Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Turkey Turns on Syria

Seems to be part of a pattern.

"Turkey cancels oil search plans in Syria; Also threatens to cut supply of electricity" November 16, 2011|By Selcan Hacaoglu, Associated Press

 ANKARA, Turkey - Turkey yesterday canceled plans for oil exploration in Syria, while also threatening to cut electricity supplies after a spate of attacks by supporters of Syrian President Bashar Assad on its diplomatic missions.... 

Also see: As Turkey Turns

But it is okay if Turkey provides sanctuary for forces attacking Syria.  

Related: Turkey Turns on Its Kurds

Turkey supports Syrian assets of western intelligence services that carry out attacks in Syria, and yet bombs the Iraqi sanctuary of Kurds?

Turkish Energy Analyst Necdet Pamir said Syria produces an excess of some 10 billion kilowatt-hours, and was therefore not likely to suffer from any possible Turkish move.

Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, slammed Assad for his brutal crackdown on opponents and attacks by his supporters on Turkish diplomatic missions on Saturday.

Turkey no longer has confidence in the Syrian regime, Erdogan said, warning Assad that his crackdown threatens to place him on a list of leaders who “feed on blood.’’  

I put AmeriKan and Israeli leaders at the top of those lists.

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“No regime can survive by killing or jailing,’’ Erdogan said. “No one can build a future over the blood of the oppressed.’’

Turkey’s government had cultivated warm ties with Assad, but has grown highly critical of his government. Turkey has imposed an arms embargo on Syria and is expected to announce other sanctions. Turkey has also opened its borders to Syrians fleeing the violence. More than 7,700 refugees are being sheltered in several Turkish camps along the Syrian border.

Along with a camp for armed resisters to plan and carry out attacks.

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"Turkey issues warnings to Syria; Prime minister says oppression can’t last forever" November 22, 2011|By Bassem Mroue, Associated Press

ANKARA, Turkey - Turkey warned Syria’s president yesterday that he cannot continue to oppress his people with tanks and guns forever, as Syrian soldiers opened fire on at least two buses carrying Turkish citizens, witnesses and officials said....  

This the same government that is currently killing Kurds?

Turkey has allowed Syrian refugees and military defectors to take refuge on its soil, and Syria’s political opposition has used Turkey as a place to meet and organize.

Assad’s deepening isolation and the growing calls for his ouster are a severe blow to a family dynasty that has ruled Syria for four decades - and any change to the leadership could transform some of the most enduring alliances in the Middle East and beyond....  

The NEO-CON PLAN FRONT and CENTER!!!

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"Turkish official urges Assad to resign" November 23, 2011|New York Times

ISTANBUL - In his most blatant criticism yet of Syria’s political repression, the prime minister of Turkey said for the first time yesterday that President Bashar Assad of Syria should resign, raising the pressure on Assad from a country that Syria had once counted as its friendliest neighbor and economic partner.

The criticism by the Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was not totally unexpected, given his increasing exasperation with Assad’s intransigence over the political uprising against him, now in its eighth month. But Erdogan’s comments were notable for his explicit language. He likened Assad to the self-delusional dictators of history who have met violent ends, most recently Moammar Khadafy of Libya.  

Related: Turkey Turns on Khadafy

“Just remove yourself from that seat before shedding more blood, before torturing more, and for the welfare of your country, as well as the region,’’ Erdogan said of Assad in a televised statement at his party meeting in Ankara.

Erdogan’s criticism came as Turkey’s president, Abdullah Gul, began a three-day visit to Britain, which also has been outspoken in seeking to isolate Assad.

Thousands of Syrians have sought refuge across the border in Turkey, which also permits sanctuary to an insurgent group of former Syrian soldiers.

Erdogan said Turkey had no interest in meddling in Syria, but “while a nation - especially one that is our kin and relative - is being tormented, we have absolutely no intention to turn a blind eye, to turn our backs against Syria with a 910 kilometers-long borderline.’’  

They just turn a blind eye to their own genocides, right? 

Then again, wars and what we are told in the MSM are never quite as they appear.

Turkey’s longest border is with Syria, to the south, where residents on both sides are often members of larger families, sharing a common culture and language.

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"Turkey threatens to send military into Syria; Says mission’s goal would be outlining a new safety zone" November 30, 2011|By Sebnem Arsu, New York Times

ISTANBUL - Turkish officials continued yesterday to step up pressure on Syria, saying they would consider having their military cross the border to impose a safety zone if the Assad government failed to stop killing citizens demanding democratic change....  

So Turkey is going to INVADE SYRIA, huh?!?

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, in a television interview broadcast on Kanal 24, a private network, said, “Despite all, if oppression continued, Turkey remains ready for all possible scenarios’’ including creating a buffer zone. He said it would be established in coordination with the international community....  

Meaning Turkey is a tool and a willing collaborator in the New World Order.

Turkey hosts the Syrian military defectors who are organizing an increasingly aggressive, if not yet effective, insurgency inside Syria....  

You see, it is OKAY if it is in service of the fascist globalist order.

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"Turkey adds sanctions to pressure on Syria" December 01, 2011|By Anthony Shadid and Dan Bilefsky, New York Times

ISTANBUL - Turkey took steps yesterday to freeze the Syrian government’s financial assets, impose a travel ban on senior Syrian regime officials, and cut off transactions with the country’s central bank, sharply escalating international pressure on Damascus....

European, Turkish, and US officials all said they believed Syria’s economic troubles could prove the undoing of Assad, who has managed to maintain the allegiance of Syria’s business elite.

Reiterating his calls for Assad to relinquish power and to stop his brutal assault on his own people, Turkey’s foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, said in Ankara that the measures would include an extensive ban on military sales to Damascus and a blockade of weapons deliveries from third countries at Turkey’s land and sea borders with Syria. He said Turkey would also stop new transactions with the Commercial Bank of Syria and halt all credit to the Syrian government.

“Every bullet fired, every bombed mosque, has taken away the legitimacy of the Syrian leadership and has widened the gap between us,’’ Davutoglu said. “Syria has wasted the last chance that it was given.’’  

Turkish hypocrites.

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"Biden praises Turkey for putting pressure on Syria" December 03, 2011|By Selcan Hacaoglu, Associated Press

ANKARA, Turkey - US Vice President Joe Biden has urged Turkey to impose new sanctions against Iran and praised Ankara for its role in pressuring Syria....

Biden’s comments - published yesterday in the Turkish daily Hurriyet - raise further pressure on Syrian president Bashar Assad’s regime. A top UN human rights official warned Thursday that Syria has entered a state of civil war with more than 4,000 people dead, and an increasing number of soldiers defecting from the army.

Assad, who is trying to defeat an 8-month-old revolt challenging his rule, faces widespread international condemnation at the growing death toll, with Turkey, a major critic of the autocratic leader’s actions, announcing a new set of economic sanctions against his regime earlier this week.

“We look forward to the broadening of international sanctions as a means to bring about change in Syria,’’ Hurriyet and its English-language sister paper quoted Biden as saying in remarks emailed to them in advance of his visit to Turkey.

He also urged Ankara to adopt further sanctions against Iran, which the West suspects is trying to develop nuclear weapons. Iran said its nuclear program is peaceful....

Biden also said that the United States “will continue to work with Turkey on pursuing shared interests in the Middle East and North Africa.’’

“We continue to support a diplomatic solution to our concerns with Iran,’’ Biden said. “However, we also believe that putting pressure on Iran’s leadership is necessary to secure a negotiated settlement and that is why we encourage our partners, including Turkey, to take steps to impose new sanctions on Iran.’’

An Iranian general said today that Tehran would target NATO’s early warning radar in Turkey if the US or Israel attacks the Islamic Republic....

Ankara agreed to host the radar in September as part of NATO’s missile defense system, which is capable of countering ballistic missile threats from its neighbor. Turkey said the shield does not target a specific country, but Tehran says the radar is meant to protect Israel from Iranian missile attacks if a war breaks out with the Jewish state.

The US and its Western allies also suspect Iran of trying to produce atomic weapons, and Israel, which views Tehran as an existential threat, has warned of a possible strike on Iran’s nuclear program. 

Word on the blogs is the attack on Iran has been fast-tracked because of the Ron Paul phenomenon.

Related: Report: Israel Intel Chief Says Nuke-Armed Iran Not An Existential Threat

Haven't seen that in my Globe yet.

Biden was also expected to encourage Turkey to repair ties with its former close ally Israel. As a long-serving member of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Biden cemented his reputation as an unyielding supporter of Israel.  

Yeah, everyone knows he's a Zionist servant. 

Btw, I don't buy the beef. I think it's bullshit because Turkey is in lock-step with the plan while -- in my view -- paying Palestinians lip service.

Relations between Turkey and Israel remain strained after last year’s Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla that killed eight Turkish citizens and a Turkish-American.

The leaders also discussed Turkey’s conflict with autonomy-seeking Kurdish rebels.  

And?

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"At least 24 killed in Syria as troops fire on protesters; Several children reportedly among the casualties" December 10, 2011|By Elizabeth A. Kennedy, Associated Press

BEIRUT - Yesterday, Turkey urged Assad to punish his security forces and accept an Arab League observer mission if he is sincere in his repudiation of violence against civilians.

“If he is sincere he will punish the security forces, he will accept the Arab League observers, and help change the atmosphere,’’ Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said yesterday. “He still has the opportunity to do this.’’

Turkey, meanwhile, moved to suspend a 2008 free trade agreement with Syria, which will lead to the imposition of taxes of up to 30 percent on some Syrian goods, authorities said.

The move - like most of the economic measures taken against Syria - is likely to hit the Syrian business class, which until now has been one of the main props of the regime.

Syria already unilaterally suspended the free trade agreement, but Turkey’s Cabinet needed to approve the suspension so it can collect the taxes.

Customs and Trade Minister Hayati Yazici said Turkey is planning to encourage Turkish trucks to favor Iraqi and Jordanian routes to Middle East markets, bypassing Syria.

“We are having tensions with Syria,’’ Yazici said. “Of course, our trade is important but our stance based on humanitarian values is above everything.’’

As they deny the Armenian genocide and continue to kill Kurds (sigh).

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Also see:

Turkey Turns on Its Kurds 

Turkey Turns On Israel

Yeah, I am sensing a pattern.  

More:  

As Turkey Turns

Turkish Triple Cross


Actually, I've lost track.