Imperialism, NATO and Syria…

08/03/2015

Turkey called NATO members for a meeting regarding article 4 on account of threat against its security and territorial integrity. And this had become the 5th meeting request regarding article 4 since NATO was founded in 1949.

Turkey’s first meeting request regarding this article was in 2003. Turkey had called out for protection against possible threat from Saddam regime whilst invasion of Iraq by USA was the day’s topic.

Now Turkey states that there is threat to its territorial integrity from the Islamic jihad organization ISIS and the Kurdish organizations both. It is known that the NATO members are willing to support against the threat from the first one. Due to same reason, the second issue is slightly problematic. Convocation evoked the discussions of legitimacy in Turkey’s protection demand which ensued from the deadly attacks and whether PKK and ISIS are the same. Besides, PKK is presented as all the Kurds’ representative while saying PKK and the ISIS are not the same. Kurds’ reaction is comprehensible.

Those who are troubled with the fact that AK Party still seems to be reigning albeit it is not in power, will be quite happy if Turkey is expelled from NATO or forced to remain defenseless on different platforms. This group overlooks that PKK itself broke the existing ceasefire agreement. It is known that PKK wants to draw attention to issues such as Ocalan being on house arrest during coalition negotiations. Plus, it is not known what kind of coordination and mood is in effect between Demirtas, Ocalan and Qandil. It is not realistic to say that Turkey is declaring war on YPG-PKK which is the only power fighting against ISIS. Because Iraqi and Syrian armies, which are comprised predominantly of shiites, are also at war with ISIS.

Nevertheless, we should also mention that Shiite communities fuel up that organization in order to create a fear factor for the West to be scared off the existence of a radical sunni government in Syria. Questioning Turkey’s ceasefire with ISIS is far from being plausible while western democratic states are puppetting any terrorist organization as they like.

It can be PKK that is protecting Kurds from ISIS.

Yet, Turkey is responsible to protect its soldiers, policemen and citizens from all the threats including PKK, as well.

If allegedly, Turkey had backed up and supported ISIS, the only way to fight against that conspiracy was believed to be killing Turkish law enforcement officers. At this point, MIT (Turkish Intelligence) trucks and accountability are shrouded in mistery. There are still things in the dark today while drawing this picture. Just like, democratic countries’ having mysterious connections. On the other hand, it is among the leaked information that in the beginning of Syrian war US Intelligence had smuggled weapons for the dissidents to Syria through Turkey. For the mere reason of being divided and dissociated, Turkey cannot manage some incidents within itself. This is causing a management crisis. This is a weakness and a failure. For example, if the approach in Gezi was comparatively mild and etc. Could some things have been managed better? It is still a mystery whether submission to ‘cemaat’ (Gulen Movement) was a reality and if ‘December 17th’ has emerged due that separation. Yet, declaring war on all factions has simply compromised our country’s vulnerability.

Preventive targets method, which is called Bush doctrine, containing utilization of regime changing tools applied to governments sponsoring terrorism as well, is still on the front burner.

In monarchies without judicious governance, and even in countries ruled with tyranny, people’s wish and a subsequent contention period that would give them the right of self governance are needed to change the regime.

For example, in the regions, such as Iraq and Syria, which are susceptive to ethnic and denominational disintegration, confedere communities might want to live together with their own free will. In this composition where Westphalia system is based on the condition of being non-threat to great powers, also Turkey may consider nation-state model. Wielding propaganda tools such as media for a possible change is also a part of the method.

At this very point, once more real free press indisputably comes into prominence.

On the other hand, the budget approved by the US Congress for the Kurds fighting against ISIS in Syria is $350M. The process regarding PKK – Kurdish dilemma, which has been conducted by Erdogan by means of mediation until today, somehow got stuck.

KCK releases and arrests are more meaningful when viewed today.

By the interventions of Ergenekon cases, counterterrorism units known as falcon wings have become sharpened.

Unlawfulness in coup cases, too, made that easier. It is still anybody’s guess for whose benefit and political agenda, the staff which claimed to be pro-cemaat functions.

Turkey’s politics have been tried to be designated based on private life records. It is also reflected on the documents that the West has also noted down certain points that could be used against AK Party about that topic.

Today, we see a power that expedites military operations beyond Erdogan’s control. It is hard to predict the extent of the cooperation between this power and Erdogan and the role of the capitalists in that. There are also people in Turkey who expect increase in USD exchange rate as the troops keep getting killed. Those who look at this topic, in other words PKK, as a matter of Turkey’s existence, are trying to clear Turkey’s name in this crusade by pointing out Erdogan’s support for ISIS in a personal manner.

And they do not shy away from connecting this reasoning to why Erdogan administration should not expect anything from NATO.*

If Turkey’s convocation, possibility of ISIS penetration to Europe through Balkans, is taken into consideration, this might strengthen Turkey’s hand. The other aspects of the topic, which have not been talked about, are Turkey’s gas related ties with Russia whilst Turkey’s permission for USAF bases to be used, Russia’s support for Syrian administration and Crimean Turks. At the meeting, Turkey did not have a demand for NATO to increase its military support. And it already has one of the biggest armed forces in the organization. Yet, General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg has not mentioned PKK in his written statement but laid emphasis on support to Turkey. US Department of State Deputy Spokesperson Mark Toner stated that they wanted PKK to end violence and emphasized the importance of restart of deliberations with Turkey. In this composition, even though it seems like the highest authority in Turkey is absent now, somehow the strategic importance of that is not being questioned.