Whatever
It Takes: Turkey
Seeking Any Excuse to
Invade Syria
Seeking Any Excuse to
Invade Syria
Syrian Kurds refute accusations made by the Turkish leadership regarding the recent terrorist attack in Ankara.
19
February, 2016
Turkish
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu claimed that the perpetrator of the
recent terrorist attack in Ankara which claimed the lives of 28
people was a man named Salih Neccar, a native of the town of Amuda
located in the Syrian province of Al Hasakah – an area
predominantly populated by Syrian Kurds.
However,
following Davutoglu's statements the representatives of the Kurdish
Democratic Union Party (PYD) conducted their own investigation into
the suspect’s identity, and the facts they’ve uncovered may not
be to the prime minister's liking.
"The
investigation revealed that no one bearing the family name of Neccar
lives or ever lived in Amuda," Hakem Xalo, PYD representative
and co-chairman of the legislative council of Syria's Jazira Canton,
told Sputnik. "Furthermore, no one bearing this name has ever
joined the People's Protection Units (YPG) in Amuda. We've
interviewed the people living there and no one knew a man named Salih
Neccar. It is a small town, and the residents know each other."
Xalo
said that the Syrian Kurds reject accusations made by the Turkish
prime minister and suggested that Salih Neccar, assuming that he
actually existed, could’ve been a member of Daesh or Jabhat
an-Nusra.
"Neither
YPG nor PYD bear any responsibility for the terrorist attack in
Ankara nor other similar attacks in Turkey. We defend our people from
Daesh and other terrorist groups that threaten our land. By claiming
that PYD is responsible for the explosions in Turkey, Ankara merely
wants to create an excuse for the invasion of Rojava (a region of
Syria located near the border with Turkey and populated predominantly
by Kurds), nothing more," Xalo explained.
Several
notable experts have also warned that the terrorist attack in Ankara
looks like a 'false flag operation' which may be used by Turkish
leadership as a pretext for a large scale land invasion of northern
Syria.
The
bombing was carried out on February 17, at a busy crossroad in
central Ankara near the country's parliament building at 16:30 GMT.
At least 28 people were killed and over 60 were injured by the
explosion.
Russia
Demands End To
Turkey's Efforts To
Undermine Syrian
Sovereignty
Turkey's Efforts To
Undermine Syrian
Sovereignty
19
February, 2016
Over
the past several days, Turkey has been busy putting the world on the
course to World War III.
The
YPG - which Ankara identifies with the “terrorist” PKK- has
contributed to the Russian and Iranian effort to cut off the Azaz
corridor, the last remaining supply line to the rebels fighting to
oust Bashar al-Assad in Syria.
The
Kurdish effort to unite territory the group holds east of the
Euphrates with cities it hold west of the river in Syria has
infuriated Ankara, which views the YPG advance as a kind of precursor
to Kurdish independence in Turkey.
The
solution, Turkey says, is a 10 km incursion into Syria, an effort
which will establish a “safe zone” for those fleeing the violence
that plagues the country’s besieged urban centers. That , of
course, is merely an excuse for Ankara to send ground troops into the
country, where the Sunni-sponsored effort to overthrow Assad is on
its last legs.
The
deadly bombing in Ankara that claimed the lives of several dozen
people on Thursday is predictably being trotted out as an excuse to
put Turkish boots on the ground in Syria. "Months ago in my
meeting with him I told him the U.S. was supplying weapons. Three
plane loads arrived, half of them ended up in the hands of Daesh
(Islamic State), and half of them in the hands of the PYD,"
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday. "Against
whom were these weapons used? They were used against civilians there
and caused their deaths," he added.
Obviously,
that's completely absurd. Turkey has been funneling guns and money to
the Syrian opposition for years. For Ankara to accuse anyone of
"supplying weapons" to the Sunni insurgents who are
endangering civilians is the epitome of hypocrisy. Turkey is only
angry at the US and Russia in this case because Washington and Moscow
both support Kurdish elements that Ankara views as threatening to AKP
and to Turkey's territorial integrity.
At
this juncture, the only way to preserve the rebellion and protect the
anti-Assad cause is to insert ground troops, a move that both Ankara
and Riyadh are seriously considering. The presence of Turkish and/or
Saudi boots would mark a meaningful escalation and would put Sunni
forces directly into battle against Iran's powerful Shiite proxy
armies, setting the stage for a disastrous sectarian battle that
would forever alter the Mid-East balance of power.
On
Friday, in an effort to avert an all-out global conflict, Moscow
called for a UN Security Council meeting to discuss Turkey's plans to
send troops into Syria. "Turkey's announced plans to put boots
on the ground in northern Syria undercut efforts to launch a
political settlement in the Syrian Arab Republic," Maria
Zakharova said, earlier today.
The
announced intentions of Ankara (as well as Riyadh and Doha) are not
consistent with the will of Damascus, which has only invited Russia
and Iran to the fight against "the terrorists." Everyone
else - including the US, Britain, and France - are effectively
trespassing.
In
May of 2014, Russia and China blocked a Security Council resolution
to refer the Syria conflict to the Hague. Now, we'll get to see
whether the West will protect its allies in Ankara and Riyadh, or
whether someone in the international community will finally step up
and say "enough is enough" when it comes to fomenting
discord in Syria.
Turkey
says US is arming
Kurdish ‘terrorists’
Kurdish ‘terrorists’
US
refuses to designate the YPG as a terrorist group
19
February, 2016
Istanbul:
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said US-supplied weapons had been
used against civilians by a Syrian Kurdish militia group that Ankara
blames for a deadly suicide bombing, and said he would talk to US
President Barack Obama about it later on Friday.
US
support for the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), which
Washington considers a useful ally in the fight against Daesh, has
enraged Turkey and risks driving a wedge between the Nato allies.
Turkey sees the group as a terrorist organisation linked to Kurdish
militants waging an insurgency on its own soil.
Erdogan
and the Turkish government have said the PYD’s armed wing, the YPG,
was responsible for a suicide car bomb attack in the administrative
heart of the capital, Ankara, on Wednesday, which killed 28 people,
most of them soldiers.
Erdogan
said he was saddened by the West’s refusal to call the PYD and YPG
a terrorist group, and would explain to Obama by phone how weapons
provided by the US had aided them.
“I
will tell him, look at how and where those weapons you provided were
fired,” he told reporters in Istanbul.
“Months
ago in my meeting with him [Obama], I told him the US was supplying
weapons. Three plane loads arrived, half of them ended up in the
hands of Daesh, and half of them in the hands of the PYD,” he said.
“Against
whom were these weapons used? They were used against civilians there
and caused their deaths.” He appeared to be referring to a US air
drop of 28 bundles of military supplies in late 2014 meant for Iraqi
Kurdish fighters near the Syrian city of Kobani. Pentagon officials
said at the time one had fallen into the hands of Daesh. The Pentagon
later said it had targeted the missing bundle in an air strike and
destroyed it.
Turkish
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu earlier accused the US of making
conflicting statements about the Syrian Kurdish militia.
He
said US Secretary of State John Kerry had told him the Kurdish
insurgents could not be trusted, in what Cavusoglu said was a
departure from Washington’s official position.
The
United States has said it does not consider the YPG a terrorist
group. A spokesman for the State Department said on Thursday
Washington was not in a position to confirm or deny Turkey’s charge
that the YPG was behind the Ankara bombing.
The
spokesman also called on Turkey to stop its recent shelling of the
YPG. The YPG’s political arm has denied the group was behind the
Ankara attack and said Turkey was using it to justify an escalation
in fighting in northern Syria.
While
terrorists rage in Syria and beyond, with many countries trying to
unite their efforts in the fight against Islamic State (IS, formerly
ISIS/ISIL), Ankara's blame game looks more like an untimely joke,
Moscow says.
"Mr.
Davutoglu [Turkish Prime Minister], are you serious or is it just the
way you joke? If it's a joke, then I think at a moment like this
everyone, and especially Turkey, should be busy not with irony or
sarcasm, but rather with concrete actions to stand against terrorism.
I think that's what Turkish people are expecting from you,"
Russia's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said at a
Moscow briefing on Thursday.
"Statements
by Turkish officials alleging that Russia secretly supports IS are
absolutely unacceptable," she added.
PKK
splinter group claims
responsibility for Ankara
bombing, says it’s revenge
for Cizre
responsibility for Ankara
bombing, says it’s revenge
for Cizre
RT,
19
February, 2016
The
Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK), a Kurdish militant group, has claimed
responsibility for the Ankara bombing that killed 28 people this
week, according to its website. It said the attack was in retaliation
for Ankara’s military operation in Turkey's southeast.
The
TAK, which is a splinter group of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’
Party (PKK), vowed to continue its attacks.
The
militant group claimed in the statement published on Friday that the
Ankara blast was carried out to avenge the “defenseless and wounded
civilians brutally massacred in basements in Cizre.”
“Everyone
should know that those who ordered the massacre of civilians were
responsible for the Ankara incident.”
It
identified the perpetrator of the Ankara bombing as a 26-year-old
Turkish national born in the eastern city of Van.
The
militant group operates in Turkey and northern Iraq and is regarded
as a terrorist organization by Ankara and the US. It has claimed
responsibility for a number of attacks since 2004. The latest one was
the December mortar attack at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen airport that
killed one man and damaged five aircraft.
The
TAK has said that it severed links with the PKK. The latter, in turn,
has reportedly denied having any control over the TAK.
The
group is seeking the creation of an independent Kurdish state that
encompasses parts of southeast Turkey.
Meanwhile,
the Turkish government had accused forces linked with the Syrian
Kurdish YPG militia of the terror attack in Ankara. Prime Minister
Ahmet Davutoglu vowed to continue the military efforts against
Kurdish groups in Syria.
In
turn, Syrian Kurds denied responsibility and blamed Islamic State
militants (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) for the attack.
In
recent months Turkey has been stepping up a military crackdown in its
southeastern regions, populated predominantly by Kurds. Erdogan has
vowed to continue the military campaign until the area is cleansed of
PKK militants.
Earlier
in February, Turkish Interior Minister Efkan Ala said that a military
operation against the Kurdish militants in the country’s
southeastern district of Cizre had been completed. The district
became the venue of bloody fighting after a ceasefire between the
Turkish government and PKK disintegrated in July 2015. According to
reports, dozens of injured people were trapped in basements without
food, water or medical supplies while medical access to the area was
denied.
Meanwhile,
on Friday, a member of the Turkish parliament from the pro-Kurdish
Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) accused the military of atrocities
claiming they had "burned alive" more than 150 people
trapped in basements.
"In
the Cizre district of Sirnak, around 150 people have been burned
alive in different buildings by Turkish military forces. Some corpses
were found without heads. Some were burned completely, so that
autopsy is not possible," Feleknas Uca told Sputnik, adding that
“most” of those killed were Kurds.
The Guardian,represeenting western media, has a parallel version of reality.
NATO Warns Turkey It Won’t
Support Ankara in Conflict
With Russia
As tensions escalate between Turkey and Russia, NATO has warned Ankara that it will not take part in a war provoked by the Turkish government.
19 February, 2016
Last
November, Turkey shot down a Russian jet flying through Syrian
airspace. While many feared that the incident would plunge both
countries into war, conflict was avoided, though relations between
Moscow and Ankara have remained chilly.
As
Turkey pushes to deploy ground forces across its border to remove the
legitimate government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the
Turkish government is, again, threatening the world with war.
"The
armed forces of the two states are both active in fierce fighting on
the Turkish-Syrian border, in some cases just a few kilometers from
each other," one NATO official told Der Spiegel.
Ankara’s
aggression seems partially based on the assumption that, should
conflict erupt, Turkey will be supported by its NATO allies.
According to Article 5 of the NATO treaty, the collective defense
clause would be invoked if any member state is attacked.
But
European leaders have made it abundantly clear that they have no
interest in participating in a war of Turkey’s making.
"NATO
cannot allow itself to be pulled into a military escalation with
Russia as a result of the recent tensions between Russia and Turkey,"
Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn told Der Spiegel.
Of
Article 5, Asselborn stressed that "the guarantee is only valid
when a member state is clearly attacked."
Germany
appears to agree
The Guardian,represeenting western media, has a parallel version of reality.
UN
Syria envoy, Staffan de Mistura, says it up to Americans and Russians
to agree concrete plan for cessation of hostilities
A
deadline to secure a cessation of hostilities in Syria has passed,
further delaying the resumption of UN-brokered peace talks between
the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, and the rebels fighting to
overthrow him.
US
and Russian military officials were holding talks in Geneva in
advance of a wider meeting of the International Syria Support Group
(ISSG) to try to thrash out a deal on a cessation. The arrangement
falls short of a formal ceasefire but is seen as a key step towards
de-escalating the five-year conflict.
Last
Friday the 20-strong ISSG announced in Munich that it would be trying
to secure a cessation in a week, but the intervening days have seen
no let-up in violence, with Russia continuing airstrikes against
moderate opposition forces, according to diplomats monitoring the
crisis. Russia says it is targeting “terrorists”, echoing the
Syrian government’s blanket description of all Assad’s opponents.
The
hope is that if a joint US-Russian position can be agreed, the UN
will negotiate the details of implementation with the parties on the
ground. The UN’s Syria envoy, Staffan de Mistura, who was on his
way back from meetings Damascus, took part in the talks by videolink.
“We
need real talks about peace, not just talks about talks,” de
Mistura told the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagblad. “Now the
Americans and Russians must sit down and agree on a concrete plan on
the cessation of hostilities between today and mid-next week. Now the
ball is in their court.”
The
only progress since the Munich meeting has been the start of
deliveries of humanitarian aid to seven besieged areas across the
country. “Humanitarian access has improved this week, but it needs
to become a routine, and we also need to see detainees released,”
one western official told the Guardian. Air drops to other areas,
including Deir el-Zor, which is under siege by Isis, are to begin
within days.
But
rebels from the Southern Front of the Free Syrian Army complained
that there had been no response to urgent appeals for help to be sent
to 12,000 people in Daraya, west of Damascus, the target of a fierce
military campaign by government forces and Hezbollah. Last year it
was hit by 6,580 barrel bombs, the FSA said.
If
there are grounds for optimism, it is in the apparently narrowing gap
between Washington and Moscow. The high level of interest is shown by
the fact that the US team in Geneva is led by Rob Malley, Barack
Obama’s chief adviser on Syria, and the Russian side by Alexander
Lavrentiev, who does the same job for Vladimir Putin.
Western
sources said it was vital to ensure that any cessation of violence
and aid deliveries were clearly linked to a “political transition”
– meaning talks on Syria’s future and Assad’s role. Russia has
been reluctant to address that.
Since
the start of the conflict in 2011 western governments have hoped that
Moscow would pressure Assad into changing policy, though that has
never happened in any significant way. But Russia’s ambassador to
the UN, Vitaly Churkin, said in an interview that Assad needs to
respond to the Munich agreement – hinting strongly at disagreements
with Damascus.
Turkey
sees targeting of civilian hubs as a deliberate attempt to create
mass outflow of people and vacuum for pro-Assad forces to fill
“Russia
has invested very seriously in this crisis, politically,
diplomatically and now also militarily,” Churkin told the
Kommersant daily. “Therefore we would like al-Assad also to respond
to this,” he said, adding that the Syrian leader’s stance “is
not in accord with the diplomatic efforts that Russia is making”.
Churkin
was responding to an interview by Assad – just before the Munich
deal – in which he pledged to retake the whole of the country and
appeared to rule out negotiations. “If they proceed on the basis
that no ceasefire is necessary and they need to fight to a victorious
end, then this conflict will last a very long time and that is
terrifying to imagine,” Churkin said. Syria is “already on the
brink of falling apart,” he added.
Even
if a cessation of hostilities deal is agreed, it is likely to be
fragile and viewed with suspicion, especially by rebels who fear they
may be walking into a trap. De Mistura implicitly acknowledged this,
admitting that it would not be possible “realistically” to
reconvene the Geneva talks, as originally scheduled, on 25 February,
but they “intend to do so soon”. Meetings began on 29 January but
were suspended after just three days without results as Russian
airstrikes intensified.
Further
evidence of intense diplomatic activity around the crisis came in a
phonecall between Putin and King Salman of Saudi Arabia, who backs
the anti-Assad rebels as firmly as Moscow has supported the Syrian
leader. The Saudis also work closely with Turkey, which is
increasingly at odds with Russia over Kurdish involvement in the
fighting.
Fighting
continued in Aleppo and Hasakah province, with reports of Russian
airstrikes and Turkey bombing Syrian Kurdish forces in the northern
border area. The Red Cross said it was “deeply alarmed by the
situation in the Aleppo region, where fighting is intensifying,
hospitals and health workers have been targeted, people have no water
or electricity and more than 70,000 have now fled their homes”.
Obama Backs Turkey Against
Syrian Government, PKK in
Call to Erdogan
US President Barack Obama warned the Syrian Kurdish People Protection Units (YPG) not to seize additional territory in Syria, and pledged support for Turkey against Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) guerrillas in a phone call to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday, the White House said.
20 February, 2016
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Obama also emphasized the unwavering commitment of the United States to Turkey’s national security as a NATO Ally, and agreed to deepen cooperation in the fight against all forms of terrorism, including the PKK and Daesh, the read out said.
"President Obama stressed that YPG forces should not seek to exploit circumstances in this area to seize additional territory, and urged Turkey to show reciprocal restraint by ceasing artillery strikes in the area," the White House read out, released on Friday, said.
Obama also expressed his concern to Erdogan about recent Syrian army advances in northwest Syria, and urgently called for a halt to actions that heighten tensions with Turkey and with allegedly moderate opposition forces in northern Syria, the read out continued.
"The president condemned and offered condolences for the February 17 terrorist attack in Ankara, which killed and wounded both military personnel and civilians, and the February 18 terrorist attack against a Turkish military convoy in Diyarbakir Province."
US, France say Russia’s draft resolution on Syrian sovereignty has ‘no future’
©
Mike Segar / Reuters
A
Russian draft resolution condemning any plans for foreign military
intervention and warning against violations of Syrian sovereignty has
been rejected by the US and French ambassadors, as having ‘no
future’ ahead of a UN Security Council meeting.
Yet
despite opposition from some of the UNSC members, Russia’s Deputy
Permanent Representative to the UN Vladimir Safronkov told RT that
there had also been “positive” reactions
to the Russian proposal.
“I
told our western partners, that everything that is included in the
draft was previously voiced by them, declared by them and repeated
many, many times,” Safronkov
told RT, adding that Russia will press forward with negotiations over
the draft in the hope that the resolution “will
be adopted soon.”
The
draft, the diplomat stressed, reflects the key principles of the UN
charter, compliance to which “becomes
fundamental in nature because all of us are working intensely on the
parameters of a political settlement in Syria.”
The
Russian diplomat stressed that unless the document is
adopted,“achieving
a lasting peace settlement would be very difficult.”
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