the British
ethnographer William Ramsay described the conditions of Armenian life
as follows: `We must, however, go back to an older time, if we want to
appreciate what uncontrolled Turkish rule meant, alike to Armenians
and to Greeks. It did not mean religious persecution; it meant
unutterable contempt... They were dogs and pigs; and their nature was
to be Christians, to be spat upon.'» Perhaps that's the reason why
Hitler took it to be his model: he, too, denied that he was targeting
any «religion»; he hated a people, a `race': Jews. The Turkish
government hates non-Sunnis. But in NATO it needs their cooperation.

America is in bed with some pretty sordid regimes ` Saudi Arabia,
Qatar, Kuwait, UAE, Turkey, Israel, Jordan, to name some of the
prominent ones.



www.strategic-culture.org/news/2016/03/16/america-ally-turkey-again-stirs-anti-armenian-bigotry.html

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THE REFUGEE DEAL CONTINUES EUROPE'S HISTORY OF DIRTY DEALING WITH TURKEY

Huffington Post
March 21 2016

Stefan Ihrig, Polonsky Fellow, Van Leer Jerusalem Institute

Last week, European Union leaders announced a new deal with Turkey. It
was hotly anticipated for a number of reasons: Would it "solve"
Europe's refugee crisis? To what extent would the EU give in to Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's demands? The deal seeks to repatriate
refugees back to Turkey, which would become a "safe country."

How exactly the deal will be implemented remains to be seen, and what
it actually means for the right to asylum in the EU will need to be
discussed. But the deal has further repercussions that EU leaders
either do not want to see or -- more probable -- cynically factor in
as part of doing business. But let's be clear: this deal is making a
mockery of alleged European values, and it further empowers Erdogan,
who has become increasingly authoritarian.

The deal calls up memories of Europe's rather checkered history of
deal-making with Turkey. One recalls another German chancellor from
another time: In late 1915, it was becoming increasingly clear that
the Young Turk leadership was using World War I as cover to get rid
of the Armenian question by "doing away" with the Armenians themselves.

Germany should have known -- its consular services in the Ottoman
Empire were vast and meticulous. Its consuls in Eastern Anatolia had
chronicled the Armenian genocide from day one.

German Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg reacted angrily
to mounting pressure to intervene with Germany's ally, the Ottoman
Empire, to stop the Armenian genocide. He wrote, "Our only goal is
to hold Turkey at our side until the end of the war, regardless of
whether the Armenians perish over that or not. If the war carries on
for a while, we will need the Turks very much."

Our "war" today is different, as are the potential victims of today's
cynical realpolitik. And yet, there are unsettling parallels of
violence and geography -- think of the renewed violence in the Kurdish
regions of Turkey as well as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's
declaration of the so-called Islamic State committing genocide in
the very same regions in which Armenians died a century ago.

Furthermore, that fact that we "will need the Turks very much" --
in Europe, the Middle East and the world -- is again quite clear. Yet
we are mistaken if we think it is Erdogan's Turkey that we will need;
it is the other Turkey, currently being destroyed by Erdogan, that
we will sorely miss in the future.

This is precisely where the parallel applies much more poignantly.

Something else that is being cynically left to perish, besides people,
is the future of the EU and the future of Turkey. Without much ado,
in the quest to solve the refugee crisis, the EU devalued itself
in a fundamental fashion -- it connected the deal to Turkey's EU
membership negotiations. Erdogan's Turkey can now hope for faster
opening of the next chapters in the accession process. While it must
be doubted that Erdogan still wants Turkey to actually become a member,
it has a symbolic significance that is almost poisonous.

The prospect of EU membership used to mean something, or was supposed
to. It was an instrument to strengthen and enhance the opening of
societies, to further cement the rule of law, to protect a plural
and open society -- and of course, to make a country compatible
with a host of economic and other standards. Already in the last
waves of enlargement (2004 and 2007), this great tool of reform and
democratization was under-used. The EU, for example, incorporated a
divided Cyprus, giving up a great incentive for conflict resolution
without actually having made much use of it.

Instead of using Turkey's EU perspective and various partnerships and
bi- and multilateral relations to protect freedom of speech in Turkey,
the EU has singularly rewarded Erdogan in this great game of refugees.

If anyone ever doubted that Erdogan was an astute strategist, here is
merely the latest proof. He has been testing both Europe and Turkish
society to see how far he can go. And he has been met with less
resistance than should have been expected. It has emboldened him --
beyond measure, some would say. The dismantling of the other Turkey
-- of the pluralist, open Turkey with a vibrant civil society --
is on Europe's conscience.

Declaring Turkey a "safe country" will sound rather cynical to
journalists and academics who face harassment and arrest by the
government (not to mention ongoing violence in Turkey's Kurdish
regions). And it's not just Turkish journalists -- the German magazine
Der Spiegel ran a story in the middle of the Brussels negotiations
about how its correspondent in Istanbul had to leave the country when
the government didn't renew his visa. Der Spiegel saw this as a clear
sign that its journalist was declared persona non grata because of his
critical articles and that his freedom of speech was being violated
in Turkey.

With the latest deal, the EU has not only once more made a mockery of
its self-declared asylum laws and rights -- it has devalued its own
core political values. By its sheer timing and its (relative) lack of
condemnation of Erdogan's continued crackdown on the opposition and
remodeling of the country along more autocratic lines, it blatantly
declared that freedom of speech (especially of the press and academia)
and the rule of law do not matter as much as solving problems and
staying in power. This deal is very much about German Chancellor
Angela Merkel's approval at home.

It is hard not to agree with political scientist Kerem Oktem that
every deal with Erdogan strengthens him further. After the Brussels
deal, Erdogan can turn to his population and tell them that all the
criticism from abroad of the past months has been negated by the
collected EU leadership. He can tell them that Turkey is Europe's
close partner and that EU membership talks will continue at a faster
speed. What more democratic credentials could one possibly need?

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Could there be a coup in Turkey?

By Michael Rubin
March 21, 2016


The situation in Turkey is bad and getting worse. It's not just the
deterioration in security amidst a wave of terrorism. Public debt
might be stable, but private debt is out-of-control, the tourism
sector is in free-fall, and the decline in the currency has impacted
every citizen's buying power. There is a broad sense, election results
notwithstanding, that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is
out-of-control. He is imprisoning opponents, seizing newspapers left
and right, and building palaces at the rate of a mad sultan or
aspiring caliph. In recent weeks, he has once again threatened to
dissolve the constitutional court. Corruption is rife. His son Bilal
reportedly fled Italy on a forged Saudi diplomatic passport as the
Italian police closed in on him in an alleged money laundering
scandal. His outbursts are raising eyebrows both in Turkey and abroad.
Even members of his ruling party whisper about his increasing paranoia
which, according to some Turkish officials, has gotten so bad that he
seeks to install anti-aircraft missiles at his palace to prevent
airborne men-in-black from targeting him in a snatch-and-grab
operation.

Turks--and the Turkish military--increasingly recognize that Erdogan
is taking Turkey to the precipice. By first bestowing legitimacy upon
imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan with renewed negotiations
and then precipitating renewed conflict, he has taken Turkey down a
path in which there is no chance of victory and a high chance of de
facto partition. After all, if civil war renews as in the 1980s and
early 1990s, Turkey's Kurds will be hard-pressed to settle for
anything less, all the more so given the precedent now established by
their brethren in Iraq and Syria.

Erdogan long ago sought to kneecap the Turkish military. For the first
decade of his rule, both the US government and European Union cheered
him on. But that was before even Erdogan's most ardent foreign
apologists recognized the depth of his descent into madness and
autocracy. So if the Turkish military moves to oust Erdogan and place
his inner circle behind bars, could they get away with it?

In the realm of analysis rather than advocacy, the answer is yes. At
this point in election season, it is doubtful that the Obama
administration would do more than castigate any coup leaders,
especially if they immediately laid out a clear path to the
restoration of democracy. Nor would Erdogan engender the type of
sympathy that Egyptian President Muhammad Morsi did. When Morsi was
ousted, his commitment to democracy was still subject to debate; that
debate is now moot when it comes to the Turkish strongman. Neither the
Republican nor Democratic frontrunners would put US prestige on the
line to seek a return to the status quo ante; they might offer lip
service against a coup, but they would work with the new regime.

Coup leaders might moot European and American human rights and civil
society criticism and that of journalists by immediately freeing all
detained journalists and academics and by returning seized newspapers
and television stations to their rightful owners. Turkey's NATO
membership is no deterrent to action: Neither Turkey nor Greece lost
their NATO membership after previous coups. Should a new leadership
engage sincerely with Turkey's Kurds, Kurds might come onboard.
Neither European nor American public opinion would likely be
sympathetic to the execution of Erdogan, his son and son-in-law, or
key aides like Egemen Bagis and Cuneyd Zapsu, although they would
accept a trial for corruption and long incarceration. Erdogan might
hope friends would rally to his side, but most of his friends--both
internationally and inside Turkey--are attracted to his power. Once
out of his palace, he may find himself very much alone, a shriveled
and confused figure like Saddam Hussein at his own trial.

I make no predictions, but given rising discord in Turkey as well as
the likelihood that the Turkish military would suffer no significant
consequence should it imitate Abdel Fattah el-Sisi's game plan in
Egypt, no one should be surprised if Turkey's rocky politics soon get
rockier.

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.aei.org_publication_could-2Dthere-2Dbe-2Da-2Dcoup-2Din-2Dturkey_&d=CwIBaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=NuS1oNvt_XS4Po9V8YmI3-3Hrqqtx5XUBZykm8n43Oc&s=mMFYP14TxQoFKI6GlmVxNRy5OQjk9hpHLBvkr4G0ueQ&e=

[Yervant1]

Turkey businessman, who has President ErdoÄ?an's backing, is arrested in US

14:41, 22.03.2016
Region:Turkey
Theme: Politics

Turkish business tycoon Rıza Sarraf (Reza Zarrab)'who has bribed
Turkish ministers with millions of dollars, who was engaged in
billions of dollars worth smuggling, and who enjoyed the backing of
Turkish President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an'has been arrested in the US.

Sarraf is arrested on charges of violating the sanctions on Iran,
committing banking fraud, and robbing the US, according to Cumhuriyet
daily newspaper of Turkey.

Rıza Sarraf was arrested in Turkey in December 2013, within the
framework of a large bribery scandal.

But the judges and prosecutors, whom ErdoÄ?an had replaced, did
everything so that those arrested along the lines of this scandal be
released.

As a result, all these arrestees'including Sarraf'were released in
February 2014.

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__news.am_eng_news_318157.html&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=014ZTP-tedfnVp9D_JaDz--YoGeRpnJAoOGksQjcqU0&s=qH7jSRvYQCMTPHUT-ENVWbsy_UrP4ALJbUKwdarPQ9o&e=