This article was written for the Unz Review: http://www.unz.com/tsaker/turkey-on-the-ropes/
This has been an amazing week which saw the first clear sign of the collapse of the EU and Turkish President Erdogan presenting his excuses to Russia for the downing of a Russian SU-24 over Syria 7 month ago. While the latter event was largely eclipsed by the former, it might be the sign of something even more dramatic taking place: the collapse of Turkey.
Does that seem like hyperbole?
Let’s look again.
The Presidency of Erdogan has been nothing short of cataclysmic for Turkey which resulted in a perfect storm of crises, each of the very serious:
1) Crisis in Syria: the Turkish policy of support for Daesh to overthrow Assad has failed. Abjectly so. Not only is Assad still in power, but the latest bombing in Turkey seem to indicated that Daesh is turning against Turkey now (assuming the official explanations is true, which it might not be as we will discuss below). The entire Syria policy of Erdogan is now in shambles.
2) Crisis with the EU: the last thing the Brits did before Brexiting was to tell Turkey that it could join the EU in 3000 years. Other EU member states were not as direct, but everybody knows that this is true. Furthermore, the grand Erdogan-Merkel friendship and alliance has completely fizzled out.
3) Crisis with the Armenians: when the German Parliament recognized the genocide of the Armenians and, soon thereafter, so did the Pope, it was pretty darn clear that the western powers that be were sending Turkey a simple message: a raised middle finger. Love story over, screw you!
4) Crisis with the USA: US special forces have now been spotted in Iraq wearing Kurdish badges. While minor, this incident is telling and has greatly angered the Turks. Bottom line: the Empire needs the Kurds in Iraq and Syria and Turkey takes second place right now.
5) Crisis with Iran: by supporting Daesh, by trying to sabotage the “Islamic pipeline” and by trying to overthrow Assad, Turkey has completely alienated Tehran.
6) Crisis with the Kurds: by engaging in an even more brutal level of anti-Kurdish violence the Turks have basically re-ignited a full scale civil war and the Kurds are showing no signs of getting weaker. In fact, they are currently more powerful than ever, courtesy of the US invastion of Iraq.
7) Crisis with NATO: following the downing of the Russian SU-24 NATO clearly indicated to Erdogan that he was on his own and that NATO would not get involved in an Turkey-triggered war.
8) Crisis with Russia: the downing of the SU-24 did not result in the expected Russian military response, but resulted in 7 months of crippling economic sanctions by Russia and an enormous loss of prestige by Turkey. More about this later.
So, this can be all summed up by saying that Turkey under Erdogan has shown a truly Ukrainian-level of incompetence, arrogance and delusion.
It is in this, truly dramatic, context that Erdogan had to write his letter of apology.
The first thing which should be said about this is that Erdogan took a major political risk: after spending months chest-thumping and declaring uri et orbi that Turkey will never, ever, apologize if only because Turkey was in the right, this sudden “zag!” puts Erdogan is a very difficult position. Hence the initial rumors that the letter said that he was “sorry” but not “apologizing” or, second variant, that the apology was only to the family of the murdered Russian pilot, but not to Russia. This did not last too long and pretty soon the bewildered Turks gave up trying to give this apology a face-lift. It was exactly what everybody understood it to be: a real full and humiliating apology.
Next there was a statement of the Turkish foreign minister categorically denying that any compensation would be paid. That too lasted a couple of hours until it was admitted that not only would Turkey pay, but Turkey would pay whatever was demanded.
Finally, there is a very real possibility that the bombing of the airport in Istanbul might be a very direct message sent to Erdogan: “if you try to appease the Russians we will unleash hell on you”. And while Daesh is a prime candidate for sending that kind of message, there are other possible candidates: the US, of course, and the Turkish deep-state. To make matters even more complicated, we should not discard any scenario as impossible, including the possibility that Erdogan himself, and his supporters, engaged in a false-flag event to justify 1) cooperation with Russia against terrorism and 2) turning against Daesh.
Right now, the official version (Daesh did it) makes sense to me, but I would not discount any other possibility.
What is certain is that the stakes in Turkey are now sky-high and that Erdogan is fighting for his future and, possibly, the future of Turkey as a state. His opening towards Russia and, at the same time, Israel is a clear sign of despair. If only because Russia is unlikely to offer much in terms of rewards for the following reasons:
First, the Russians are now deeply suspicious of Erdogan and consider him a loose cannon, possibly a lunatic, who cannot be trusted and who can make a zag after every zig.
Second, the letter was a first, necessary, step to reopen negotiations, but the negotiations themselves will be a long process. Foreign Ministers Lavrov and Cavusoglu will begin these negotiations this week, but the number of issues to be discussed in very long. Most importantly, the Russians will demand tangible and important steps from Turkey, especially in Syria and in regards to Turkey sponsored terrorism in Russia and the Ukraine. It is by no means clear to me that Erdogan will be willing to make such major concessions. Officially, I expect a lot of smiles and hopeful declarations, but behind closed door the Russians will be making many tough demands. It is not clear to me that Ergodan could yield to the Russian demands even if he wanted to.
Erdogan really appears to have deluded himself that he is some kind of major player and he is now discovering that he is not. What is even worse, he now probably realizes that he has many dangerous enemies and no friends at all.
Potentially, Russia could offer Turkey a lot, way more than just a return to better relations, tourists and a market for Turkish vegetables. But my feeling is that Erdogan is turning to Russia in despair and to improve his bargaining position towards all the others enemies he has made. The problem is that he Russians probably see that too and that they will be very cautious, even if they hide this caution behind all manners of nice diplomatic language.
I might be wrong here, but I think that the Russians want Erdogan out. In their minds they have already “Saakashvilized” him if only because Turkey is an extremely important country, strategically located and Russia cannot afford to have a delusional lunatic ruling it. Furthermore, the Turkish people have a major problem on their hands: a severe case of multiple personality disorder. They have to decide if they want to be secular Europeans, “Young Turk” neo-Fascist nationalists, Islamic radicals, Kemalist secularists? Do they want a impossible mono-ethnic Turkey or can they accept that others not only live there too, but also that these “others” lived in these lands long before the Turkic nomads invaded them? Right now, Turkey is anti-European, anti-Russian, anti-American, anti-Kurdish, anti-Armenian, anti-Christian, anti-Arabic, anti-Persian, anti-Greek, etc. That makes Turkey a big powder keg which any spark could detonate. And the problem for Russia is that this powder keg is uncomfortably close and deeply involved in the Ukraine, Crimea, the Caucasus and Central Asia.
What this all means is that it is in Russia’s strategic interest to have a responsible and trustworthy partner to deal with. Sadly, I don’t see that as very likely because, just as in the case of the Ukraine and Israel, the problem with Turkey is that this an artificial, illegitimate and fundamentally unsustainable country.
Israel, the Ukraine and Turkey are all built on a rabidly nationalist/racist worldview which offers no hope to anybody that does not agree with this worldview. This is why, for the Turks, the Kurds are either “mountain Turks” or “terrorists” who deserve to be shot. It would be naïve to the extreme to think that the mindset which made the genocide of Armenians, along with many other minorities (Christian Assyrians, Syrians, Chaldeans and Greeks), has somehow disappeared especially if we keep in mind that a) the Turks still deny the reality of this genocide and b) that this genocide has never stopped, but only slowed down:
Genocide, besides the actual physical destruction of the members of the target group, aims also to erase all traces of the target group’s identity, through forced assimilation. In the Armenian case, it was mainly women and children who were forced to convert to Islam, adopting Turkish or Kurdish names and thus lost their Armenian identity over time. Another measure of the genocidal process is deleting all traces of the population who have been massacred or driven away by such deportations. This includes destruction of all buildings and monuments while renaming all the names of villages, towns, rivers, and other things that can attest to the presence of Armenians in the area. In 1914, the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople presented a list of Armenian sacred places that were under his supervision. The list contained 2,549 religious sites of which 200 were monasteries while 1,600 were churches. A survey in 1974 showed that only 916 Armenian churches could be identified within Turkey’s borders, half of which were almost completely destroyed and among the rest only ruins of 252 items remained. The authorities have also renamed almost all villages, towns, mountains, and rivers in Armenia and changed their historical Armenian name to Turkish ones. This policy continues even in our days when, for example, the Turkish Interior Ministry announced in 2005 that it would rename certain animal Latin names since they had “separatist tendencies”. Armeniana Ovis (sheep) would be renamed Ovis orientalis Anatolicus, while Capreolus Capreolus Armenus (deer) would be called Capreolus Capreolus capreolus. Even Vulpes Vulpes Kurdistanica (red fox) was to be renamed Vulpes Vulpes. The proposal was rejected by UNESCO, the UN agency in charge of these data, referring to the unfounded the Turkish reasons for the changes (source)
And then there is Cyprus, which the Turks still illegally occupy. Again, such levels of violence in and around artificial and illegitimate countries is something normal and not a temporary fluke (see: the Ukraine and Israel).
What this all means for Russia is that while the Kremlin will warmly welcome Erdogan’s latest “zag” and while efforts will be made to return to a more or less situation, the only possible long term goal for Russia is to support either the break-up or the federalization of Turkey into some kind of more or less civilized country. The good news for Russia is that she really need not make any special efforts towards that goal as the Turks, just like the Israelis and the Ukrainians, are doing a splendid job making sure that their political project never becomes viable. The best thing Russia can do at this point in time is to brace for the likely flare-up of violence in Turkey and try to protect herself, and her allies, from the inevitable fallout.
As for Turkey – the future looks very grim. The latest move to court Russia and Israel will not meaningfully improve the strategic situation for Turkey. At best, it will give the *appearance* of a pseudo-regional détente. But nothing else will change unless the Turkish state itself changes and that is something that the Turkish people do not seem to be willing to accept, at least not in the foreseeable future.
The Saker
Thanks, another excellent and informative article. I’m curious as to your views on Daesh and Isis as being arms of Israel, and in fact the U.S. acting as a Israely puppet effectively.
I’m also interested in the Angl aspect of the Zionist project. Who stands Behind Israel ? Why do you think Israel was formed? Are there hidden undercurrents that need considering ?
Cheers and thanks again
It would be great if a volunteer came forward to give us Israel Sitreps. Also, given the way things are today, we could use an Oligarch Sitrep too!! Soros and Rupert Murdoch are two candidates I’d put forward.
Who stands Behind Israel ? Why do you think Israel was formed? Are there hidden undercurrents that need considering ?
LOL, one could write several PhD theses on these questions. What I can say is that I believe that both the USA and Israel are just means to an end, that those who run the Empire don’t really care about either country or its people. At the top of the Pyramid you have big money and above that, spiritually Satan. You can call that the power of “Mammon” if you want. And its purpose has always been the same – to get at the Creator by destroying His creatures: humanity.
I know that this may sound weird but this are the conclusions my entire life has lead me to.
Cheers,
The Saker
Saker, you are absolutely right.
There are some very dark entities in this universe, multidimensional beings which defy our standard 3 dimensional existence. I believe it is these entities that the US deep state serves, whether they realize it or not… surely those at the “top” of the pyramid must know.
Trouble is these principalities of darkness are both relentless and come off as the Hydra as such. You have to be cautious as all usually is not what it seems either.
“I know that this may sound weird but this are the conclusions my entire life has lead me to.”
Well, I must say that I´ve come to the same conclusions. Yes, you can call the destructive power Satan, mammon, NWO, Babylon or whatever, but the purpose is same: destroy as much as possible. Jesus said that Satan came here only to steal and murder. What else are these times than the feast of murders and thieves? It´s all about the rebellion against the God. That´s the common denominator for this progress we´ve been witnessing so(too) long. That´s behind the sexual liberalization, globalization, “common” European values(have you ever thought what those values are in reality?), liberalization of economy, independent central-banks and so on. List is long. Enemy wants to control every little aspect of our lives. What is offered us as a freedom is the most terrible prison of a mind.
Since I grew up in the American South, we just call them “Damn Yankees” :)
Agreed, Saker.
Destroying God’s humans and creation, to put into power his own perverted kingdom first, and he has to get rid of the Christian influence/Christians etc to do that.
This is the only valid reasoning. I firmly believe that this is the TRUTH!
So basically Book of Revelations
Seems like he’s doing a good job of it.
The Saker:
“And its purpose has always been the same – to get at the Creator by destroying His creatures: humanity.
I know that this may sound weird but this are the conclusions my entire life has lead me to.”
You might care to checkout Para 4 on page 306 of the Sparkly book that appeared from NZ.
It says much the same, and offers a lucid spiritual explanation for the insanity that
is clearly evident in this crazy world
Peace
David K
Reminds me of Juncker’s comments on “other planets”:
https://forum.davidicke.com/showthread.php?t=309146
I don’t seriously think there’s a connection here: the simpler and more plausible explanation is that his tongue slipped. But still fun!
The fascinating part of what you say here for me is the idea that Satan believes he can “get at the Creator”. I would assume his ultimate purpose is to enthrone himself in place of the Creator, making the Latter his vassel. But just getting at the Creator would be a major accomplishment. Being of above average intelligence, Satan has undoubtedly measured his chances of success and determined that such a thing is doable, which could be taken to suggest some weakness or imperfection of the Creator. I think it behooves us to take Satan’s claim seriously, perhaps even the claim that he can unseat the Almighty. In some sense, I believe he does precisely this each time a soul is lost. Each person is made in His image and that would seem to imply that each one of us is a whole cosmos, so the loss of a single soul is as if God’s Creation is for nought for that given cosmos. Of course I tread on very insecure ground here, not being a theologian, but if words are chosen well, such as I believe to be the case with “get at the Creator”, then it makes sense to pursue the implications.
What has this to do with our earthly affairs? Each of us, a child of our Creator, made in His image, is of infinite preciousness and infininite worth in the scheme of things, even Hillary Clinton. Today, the world seems to be distancing itself from that truth until the sound of those words becomes fainter and fainter and is drowned out by all the cacaphony that surrounds us.
Saker, just wondering if you read all the articles in the various languages posted on your site. i just read the article in French “Le peché original, un mythe dont le temps est écoulé”, which is completely at odds with Christian beliefs. Nothing wrong with posting such an article, any Christian worth his salt already knows all the arguments against the faith. Furthermore, I doubt that there is much possibility of refuting these ideas, because they have sound logic behind them. It just goes to show how much easier it is to be a nonbeliever than to believe in things that no reasonable person could accept. The burden of proof is on Christians to justify their beliefs to nonbelievers, and unfortunately, there is no way to justify beliefs such as the fact that Mary remained a virgin after the birth of Christ. Nor is there any possibility of justifying eating the body of Christ in Communion. Even the majority of Christ’s followers abandoned him on that one.
This article takes full advantage of these crippling disadvantages for Christians. At the end, the serpent in the garden becomes the real hero of the story. This article is a paean to Lucifer. Maybe that is a good thing if such articles peel away the lukewarm.
What bothers me about this is not the content of the article per se but the fact that it is part of a massive worldwide assault against Christianity. It is discouraging to see such attacks wherever you turn. This has become a movement.
I agree, and believe that the root of the hatred of Life (the Sin for which there is no forgiveness)lies in human psychology. Basically, ruling Western elites under capitalism, a system that works, remorselessly, to destroy Life and turn it into money, are psychopaths. And their system is both psychopathic in its arrogance, greed, destructiveness and lack of empathy, but also cancerous in its drive for infinite growth, a recipe for killing its host, Life on Earth, including humanity.
Judaism, in my opinion, is psychopathy, individual and group, in action, dividing the world into US and Them, their Eternal Enemies, the goyim. The later derivations of this Abrahamic ‘revelation’, Christianity and Islam, rejected many of the worst manifestations of Judaic chauvinism, supremacism, xenophobia and exceptionalism, as did ‘reformed’ schools of Judaism, doing away with one of Judaism’s favourite tools, usury, for example.
But, unfortunately and inevitably, these improvements were subverted over time. ‘Fundamentalist’ forms of Christianity and Islam, at least as exclusivist and xenophobically hostile as Talmudic Judaism grew up, the worst manifestations the evil death-cult of Wahhabism in Islam, and the various Rightwing ‘Dominionist’ and other manifestations of Protestantism, and groups like Opus Dei in Catholicism. Usury was allowed to return among Christian communities, no doubt influenced by or in imitation of the Jews’ success in building great wealth through parasitism, if at the cost of regular expulsions and pogroms. When enough wealth had been accumulated, particularly from the genocidal looting of the New World, Africa and India and China, capitalism was born, with Jews always present, behind the scenes, controlling the financial apparatuses. These Jews and their Sabbat Goyim collaborators now make up the global elite, with the exception of the Chinese and the Indians, although the latter are more ensnared, through US connections, than the Chinese. The Japanese remain, after seventy years, under Occupation by the USA, to all intents and purposes.
Of course, by ‘Jews’ I do mean the Jewish elites. Ordinary Jews are likely enough to be loyal to the group, out of concern for nasty abuse as ‘self-hating Jews’, or worse, if one is orthodox or ultra-orthodox, and from millennia of group isolation and separatism, but the real deadly culprits in much of the world’s ills are the capitalist elites. With their servants, the goy ruling classes, with which in places like the UK, they have inter-bred, the Jewish elites represent a true global ruling caste, whose very existence is denied furiously, and mention of whom is instantly abused as ‘antisemitism’. I really cannot imagine that, when you consider the world they have created, wracked by poverty and inequality with elite wealth and arrogance unbounded and ecological collapse accelerating, you can call them other than Satanic. They seem truly incapable of acting in any other way, as if their parasitism and extractions are hard-wired in some fashion that they cannot escape. No doubt the defection, over the ages, of any Jews who found the life of a capitalist parasite unpalatable, has had a selective effect on subsequent generations both genetically and epigenetically in the expression of any ‘capitalist’ genes, but also socially in relentless brainwashing into group solidarity, reinforced by periodic outbursts of goy hostility driven, often enough, by Jewish behaviour as much as goy envy or kleptomania. As Milton Friedman, that archetypal ‘successful’ US Jew observed, ‘Capitalism is good for the Jews’. But he was, I’m sure, thinking mostly of the elites.
A good place to start in understanding this subject is the book “The Controversy of Zion”, by a once famous, now deceased, correspondent and author, Douglas Reed.
It can be downloaded in pdf form for free from here:
http://www.controversyofzion.info/
E Dog is the Benito Mussolini of our time
Thank you.
Couldn´t have said it better myself, or actually, i did, in Sputnik several times.
According to latest survey, a stunning 80% of the Turks supports ISIS and so does obviously Erdogan, in his own ways and when it suits him. That makes their choice clear. So really, as i have always said, the best Russsia can do, beside cushioning the worst consequences for itself and it´s allies, is to reach for the popcorn and watch this violent, genocidal abomination fall apart. It´s long overdue.
First of all, thanks for this (as usual, great) article Saker :)
Second, Mikhas, you are totally wrong my friend…
I live in Turkey and _none_ of the people I know support ISIS.
Actually none of them even support RTE…
The only newspaper articles I read are against both the government and the Islamist groups it supports in Syria. So there are people here able to think by themselves and who are not falling for the Muslim sirens. Actually all the large cities and most of the youth/students.
The rest of the rural country is obviously likely to be closer to the mainstream opinion simply because they are brainwashed night and day on all of the national channels by the pious Muslim, one and only Guru, the futur Sultan & Calif of all Muslims, the Glorious RTE…
But those people do not really count… They are the ones who suffer in their own flesh, sending their sons to be killed against whomever the government has decided to be enemy with that day and they could return back to the “old” secular-Atatürkish way of thinking in a matter of days.
What is more worrisome than some bullshit survey is what The Saker says in his article. Turks are really against everything/one and want to live in a “pure” ethnic country. Given the history of the country that is impossible but I am not sure if that way of thinking can be changed anytime soon or easily but it certainly is the biggest challenge to this country if it wants to exist in the future…
The country as a whole is exactly like its ruler, sick in the head…
Atatürk, THE Atatürk has left them a country that will “never” be divided.
But the Kemalists divided it between the “good” seculars and the bad “Muslims” :(
The Islamists divide it between Sunnis, Alevis, Shias, Greeks, Jews, Armenians…
The fascists divide it between the “good” Turks and the “bad” Kurds, Greeks, Jews, Armenians…
Add on top of that an endemic sky-high corruption and surround it with enemy states everywhere and you’ve pretty much got the situation the country is in today…
Turkish nationalism out of control!!! It isn’t going to be the reincarnation of the
Ottoman empire, not even close to it!!!! I thought Turks were rather secular, obviously, I thought wrong!!!
Saker, excellent! Thank you for 10 minutes of common sense. Thanks for summerizing and hinting.
Thank you.Thoughts in my head in my very limited understanding….is Rus being suckered in by Erdogan on behalf of usa cos the latter knows rus is dependant on sea route to support Syria, is Merkel as nato’s agent (and declining discredited role in eu)gonna let go or keep her tentacles moving around in Turkeys affairs, can rus get Turkey to disown medjlis or even break up Turkish and Ukraine brothers in arms double act because turkish -Crimean trade/tourist industry was quitecextensive eg regular sea cargo tourist ships, air routes could rus be adking turkey to recognise Crimea as part of rus federation even…… or is that doomed anyways if/when ukr collapses(usa nato will never let ukraine go?)…is VP pointing out turkeys vulnerabilities regarding its association with ukraine(ie what does it hold or ofer to reveal to the world re Erdogan and cronies so to speak re Syria etc)..is rus using Turkeys weakness to get back, repel, undermine nato or at least is trying to prove in time for Warsaw conference that a sensible equality based relationship can be established eventually with nato with “transponders on” so to speak by all parties, or is there going to be a last chance saloon by rus for nato….Stoltenburg is saying he is available for at least some kind of intelligent thinking as to whether they have reached as far as they wish to go in the face of VP and his assymetrical responses or is all still a charade and the great game goes on……are Greece and Cyprus appreciative of rus efforts/responses and possibly a calming atmosphere in thevregion but rus turkish relations will only be at a very very basic level, until rus’soptimism is once again smacked in the face, is rus trying so hard to get Syria settled as paramount importance anything or almost anything will done to achieve that..one feels that evetything is extremely finally balanced or at least this is trying to be achieved until “someone else” steps in……referencing Eduard Popov article on fortruss…..
Just thoughts, not expecting answers
Also extensive article sputnik…why usa is “pleased “at raprochement….so it can get back to doing its usual things…..vsrious viewpoints incl Zacharova…
Thanks for your analysis Saker . Once again you have shined a light on dark aspects. I can see now that Russia is the master fisherman playing with the catch. I was puzzled why Putin was fast tracking restoring trade etc. with Turkey. He obviously looks to a bigger picture than smaller men do. IMHO he seems the only adult on the world stage. Could it be that he is motivated by something he may feel is greater than himself or his ambition. If so this differences him from the Satanic West. Yet the common man only wishes to live and love. 70 years since 20,000 men died in one day in the battle of the Somme. What have we sheep learned? Maybe Dennis is right.
What is an artificial state? What makes one state more artificial then any other state? So far I have heard numerus explanations.
1. It is not ethnically homogeneous, the state consists of many ethnic groups and since each group deserves their own state it is artificial and unnatural.
2. The borders of the state was defined by another state.
3. The state itself within its borders does not have democratic support of its populance, such as for example the kurds not supporting the Turkish state.
I have a different view.
I don’t think being multi-ethnic is a problem at all, look at Russia or Switzerland. Nor are borders (look at Germany). Nor democracy (look at various monarchies). No, I think that an artificial state is one which has no common cultural civilizational bond unifying its people, it is a state which politicians have created ex nihilo for political reasons. History produce states, often very complex ones. But artificial states are the product of ideologies.
HTH, cheers,
The Saker
Nicely put, Saker. This reminds me of the distinction that, I believe, Putin made, between patriotism and nationalism.
Not to get lost in words, but there is that difference between the bond one feels with the ground under your feet where your ancestors have long lived, your natural home on Earth, and the nation-state with all its need to be superior to other states or races. Love of homeland versus hatred of others.
I think these two concepts – nationalism vs patriotism, and artificial state vs natural homeland – are closely related.
Brief & clear definition/distinction, thanks. Looking down at the soil, where our flesh came from & will return to, is both humbling & connecting with others. On the other hand, a proud look at the horizon creates & defines borders & divisions. And the children of man became lonely warriors with their self-inflicted wounds, while the Enemy is laughing out loud – because his breath is cutting short…
Dear Saker,
In an earlier article, i.e. “Rant about a stolen EUrope”, you seemed to imply that the different waves of immigration that took place In Switzerland and elsewhere in Europe for econmical reasons (in the second half of the previous century), have changed the cultural tissue in Europe and have been undermining the existing “common culture civilizational bond”. To me this earlier article suggested rather a lack of sufficient common cultural unifying bond in Switserland than the opposite.
No offence intended with my comment though.
1. Russia and Switzerland is not really comparable, Switzerland consists of almost identical ethnic groups(W.Europeans), while Russia consists of everything from Europeans to asians from christians to muslims. Russia also has fought two brutal civil wars just since 1990s against separatists and 50% of Russians living in Moscow would like very immigrants, legal and illegal to be deported, there are more skinheads in Moscow then the rest of the world togheter. To sum up, there are some massive tensions created in Russia by its multi-ethnic situation.
2. I am fairly certain you stated just a few articles ago that open borders in Germany has lead to enormous disunity, which it has, the nationalist and opposition parties in Germany exploding in popularity,almost solely due to the open borders.
You are mixing up two different issues. Moscow is simply suffering from very rapid and uncontrolled economic immigration from inside and outside of the country. This is common for all capital cities, and has very little to do with the sense of coherence of the country population. Being an old person from Moscow I can tell you that people are not taking well this rather natural process because in Soviet time Moscow had severe restriction on people moving in. Moscowites got used to that and have some nostalgic feelings.
Moscovites are annoyed by all provincial people moving in, not just by people of different nationalities / religions.
If artificial states are the product of Ideologies, then the US would qualify as well, no?
OT.
But here is some very good news.
“Culture Ministry orders major study into Russophobia & means to counter it ”
https://www.rt.com/politics/349126-culture-ministry-orders-major-report/
Denigrating. delegitimizing and denying the rights and even the existance of the majority ethnic group in a country is a primary tool for the NATO regimes in the west to control their populations. So it is good to see Russia counter this.
In UK for example, saying that English people exists and have rights and interests as any other group is considered “hate” because it hurts the feeling of immigrants which are not english.
The result is of course the total destruction of any sense of patriotism and national identity allowing the fragmented and atomized people to be easily controlled by the globalists forces.
This is not true at all, Saker: ‘the last thing the Brits did before Brexiting was to tell Turkey that it could join the EU in 3000 years’ – doubly wrong, as you believe a proven liar in camoron, and your source of the daily fail always has to be read with the thought of ‘what is wrong with this article?’ This is the same newspaper which is pushing a stupid and incompetent – when not downright anti-democratic – home secretary, pro-remain may, and comparing her to thatcher [sic].
See https://www.gov.uk/government/world/organisations/british-embassy-ankara which today is still promoting the official British Government line of ‘We work on a wide range of issues including Turkey’s bid to join the European Union…
We have a dedicated team working on projects to improve Turkey’s prospects of joining the EU.’
What I read was said was,”not before the year 3000″ in a comment by Cameron on Turkey joining the EU. Since its 2016 today,that would be 984 years from today. Of course that comment was made only to mean “a long time from now”. Yet it does give an idea of what the British and probably the EU opinion is on Turkey joining them. The Austrian candidate for President Hofer,said yesterday that Austria would stay in the EU,”only as long as Turkey is out”.
@ Ralph
Very good point. I have noticed that double-speak. The UK is/was the main supporter of Turkey’s admission into the EU, almost certain under orders from the US. Even without orders from across the pond, the UK always wanted enlargement as a safeguard against a deeper union. The more diversity, less consensus, more division, more conflict, etc. and a certainty that vassal Europe would never become a rival to the US, which was the ultimate policy and agenda of the UK in Europe and confirmed by the historical record of UK’s interference in the continent.
Kim
Kim
One of the suspects has been deeply protected by the Anglo-ZIonists. He was wanted by the Russians and allowed to roam EUrope relativley freely.
https://z5h64q92x9.net/proxy_u/ru-en.en/colonelcassad.livejournal.com/2823351.html
Putin makes geopolitics look so easy. Just sit there looking and being tough while enemies confound themselves being… well, their psycho A-Z selves.
Can’t wait to see how he handles Hilary.
To me Erdogan ist the installed puppet to destabilize Turkey. To reach the goals necessary for redrawing the middle east Turkey must be pushed in turmoil. Here is a fine link describing the project:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/plans-for-redrawing-the-middle-east-the-project-for-a-new-middle-east/3882
Regards
Wilfried
The plan to ‘Re-Draw the Middle East’, ie to forge Eretz Yirael, ‘from the Nile to the Euphrates’, fell at the first hurdle, when ‘the best prepared war in Israeli history’ (as Israeli MSM bragged) the invasion of Lebanon to seize the land south of the Litani (the ‘patrimony’ of the Jewish tribes of Asher and Napthali if you believe such nasty, supremacist, gibberish)was thumped by Hezbollah, despite a truly vicious Israeli terror-bombing campaign.
I tend to look more positively (and cautiously optimistically) at the whole situation. What it shows is that Russia is really in a position of force. The Turks seem to have come to their senses. They have a long experience of what a confrontation with Russia was.
Genocide in the larger context is a means for creating an identity out of (human) biomass. Bacteria are naturally cannibalistic. So are multicellular organisms under certain conditions. With globalism humans return to their unicellular roots — one single undifferentiated mass feeding on its own. Consumers agree to being consumed as long as the lower rungs of the food chain, the inside of the slaughterhouse, is out of sight.
The Turks naively believe that cleansing their territories is small peanuts compared to their masters’ crimes and should be forgiven. But only “superpowers” have the privilege.
@ Rhizomatic …
Your biological approach to human civilization is an apt analogy to the capitalist order where the apex of the pyramid feeds on the lower layer, who feeds on the lower and so on until in the end the whole edifice crumbles in a mass of excreta.
Kim
Great Analysis
“The good news for Russia is that she really need not make any special efforts towards that goal as the Turks, just like the Israelis and the Ukrainians, are doing a splendid job making sure that their political project never becomes viable”
No Nation at war with its surrounding in History has ever thrived economically nor spiritually : War in the east, War in the west, War up north, War down south – it always ends up engulfed by the War Egregore
Russia, Turkey Reach Breakthrough Agreement on Fighting Terrorists in Syria
http://sputniknews.com/politics/20160702/1042338086/russia-turkey-syria-terrorists.html
“Russia and Turkey have reached common understanding on the Syrian crisis, including fighting al-Nusra Front militants. During a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Ankara considers not only Daesh but also al-Nusra Front as terrorists.
and Turkey agreed that opposition groups should withdraw from the territories controlled by the terrorists. This agreement could be a breakthrough in the fight with terrorism in Syria.
According to Sergei Lavrov, Turkey has accepted the new rules of the game in Syria. Now, if moderate opposition forces do not leave the areas controlled by the terrorists they will be considered as terrorists’ accomplices.
“Those who don’t want to get hit [by Russian and Syrian airstrikes] need to leave positions occupied by Jabhat al-Nusra [al-Nusra Front] and IS [Daesh]. If the patriotic opposition, constructive opposition remains in areas controlled by terrorists, it needs to withdraw its units. Otherwise it will be considered an accomplice,” Lavrov said.”
The zio-gays in tel aviv and new york will be upset about this development….
The again, it’s doubtful the turks intend to follow through in any serious way, they never do.
@ Vot tak
“The(n) again, it’s doubtful the turks intend to follow through in any serious way, they never do.”
Your concluding remarks where going to start my comment to the article and that saves me the trouble, thank you.
Except that you say “it’s doubtful” while I would say “it’s certain”. It’s like their “sincere apology” for premeditated murder.
Kim
A lot of history I did not know… thank you….
I do not think Turkey will disintegrate; NATO (US specifically ) will not allow it; they have a vested geopolitical and military interest in using the Turks as baits and disposable military/human assets in any direct or indirect confutation with Russia. That is the only reason this Muslim country was taken in NATO and that reason has not yet disappeared. What is more likely to happen is for CIA and possibly Mosadd to engineer Erdogan’s removal from power and his replacement with someone more stable and more predictable.
I do not think Russia has too many reasons to enjoy the recent detente. As long as NATO will not let them down ( and they won’t), Russians have every reasons to assume the worst case scenario coming from the Turks. My fear is that CIA and the Washington elite’s next step is to stir up massive unrest in the central Asian republics and Turkey will play a key role in supporting and feeding the unrest in that region. They have deep ties with most of these states and they will use them for their own advantage. I am afraid due to Putin’s reluctance to engage decisively either the lunatics in Kiev or the ones in Ankara when he had to opportunity to do so, the Russians will end up paying a steeper price soon. Just wait for Hillary to win the elections and you should see. The aim of the deep stated is not to engage Russia directly but to weaken it to the point where it will implode from the inside in some sort of mass civil unrest much like the one during their 1917-1922 civil war. US is far from having exhausted it means to bring their plan to fruition and Turkey is still a very useful ally in this plan. They can discard of the Turks later once they accomplish their main goal. Putin’s own reluctance and political naivete will only embolden these elements in their nefarious pursuit.
Thing is, as time shows, nato is not actually so able anymore , it’s a toothless old dog that barks and sounds very dangerous and is still big enough to bully puppies, small dogs and the like but a lot if it’s power is psychological, in that we give it power in our minds and that does empower the beast.
Once you realise that, left right and centre, things don’t actually go their way and failure upon failure, the myth begins to crumble.
Yes it’s still a danger but it’s not omnipotent and is fading day on day however the facts on the ground actually indicate relative impotance and weakness, it’s not the all powerful collussus . Still obviously it can destroy the world but that’s self defeating as well.
@ Arminius
Your comment is the most reasoned and sensible view of the geopolitical situation in the Middle East where Turkey and Israel are the anchors of US hegemony. And the most sobering amongst the chorus of laudatory effusions for the brilliancy of grandmaster Putin who, some pundits here say, need not do anything to destroy Turkey. Just the aura of his magnificence will do the job.
He had a great opportunity of teaching Turkey a memorable lesson and show to the world that NATO is a figleaf, figuratively and in fact. With a more robust response to the downing of the SU24, to which NATO would not respond since no West European country would rescue Erdogan’s arse, he would trigger the process of dismantling NATO itself. Erdogan gave him the opportunity and a legal justification to do that, and he missed it altogether. After all, the least he could have done was to send a salvo of Kalibrs to the airbase where the Turkish fighters came from as a legitimate reprisal under international law.
Kim
I tend to agree with your views especialy in relation to Ukraine. Russia must step up with pressure on Kiev nazis in power in any possible way apart from open military confrontation. This regime must collapse before it gets another chance to fully attack Donbass with help from Washington. And in order for it to colapse Russia must step up the pressure. You do not cure agressive cancer with aspirin.
This just in from RT: Ankara launches Koran readings at Hagia Sophia.
Is this the retarded goat-f*cker´s “revenge” for his own bend-over apology to Russia? Then i think it worked. This is an insult to millions of orthodox Christians.
The Turkish filth should be cleansed from Constantinople, the sooner Turkey fall apart the better, let´s just make sure they don’t destroy or desecrate more of these sacred treasures on their way out…
When I read that article I was just appalled. Is there no end to the stupidity of those people? It ranks right down there on the bottom with peeing in the Pope’s chalice.
Terrorists Used Turkey as a Base Before Syria War Broke Out
http://sputniknews.com/europe/20160702/1042341788/turkey-terrorists-base.html
“In an interview with Sputnik Abdulşükür Mert, the ex-mayor of Ovakent, a city close to the Syrian border, said that jihadists from the Caucasus and Central Asia had become active in Turkey before the start of the war in Syria.
In Ovakent, 90 percent populated by Uzbeks who settled down in Turkey in the early 1980s, there is a number of madrassas once opened by Abdullah Buhari, the founder of the Society of Religious Assistance and Solidarity, who was later killed.
“Abdullah Buhari came here from Pakistan and spent five or six years living in Ovakent where he served as an imam in the local mosque and taught a Koranic school. Before very long many people from Uzbekiatan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan staretd coming in. Many of us here became suspicious and Abdullah said he would move to Istanbul where he would feel free to teach those who kept coming to him,” Abdulşükür Mert told Sputnik.
He added that after spending a couple of days in Ovakent, the new arrivals from Uzbekiatan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan then left for Syria to study at the local religious schools in Damascus. Soon after Buhari left town the war broke out in Syria.
“We later learned that many of those who had arrived here from Uzbekiatan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan were heading to Syria to join the ranks of either the opposition or Daesh,” Abdulşükür Mert said.”
No doubt well organised and funded by the zpc/nwo freakshow, like Yugoslavia and Afghanistan previously.
Correction: that Albanian prick posing as Turkish president Erdogan didn’t write a “letter of apology”.
From what I’ve seen of that letter, the words he used were “I’m sorry”, not “I apologize”. Apology means only one thing, he can be sorry for million things, among them estimated US$25 billion lost so far in tourism, agriculture exports etc.
Anyway, it doesn’t make much difference. All he got so far is lifting of a ban on organized tourism groups and chartered flights to Turkey, and after the Ankara airport job I doubt he will get many Russians flocking there right now. Half the summer is already over anyway and Russians have made and paid for other plans already. Next year. Maybe.
Medvedev also said that even after lifting of all sanctions (for which there is no plan currently), Russia is not planning to kick out the “new” suppliers who replaced Turkish imports. So Turkey will have to struggle to get back into the Russian market anyway when sanctions are lifted.
Russian pilot’s family have said that they don’t want a holiday house on Turkey’s coast. It was truly a disgusting way Turkey offered it – they said they are prepared to give the house to the pilot’s family “if they request it”. That bunch of backstabbing dogs first shot down the plane for no real reason, then tried to humiliate the dead pilot’s family but it all backfired.
“Anyway, it doesn’t make much difference. All he got so far is lifting of a ban on organized tourism groups and chartered flights to Turkey”
No, Russia also lifted sanctions on Turkish construction companies. And actually, Turkey still had a large number working in Russia despite the sanctions – I guess these were those in the middle of a job/contract and Russia was honoring that or needed them. The number they mentioned working was significantly large – I think something like 60 or more.
Add to article list in bold ‘Crisis with Al Nusra’ (& other of his terrorist consorts):
http://sputniknews.com/politics/20160702/1042338086/russia-turkey-syria-terrorists.html
Russia and Turkey have reached common understanding on the Syrian crisis, including fighting al-Nusra Front militants. During a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Ankara considers not only Daesh but also al-Nusra Front as terrorists.
This one also just in:
Armenia hopes for the French Senate, the upper house of the Parliament, to adopt the bill criminalizing the denial of the Armenian Genocide, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said Saturday.
http://sputniknews.com/europe/20160702/1042345666/armenian-genocide-france-denial.html
Just 1 month ago was this ‘fallout’ incident, with fellow NATO member Germany, over the Armenian issue:
http://sputniknews.com/politics/20160622/1041769364/lawmakers-visit-base-turkey.html
The Turkish authorities forbade a delegation of German lawmakers from visiting Incirlik air base in southern Turkey following the recognition of the Armenian genocide by Ottoman Empire in Germany, German media reported Wednesday.
Turkey cannot denyvthe first one asvthat is UNSC resolution….wonder if there have been any decisions or agreements of identification within “moderate”opposition and their affiliates to separate them out so they can dealt with as usa will surely still and is as far as I know insistent on certain groups not being bombed.
This business of criminalizing mere expressed opinions has to stop. It is repugnant in the extreme. People should be treated like adults, such that if an opinion is held to be repulsive, they are free to express their opposition to it.
Thanks for the analysis. I just woud like to add to it the “small” issue of the Turkish stream as a leverage to pressure European commission for implementation of the North stream 2.
R
The kiss of Israel? ie: of the zionist project….or….the fate of anyone at all who dabbles with forces they dont understand when their usefulness is done
Saker, You can’t be sure that NATO was against Turkey’s downing of Russian jet.
I am less pessimistic about this apology. It is long overdue. After all his disasters, Erdogan needs to show some humility for a change. Before the intervention in Syria, Turkey had a successful “zero problems with our neighbors” foreign policy and I hope this letter will be the beginning of a return to that approach.
Yikes, could it simply be a glitch that the Kurds were not mentioned as the responsible party of the Istanbul airport bombing? Everything else is succinct and quite logical. The recent Batchelor and Cohen podcasts also labels Erdogan as likely on his way out….
Best,…
G.
Another comment, or rather a question. What I really don’t understand is why Erdogan is so enthused about having Turkey become a member of the EU when joining means, in reality, that ones control over monetary policy, regulation (harmonization), and many other governmental functions would be given over to Brussels? Why would a dictator want to give up power? Basically Britain got out because of the autocratic nature of the EU and somehow Erdogan does not perceive this reality?
FWIW,
G.
@ Larry
Basically is a status thing. And it is not Erdogan’s wish only; it has been Turkey’s aim for decades, except that small thing that the EEC/EU is European while Turkey
Great analysis of the three artificial countries of our time. The Ukraine means borderlands, it literally is the borderlands of all the countries surrounding it. The US put the Galicians of the ex-Polish borderlands as the most Ukrainian of all in power. This Galicians and wannabe Galicians are enforcing with extreme violence their culture on the entire US Ukraine. For some odd reason, the US would not allow one ethnic group to enforce their culture on all of Yugoslavia. Even though Yugoslavia was half the size of Ukraine. The US for some odd reason allowed the smaller Yugoslavia to be divided into seven pieces. The US Ukraine with Galician culture of the Nazi era shall not be divided and this nazi culture should be violently enforced on all the borderlands (Ukraine). This is all according to US Full spectrum dominance logic and western MSM lackeys. Turkey has been doing the same thing US Ukraine has been doing and doing it for almost for an hundred years. Turkey has been enforcing its Turkish invasion culture on the entire 300000 sq. miles for the past hundred years. A mono culture on a such a huge area of 300000 sq. miles is impossible and being enforced makes Turkey a very boring country to visit. The Ukraine of US control is trying to do the same in Ukraine. Israel does something similar.
just in Sat JULY 2 (but note October):
Russia is sending the flagship of its navy, the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier, to join the battle against the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in Syria.
According to the TASS news agency, the ship will leave for the Mediterranean Sea in October and serve as a platform for carrying out airstrikes against the terrorists until at least February 2017.
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/07/02/473318/russia-navy-flagship-syria
yeah, but the Kuznetsov is still primarily an air-defense ship and not a strike ship. in the future, the Russians will deploy MiG-35s (if I remember correctly) on the Kuznetsov, and then this will be different, but right now it, as far as I know, the Kuznetsov has SU-33s with very limited strike capabilities. I have not checked the Kuznetsov’s aircraft complement, so maybe I am way off. But if I am right, then the mission will be primarily air defense.
IF SOMEBODY HAS MORE INFO ABOUT THIS PLEASE LET ME KNOW
Thanks
The Saker
Yes, meanwhile USA is moving Patriot batteries into Turkey and has requested “safe zones” for the moderate opposition to Assad.
It may be about time for carving of the Turkish melon!
Another one to add to Erdo’s list of woes is Mosul, inside Iraq 100 km from the Turk border.
Anyone know if there’s a battle forthcoming there?
we heard of Fallujah recently (supposedly liberated), then talk since died down from 2 months ago about Kirkuk huge battle supposedly to liberate it.
Last December 2015 big kerfuffle Turkey sending 600 troops in, uninvited, to Mosul, & that Iraq uninvited them out but nothing done that end.
Article here gives obvious reason for the incursion:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/turkish-isil-oil-trade-did-the-turkish-military-enter-mosul-to-protect-its-oil-trade/5496773
It turned out that the senior diplomat Feridun Sinirlioglu, who was Turkey’s foreign minister at the time, in violation of international law had made an illegally agreement with the corrupt Kurdistan Regional Government President Massoud Barzani for establishing the base in the Mosul District on November 4, 2015. As a regional government, the Kurdistan Regional Government has no constitutional authority to make defensive agreements without the Iraqi federal government in Baghdad.
the Turkish deployments are meant to help the Kurdistan Regional Government consolidate the territory and energy reserves it opportunistically annexed from the Iraqi federal government in 2014; it was also revealed by Ankara that it intended to dispatch Turkish soldiers and military equipment to Soran and Qala Cholan near the Iranian border.
http://libertyunyield.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Tigris-Euphrates-corridors.jpg
“And then there is Cyprus, which the Turks still illegally occupy.”
Perhaps The Saker might like to discuss why this is so – you know, the coup of the Greek Military. Without the coup, the Turks would have had no excuse to invade northern Cyprus to defend their compatriots. The Turks can be blamed for many things but the division of Cyprus is not one of them. And we won’t mention the British bases on Cyprus, will we?
First France expresses unwillingness to go along with US sanctions against Russia and we get the “Charlie Hebdoe ” massacre perpetrated by ISIS. Turkey makes overtures towards Russia and we get the Istanbul Airport attack perpetrated by ISIS. Iraq, always ambivalent about US military assistance, Baghdad gets bombed by ISIS. Bangladesh establishes military and trade association with China, gets bombed by ISIS. Can you see the common theme of all these events? Yes ISIS has the same goals as the USA. Oh what a surprise.
Or Malaysia indicts dubya and looses two airliners….
I seem to recall Comrade President speaking to the matter, and he used the German term, “vernichtung” with respect to the criminal bandits wrongly named “terrorists”…
Vernichtung translates more or less as “obliterate” or “annihilate”.
So yes, I think Saker’s right when opines that Ivan has no further use for the Sultan, well, maybe for a short time, but the…poof! Vernichtung.
I know all of us may have some difficulties with private economy. But I would gladly contribute in case this site has the possibility to organize a collect for the family of the Russian pilot killed by the Turks.
Salut Saker,
Je dirai que tu as parfaitement analysé l’existence même de la Turquie. Comme tu es d’origine russe, tu connais plus sur cette problématique que la plupart des occidentaux. Récemment, j’étais en train de prendre un café avec ma femme française et une copine allemande et je leur expliquais qu’en tant qu’amrénien, je suis et resterai toujours pro russe même si j’aime la France. Tout simplement parce que les anglo-saxons dont l’Angleterre et les USA et hélas la France dans une certaine mesure nous ont vendus en 1914 et même avant parce que les massacres avaient déjà commencés bien avant. Si ce n’était pas à l’intervention russe, les turques auraient massacré les arméniens car ils étaient bien partis pour le faire.
En tant qu’amrénien, on m’a appris que l’on peut jamais faire confiance aux turques. En fait, les turques ont utilisé les kurdes pour massacrer les arméniens, en leur promettant de leur donner les territoires amréniens et les kurdes leur ont crus comme des imbéciles. Et plus tard, les turques se sont retournés contre les kurdes pour les massacrer.
Pour un occidental, la mentalité ça a toujours été quel est mon intérêt de m’engager, si je peux gagner de l’argent, alors je m’engage mais sans risquer. Un américain est né dans l’idée de de venir riche, c’est une mentalité, c’est ainsi que les occidentaux sont orientés dès le jeune âge, ils seraient capable de vendre père et mère s’il y a quelque chose à gagner, je ne dis pas que tous sont comme cela, mais l’intelligenstia, peu leur importe si des millions de syriens meurent, ce qu’ils leur importent c’est le fric qu’ils vont se faire.
La mentalité d’un russe est différent, mon père étant né là bas, je connais très peu, un russe, quand il t’aime pas tu le sais, il ne va pas te sourire en face et puis dans ton dos te mettre le couteau. Un turque le ferra, un américain est capable de le faire, un anglais aussi etc., au moins tu sais si un russe t’apprécie ou pas. Il est entier.
Je préfère mille fois que l’Arménie actuellemet est sous la tutelle des russes que des occidentaux :-)
Speaking of the Armenian genocide, there is an excellent novel written about an Armenian village that moved to a mountain top to flee the Turks. They survived in that wilderness 40 days even though they were starving to death. The book “40 days of Musa Dach” is based on that true story. It was for me an amazing read and an amazing glimpse into a peoples’ heroic fight to the death against the Turks. The author, Franz Werfel, who was Jewish, also wrote a beautiful fictionalized biography, “The Song of Bernadette”. He was fleeing the Nazis and made a deal with God that if he managed to escape to freedom, he would write that book.
1. Turkey has done a hell of a lot of stupid things over the past 5 years. There really should be no surprise if a lot of pigeons have come home to roost.
2. Not much has changed recently – except that the US no longer wants to be seen partner of Turkey. Without the support of the US lead western press, Turkey looks like it has fallen from a great height. Truth is we are looking at it from a different angle.
3. Of course the US backed Saudi and Turkey in creating ISIS. But… Isis is losing in Syria, and Assad will survive. Isis is turning to external terrorism. And Obama has started saying “not on my watch/historical record”. The US has no choice but to push all the blame on Turkey – and for some time the US has been making Turkey out as the bad guys.
(Much of the US administration is very sensitive to being associated with terrorists. Drones, torture, the military, The MIC, over militarisation of the police, NSA, 75% of this is justified by the “fight with Islamic terror”, the rest with Russian aggression. So the accusation that the US supported Turkey over ISIS is a very strong and dangerous one)
The apology is not so much a change in the Turkey/Russia relationship, but as others have said a change in the Turkey/US relationship. Turkey is no longer being told by its Nato seniors that shooting down Russian jets is OK.
4. ISIS blackmail. Not long ago Turkey was thought to be paying hundreds of millions of dollars to a group of murderous crazies. It is not simple to stop paying these guys this kind of money. Surely Daesh/ISIS is now trying to extract money from Erdogan through menaces. Indeed once considered it is almost impossible to consider that ISIS blackmail is not occurring. An Erdogan family member might well be a victim soon.
I understand that NATO nukes are in Turkey. Perhaps ISIS will blackmail Erdogan into given them these. How secure are they in a Turkey that seems to be falling apart? Maybe they would be secure if they were stored in Erdogan’s palace which is so large you could put an aircraft carrier in it.
Dear Saker,
If Erdogan and his inner circle could master their egos and Ottomania they would recognize that the most hopeful path for Turkey lies in better ties with BRICS and SCO and a gradual repudiation of the NATO/EU dreams. Turkey has enough critical mass that it would be hard for the US to intimidate like they do with e.g. Bulgaria, Romania, etc., etc. NATO would be reduced to a regional alliance with more liabilities than benefits for the US.
Perhaps Turkey’s current difficulties will lead to nostalgia for the “Do no harm” foreign policy approach. Wake up Erdogan!!
Brian_J
Turkey has supported and profited from Daesh/ISIS from day one.
Research Paper: ISIS-Turkey Links
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-l-phillips/research-paper-isis-turke_b_6128950.html
Research Paper: Turkey-ISIS Oil Trade
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-l-phillips/research-paper-turkey-isi_b_8808024.html
IMO, Turkey will eventually overplay their military and foreign policy hand regionally and internationally, so much so that the country will end up being divided up by the UN and world powers. The south east will become part of a new state of Kurdistan, a small portion of the north east will become part of Armenia, Greece will end up with Constantinople/Byzantium/Istanbul and the westward provinces of Kirklareli, Edirne, Tekirdag, and Turkey will be forced out of Cyprus.
The question: why Erdogan became fou.Car he saw his end and the intervention of the Turkish deep state that has blown the part .Seuls dogs can hear. Meanwhile it will restore relations with Sissi and Essad.on says he will lick anything What he spits. Do not forget we say in Turkey, here the impossible is not impossible.
Behind the bombings there Turkish deep state..il implement the chaos.La civil war begins with the announcement of the killing of Kurdish leader in prison, Ocalan.Ou murder of Turkish nationalist leader by the PKK.
In all cases, there will be Martial Law .This will be the end of the civil power, the end of Erdogan .It will be imprisoned and the new power juge.
Avec Turkey regain its independence and laicite.Elle will establish good relations coordinate with Russia, Iran, Iraq and the Syrie.Tout it is has soon.
Turkey is America’s terrorist proxy.
As evidenced in not only Syria but as far well as Russia and China, the United States uses Turkish-sponsored terror groups to wage covert war against these other nations.
By letting Turkey do the “dirty work, ” America thinks that it can maintain its carefully cultivated propaganda image of being a (snicker) democracy that respects international law, blah, blah, blah.
The relationship between America and Turkey is like that between a Mafia Godfather and his henchman.
When Mussolini established Fascism in Italy, he imposed that all foreign names of towns, mountains, rivers, products, etc. had to be converted into Italian. He who comments here, grew up in a region essentially bi-lingual. The first 19th century Piedmontese kings of Italy spoke French, or patois, as the capital had been moved from Chambery to Turin only in the 1600, and French was still more familiar than Italian.
Mussolini’s translations were amusing, e.g. Courmayeur became Cormaiore, Valtournanche Valtornenza, Gressoney-Saint-Jean, Gressonei Sangiovanni, Cognac Arzente, Croissant Bomboloni etc. I am told that the locals, when, in the presence of regime figures had to use the new names, could hardly repress their laughter.
Given the interesting (and amusing), information the Saker has provided with this article, I have decided to follow Erdogan. I happen to have, among my regular visitors, three red tail deer (Cervus Elaphus). I will now tell them that henceforth, their name will be Cervus VoltaireNineteenhundredandsixtyfourmis
Shattered dreams of an Empire.
http://telemarksporten.no/Tegneserier/Erdogan_Flag_Faces_of_Evil_resize01.jpg
Kent
Its been a very long time since I believed the Turkish official pronouncements about who’s responsible for which ‘terrorist attack’. And I see no reason at all to begin now.
Saker:
1st- While I believe there is a letter from Erdogan to Putin: the contents of the letter were disputed .It could just as well be that, whatever the contents, it was Russia that was looking to mend fences with Turkey- simple economics could be the reason
2nd- since I’ve written for nearly two years now that Turkey is in the throes of a NATO destabilization campaign..it;s nice to see others catching up finally!
Would like to see more people considering the PKK as a stay behind NATO army, since, that is what they are- Always keeping Turkey off balance, despite the lies of the media alt and msm
3rd- You’ve entirely forgotten to mention that President Erdogan does not hold an executive position, does not has executive powers, in the Turkish government- In fact his presidency is nearly entirely ceremonial- I’ll supply links to back that claim up
That said: Erdogan was actually elected by the Turkish people (he won his position from the Turkish people) something PM Trudeau and Prez Obama cannot claim to have won
4th- You’ve entirely forgotten to mention that Turkey’s constitution is a military enacted constitution- that tell’s us all about the real power in Turkey
However other’s have executive powers
5th: The deal with Israel- I don’t know who negotiated that for Turkey- I can find no named individual despite Kerry and Netanyahu being mentioned specifically. The deal with Turkey has no benefit to Turkey and as a point of fact saw Turkey agree, after years of disagreeing to Israel jumping firmly in bed with NATO— Implies that NATO patrons embedded in Turkey made that deal- Not Erdogan- Turkey got nothing in that deal
http://pennyforyourthoughts2.blogspot.ca/2016/06/turkey-israels-illusory-rapprochement.html
in that post you will find links regarding Erdogan’s ceremonial presidency
also from a comment at my blog:
The Council of Ministers look to be the real power in Turkey
“The Council of Ministers (Turkish: Bakanlar Kurulu) is the body that exercises supreme executive authority in Turkey”
A debate on Turkey and it’s presidential power
http://presidential-power.com/?cat=139
“Constitutionally Turkey is a semi-presidential country with a president whose constitutional powers are more than ceremonial but less than executive”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Turkey
“The Presidency is largely a ceremonial office but has some important functions”
This has been reported in the main stream media also
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-politics-erdogan-idUSKCN0V613V
Erdogan, who won Turkey’s first direct presidential election in August 2014, said a head of state elected by the people should have more than a symbolic role
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/05/ahmet-davutoglus-future-turkish-prime-minister-balance
Davutoglu had been expected to play a backseat role as prime minister as Erdogan pushed ahead with plans to make the largely ceremonial presidency into an all-powerful executive position
Hmmm a President with no real power?? Always easy to blame the powerless, wouldn’t you agree Saker?
“the only possible long term goal for Russia is to support either the break-up or the federalization”
Not sure if the balkanization of Turkey is so great for Russia- A weak divided state so close to Russia’ s border is more then likely not a good omen for Russia- Like looking into a crystal ball one could say- Since the US neo con NATO crowd have the exact same plans for Russia..
re: my previous comment about Russia viewing the crystal ball in a balkanized Turkey
http://pennyforyourthoughts2.blogspot.ca/2012/04/predicting-future-destabilization-of.html
From 2012-
“Keeping in mind, of course, the goal of balkanization. As laid out by the Heritage Foundation and one Ariel Cohen Ph.D. I am only including excerpts here, it’s a big article, linked so you can read it at your leisure A Threat to the West: The Rise of Islamist Insurgency in the Northern Caucasus and Russia’s Inadequate Response
A threat to the West? Of course! The rise of “Islamist Insurgency”? Of course!
Russia’s Inadequate Response? Of course!
Cue the NATO intervention as part of the war on terror, to ‘save’ Russia
think about all those refugees of fighting age flooding Europe– the seeds of an Inslamist insurgency are being planted, no? Looks like it
From 2014- Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya- including a map of the new russian federation
http://pennyforyourthoughts2.blogspot.ca/2014/09/redrawing-map-of-russian-federation.html
“Breaking the Soviet Union has not been enough for Washington and NATO. The ultimate goal of the US is to prevent any alternatives from emerging in Europe and Eurasia to Euro-Atlantic integration. This is why the destruction of Russia is one of its strategic objectives”
Saker, I would be interested to hear your take on this by Omar Kassem, published in Counterpunch:
Although relations between Russia and Turkey became strained over the downing of the Russian fighter jet, the event was stage managed by Russia, in order to justify moving its S-400 antiaircraft system to the Latakia airbase. Bad relations with Turkey, which represents Russia’s chief supply line for military materiel to Syria and for its energy sales to Europe, wasn’t expected to last. They are now formally on the mend, and Turkey looks east again.
I had my suspicions at the time>
Very well reasoned article showing clarity of thought in a murky political situation.
Interesting to read this after (self?) coup attempt.
Turkey must yield the colonial areas it inherited from the ruins of the Ottoman empire. Chiefly the Kurdish areas. The same is true for its neighbours where the native minorities are subject to Arab or Iranian conquerors whims.