2 Former Empires Rattled by proxies of the Present Empire?

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2 Former Empires Rattled by proxies of the Present Empire?

Postby Gouda » Fri Sep 29, 2006 1:22 pm

I couldn't simplify it any better. This stuff is so friggin' dangerous and complicated, messing around in that region and getting Turkey involved has all kinds of geopolitical implications. I hope the Princeton Project People know what they are doing! Hah Ha. Ha. <br><br>Or this is just rogue Kurdish rebels acting completely independently, oblivious of the implications. Surely they know nothing of the Kosovo Albanian example, and they are not aware of the stakes in Lebanon, Iraq or Iran. Surely they would risk these things as a smart means to their independence. (Retired) General Ralston (of NATO/Bosnia/Kosovo fame), the recently appointed US "coordinator" for the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) issue in Turkey, is probably not in the loop on the art of provocations by separatist minority groups located in extremely volitile and key geostrategic parts of the world. <br><br>***<br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>Pipeline blast cuts off Turkey gas flow</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><br>By BENJAMIN HARVEY, Associated Press Writer 44 minutes ago<br><br>ISTANBUL, Turkey - An explosion on a natural gas pipeline outside an Iranian border city shut down the flow of gas to Turkey, authorities said Friday.<br>ADVERTISEMENT<br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>Officials at the Iranian Embassy in Ankara said they believed the explosion was an act of sabotage by separatist Kurdish rebels who are active on both sides of the Iranian-Turkish border.</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><br>The explosion Thursday night near the Iranian border city of Bazargan sparked a fire that wasn't brought under control until Friday morning, news reports said.<br><br>The private Dogan news agency quoted Turkish truckers as saying they could hear ambulances and fire engines going to the blast site, said to be about half a mile east of the Gurbulak border crossing.<br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>Turkey's state pipeline company, Botas, said the explosion cut gas flow from Iran to Turkey, </strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END-->and it likely would be three to four days before repairs could be done and it was online again.<br><br>The Iranian Embassy said Turkey gets about half of its gas supplies from Iran, but Botas said it did not expect any shortages. The company said the cut in Iranian gas would be compensated by supplies from Russia, which are brought in by way of the Blue Stream pipeline underneath the Black Sea.<br><br>Earlier there had been confusion over which side of the border the explosion occurred on, with Iranian state media saying the explosion was in Turkey.<br><br>There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the explosion.<br><br>Last month, Kurdish guerrillas belonging to the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, blew up part of the same pipeline in the Turkish city of Agri, shutting down the flow of gas for four days.<br><br>The rebels have sabotaged pipelines in the past as part of their struggle for an autonomous homeland. More than 37,000 people have been killed in Turkey since the rebels took up arms in 1984.<br><br>Turkey has been importing natural gas from Iran through the 1,598-mile pipeline since 2001.<br><br>In southeastern Turkey, soldiers killed two Kurdish rebels in a rural area, while a Turkish officer was seriously injured after stepping on a mine close to the Iraqi border, news reports said.<br><br>The state-run Anatolia news agency cited the Sirnak provincial governor's office as saying the two killed were responsible for the murder of a Turkish military policeman in his home on Aug. 6.<br><br>Also Friday, a Turkish captain stepped on a mine planted by the guerrillas, during an anti-rebel offensive on the mountainous border with Iraq, the Dogan news agency reported. The officer was reported to be in serious condition.<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060929/ap_on_re_mi_ea/turkey_iran_pipeline_explosion">news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060..._explosion</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>****<br><br>A related background thread from not too long ago: <br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://p216.ezboard.com/frigorousintuitionfrm24.showMessage?topicID=325.topic">p216.ezboard.com/frigorou...=325.topic</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> <p></p><i></i>
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Re: 2 Former Empires Rattled by proxies of the Present Empir

Postby Dreams End » Fri Sep 29, 2006 1:27 pm

I don't think this is necessarily the case with PKK, but most of the Kurds continue to <br><br>a) cooperate with CIA<br>b) get burned by CIA<br>c) repeat cycle.....<br><br> <p></p><i></i>
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Re: 2 Former Empires Rattled by proxies of the Present Empir

Postby Gouda » Fri Sep 29, 2006 1:42 pm

Perhaps the PKK are not responsible for this blast. Hard to trust AP reporting about responsibility. AP looks keen to associate the PKK with this particular sabotage. Also, not a good sign for the PKK that Ralston has been assigned to their "issue." <p></p><i></i>
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Re: 2 Former Empires Rattled by proxies of the Present Empir

Postby Gouda » Sun Oct 01, 2006 6:28 am

<!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>As Kurd and Arab clashes surge, a third war is looming in Iraq</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><br>By Patrick Cockburn in Arbil<br>Published: 30 September 2006 <br><br>The Iraqi Kurds are not seeking statehood, calculating that this is not now in their interests, but they want a degree of autonomy that amounts almost to the same thing. <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>"If there is no federal solution there is no hope for this country,"</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--> Mr Barzani told The Independent in his mountain-top headquarters in Salahudin overlooking the Kurdish capital, Arbil.<br>(...)<br>Iraq is already the site of two wars, one between the Iraqi Sunni community and the US that started in 2003 and a second sectarian conflict between Sunni and Shia Arabs that began in 2005. <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>Iraq may now be beginning to suffer a third war, between Arabs and Kurds in the northern provinces.</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br>(...)<br>In Mosul city, some four or five Kurds are killed every day, the deputy governor, Khasro Goran, said. Seventy thousand Kurds have been forced to flee this year, mostly from Mosul city, he added. In Kirkuk, there is a surge in the bombings of Kurdish party headquarters and assassinations of Kurds. In Diyala, Baghdad and across central Iraq, Kurds are taking flight for the safety of the KRG.<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article1772326.ece">news.independent.co.uk/wo...772326.ece</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> <p></p><i></i>
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Re: 2 Former Empires Rattled by proxies of the Present Empir

Postby Gouda » Sun Oct 01, 2006 8:04 am

Seems to me a clear indication (even through Reuters slant) the PKK were not involved in the recent pipeline sabotage and do clearly understand the stakes and their interests. Mention of a "shadowy group" which Reuters links to the PKK, which means, probably linked to western/NATO mil-intelligence, possibly gladio elements. <br><br>Need to find a more balanced, unbiased report on this...<br><br>***<br><br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>Kurdish rebels declare ceasefire with Turkey</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><br>By Paul de Bendern<br><br>ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Kurdish guerrillas have declared a unilateral ceasefire starting on Sunday following an escalation in violence in Turkey's southeast and a diplomatic drive against the separatist movement.<br><br>A statement on Saturday by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), carried on the pro-Kurdish Firat news agency, followed a call by its jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan this week for the rebels to implement a ceasefire.<br><br>The PKK began its violent campaign to create a Kurdish homeland in the southeast in 1984. More than 30,000 people have died in the conflict, which dwindled after Ocalan was captured and convicted in 1999.<br><br>Leading PKK militant Murat Karayilan made the announcement at a news conference in the mountains of northern Iraq, where some 5,000 rebels are based and from where they launch armed raids into neighbouring Turkey.<br><br>The move came ahead of an Oct. 2 meeting between Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and U.S. President George W. Bush in Washington where the PKK issue is set to be high on the agenda.<br><br>Amid mounting soldiers' casualties in Turkey, Ankara has warned that it would attack PKK bases in Iraq if U.S. and Iraqi forces failed to act against them. Erdogan had already dismissed Ocalan's ceasefire offer, saying Kurdish militants had to give up their weapons.<br><br>The PKK, considered a terrorist organisation by the European Union, the United States and Turkey, said it would only take up arms in self-defence.<br><br>"This process has been decided upon by all our national bodies and is made official with this meeting. If there is an attack aimed at destroying us our forces will defend themselves in every way," Karayilan told reporters.<br><br>The statement did not mention any conditions or a time limit but said: "This ceasefire process will continue depending on the steps which are taken and the developments which occur."<br><br>"OPPORTUNITY FOR PEACE"<br><br>Firat quoted the PKK as saying that it reached its decision after a meeting on Sept. 24-25 in the wake of ceasefire calls from several quarters, including Turkey's main Kurdish party, the Democratic Society Party (DTP).<br><br>The PKK's forces will not use its weapons and will not conduct any activities other than meeting its logistical needs during the ceasefire, the statement said.<br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>"Now there is an opportunity for peace and we say let's take it. Otherwise we will open the way to the dangerous chauvinist tendencies of warmongers and nationalists who want to stir up hatred between peoples," Karayilan said.</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><br>Turkey's government and armed forces have ignored previous PKK unilateral ceasefires and diplomats said the latest move reflected a growing sense of unease among the militants.<br><br>"The PKK are feeling increasingly squeezed and this is a public relations stunt," said a senior EU diplomat.<br><br>Authorities in northern Iraq have said they have shut down PKK offices, one of many demands made by Turkey.<br><br>Any Turkish military intervention in Iraq is seen as destabilising the only peaceful part of the country. Erdogan is also under pressure at home to crack down on the PKK amid a rise in nationalism ahead of next year's general elections.<br><br>Fighting in Turkey, which has NATO's second-largest army, flared after the PKK called off a unilateral ceasefire in 2004. Violence has continued despite a temporary ceasefire last year.<br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>A shadowy Kurdish militant group linked to the PKK has claimed responsibility for a wave of deadly bomb attacks against civilians across Turkey over the last year, heightening concerns about the conflict and prompting international criticism.</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><br>EU-applicant Turkey has improved rights for Kurds, but the EU wants more.<br><br>(Additional reporting by Daren Butler) <hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://in.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-10-01T040756Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-270142-1.xml&archived=False">in.today.reuters.com/news...ived=False</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> <p></p><i></i>
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Re: 2 Former Empires Rattled by proxies of the Present Empir

Postby Gouda » Mon Oct 02, 2006 6:50 am

Oh oh. <br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>Turkey seeks U.S. help with rebels</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><br>Erdogan has dismissed the ceasefire. He said the PKK issue would be at the top of his agenda when he meets<br>President Bush in Washington on Monday amid Turkish perceptions of a U.S. failure to act against the outlawed group.<br><br>"If concrete steps are taken in northern Iraq the view of the USA will change. We expect concrete results from the meeting," Milliyet newspaper quoted Erdogan as saying.<br><br>Ankara and Washington have appointed coordinators [General Ralston is one - Gouda] to work together in the fight against the PKK and authorities in northern Iraq have shut down its offices. Turkey is now seeking more direct action to halt rebel activities.<br><br>(...)<br><br>The ceasefire was prompted by U.S. pressure on northern Iraqi Kurdish leaders after Turkey threatened military strikes on the PKK's Iraqi bases, according to Ismet Berkan, editor of the liberal daily Radikal.<br><br>"The window of opportunity may not stay open for long. And we mustn't forget high-level U.S. initiatives opened this window. I hope we have a solid plan for what happens next."<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--> <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061001/wl_nm/security_turkey_ceasefire_dc">news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061...asefire_dc</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> <p></p><i></i>
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Re: 2 Former Empires Rattled by proxies of the Present Empir

Postby rain » Mon Oct 02, 2006 10:58 pm

Carved-up Map of Turkey at NATO Prompts US Apology <br>By Suleyman Kurt, Ankara <br>Friday, September 29, 2006 <br>zaman.com <br><br><br>A map prepared by a retired U.S. military officer that sketches Turkey as a partitioned country was presented at the NATO’s Defense College in Rome, where Turkish officers attend. <br><br><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://www.zaman.com/2006/09/29/harita_b.jpg" style="border:0;"/><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br><br><br>The use of the map at a conference meeting by a colonel from the U.S. National War Academy angered Turkish military officers. <br><br>Turkish Chief of Staff Gen. Yasar Buyukanit called the U.S. Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Pace, and protested the incident. U.S. military authorities admitted the mistake, for which they apologized to Turkey. <br><br>According to the reports, the incident took place on Sept. 15. <br><br>An American colonel who came to the Defense College for a conference began a lecture on technology. <br><br>However, a few minutes later he presented a map that showed Turkey as separated, and included an “independent Kurdistan” on Turkish territories. <br><br>In reaction to the U.S. colonel’s elaboration on the map, previously characterized by U.S. authorities as not reflective of the American view, the Turkish officers left the conference room. <br><br>The Belgian commander of the College was then informed about the incident. <br><br>The commander reacted, saying that academic freedom did not mean everybody could say anything he wanted, and cited the incident as unacceptable. <br><br>Turkish officers also briefed Ankara about the developments relevant to the incident. <br><br>The U.S. State Department assured Ankara that the map did not reflect the official American view, and denounced it as unacceptable. <br><br>The new Middle East map, prepared by retired Col. Ralph Peters and published in the Armed Forces Journal in June, had sparked reactions in Ankara.<br> <br>http://www.zaman.com/?bl=international&alt=&hn=36919<br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>The U.S. State Department assured Ankara that the map did not reflect the official American view, and denounced it as unacceptable</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br>OK. so now you know it's on.<br><br><br><br><br><br> <p></p><i></i>
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Re: 2 Former Empires Rattled by proxies of the Present Empir

Postby Gouda » Tue Oct 03, 2006 5:21 am

Whoa. Sticky that map for future reference. <br><br>Can you imagine what it would take for Iran/Persia and Turkey to agree to give up all that juicy territory to the Kurds? Either a very, very nasty war in the middle east, regime changes all around, and/or immense "gifts" in return. <br><br>Putting chauvenistic nationalism aside, somehow I can't see Turkey giving up its eastern land mass - not with those giant dams there that control a whole hell of a lot of water flow to the middle east. No way. <p></p><i></i>
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Re: 2 Former Empires Rattled by proxies of the Present Empir

Postby Gouda » Wed Oct 11, 2006 10:11 am

Some helpful recent history, background info:<br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>Semdinli Indictment in the World Press </strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--> <br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.zaman.com/?bl=international&alt=&hn=30708">www.zaman.com/?bl=interna...=&hn=30708</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> <br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>The British daily Independent ran the headline <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>"Senior general stoked Kurdish conflict to keep Turkey out of EU'" </strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END-->and wrote Sarikaya, in his indictment on Semdinli incidents, accused Gen. Buyukanit of setting up an illegal force to create unrest among the Kurdish separatists and security forces.<br>...<br><br>In his hundred page indictment, the prosecutor accused the general and other senior officers of <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>setting up an illegal force to create unrest among the Kurds that would undermine Turkey's application to join the EU</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END-->, the Independent wrote.<br>...<br><br>An Ankara-based Reuters news report said Prosecutor Sarikaya launched an investigation about Buyukanit by accusing him of abusing his position, "setting up an illegal group" and "influencing the judiciary" in order to harm Turkey's EU membership bid. The agency reminded the general served in southeast Turkey with a majority Kurdish population between 1997 and 2000, and an armed battle against the terrorist organization Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) claimed more than 30,000 lives.<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>Damage to Israel-Turkey relations feared</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://frazer.rice.edu/~erkan/blog/archives/week_2005_12_04.html">frazer.rice.edu/~erkan/bl...12_04.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>FROM YNETNEWS.COM<br><br>Foreign Ministry sends calming messages to Ankara following publication on contracts won by Israeli companies to train Kurdish security forces in northern Iraq, claiming companies acted on their own initiative<br><br>Itamar EichnerLast week's publication by Israel's leading newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth on Israeli companies winning contracts with the Kurdish government to train and equip Kurdish security forces in northern Iraq has caused tension in the relations between Israel and Turkey, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Sunday.<br><br>Foreign Ministry officials, aware of the fact that they were dealing with a very complex and sensitive issue, hastened to send calming messages to Turkey over the weekend.<br><br>The main message conveyed by the ministry was that the Israeli companies acted on their own initiative and that the official State of Israel does not operate in the discussed areas.<br><br>'Risk of human life for lucre'<br>Israel approached Turkey last year with an update on a number of private Israeli companies operating in northern Iraq. The Turks were told that Israel opposes any Israeli presence in northern Iraq.<br><br>At the same time, the Foreign Ministry harshly criticized the involvement of Israeli companies in northern Iraq, defining it as "scandalous and irresponsible."<br><br>A senior ministry official said that "this is a very serious issue, and that Israel knows about it and is not doing enough in order to prevent it."<br><br>"It is severe because the people who go there are<br>risking their lives and could be hurt or kidnapped. Every year dozens of people are abducted there. What do we want, another (former Hizbullah captive Elhanan) Tennenbaum?" he said.<br><br>"This is an unnecessary risk of human life for lucre," he said. "In addition, this activity only complicated and endangers our relations with our ally Turkey. An entire country is in risk so that a businessman will make a profit."<br><br>'Turkey understands Israel could not prevent it'<br>The Turkish government showed interest in Yedioth Ahronoth's publication. The Turkish embassy in Israel translated the article and sent it to Ankara, waiting for instructions on how to respond.<br><br>Israeli officials estimated that Turkey would ask Israel for clarifications on the matter.<br><br>A senior Turkish official said that as long as only private companies are involved, this may be a source of concern for Turkey, but they understand that Israel could not prevent it.<br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>However, he said if Turkey discovers that intelligence officers or Israeli officials were involved, his country would see it as a completely different story that may lead to a rift in diplomatic relations.</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong><br>Meanwhile, Yedioth Ahronoth has learned that Turkey is concerned with the ease in which Israelis managed to cross the border from Turkey to Iraq, and that steps will now be taken to examine the issue.</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><br>Tsadouk Yakhiskeli and Anat Tal-Shir contributed to the report<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>FBI committed to help Turkey against Kurdish rebels</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.institutkurde.org/en/afp/archives/?src=news/051209162824.swdr3jw5.xml">www.institutkurde.org/en/...dr3jw5.xml</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>ANKARA, Dec 9 (AFP) - The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is committed to cooperating with Turkey in its fight against armed rebels of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), FBI director Robert Mueller said here Friday.<br><br>"We are working with our counterparts elsewhere in Europe and in Turkey to address the PKK and work cooperatively, to find and cut off financing to terrorist groups, be it PKK, Al-Qaeda" or others, Mueller told reporters.<br><br>"There have been concrete results and there will continue to be concrete results around the world, in Europe and elsewhere," he added.<br><br>Mueller spoke after a day of talks with senior Turkish police and national intelligence officials, which he said served to stengthen bilateral ties and enable the two countries to cooperate in facing terrorist threats.<br><br>Turkish security forces have been locked in a bitter combat with the PKK since the group, listed as a terrorist organization by the European Union, Turkey and the United States, took up arms in 1984 for self-rule in the country's mainly Kurdish southeast.<br><br>The conflict has claimed some 37,000 lives since.<br><br>Thousands of militants have found refuge in the mountains of northern Iraq since 1999 and have recently begun infiltrating back into Turkey, stepping up anti-government attacks in the southeast since early this year.<br><br>Turkey has long criticised the United States for failing to curb the rebels and even threatened cross border operations into Iraq if the threat is not eliminated.<br><br>Washington has been leery of committing itself to military action, arguing instead for means to dry up the group's financial resources.<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>Turkey renews expectations from US on Kurdish rebels as CIA chief visits</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.institutkurde.org/en/afp/archives/?src=news/051212170057.kzhp6jj1.xml">www.institutkurde.org/en/...hp6jj1.xml</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr><br>ANKARA, Dec 12 (AFP) - Turkey maintained its pressure Monday on the United States to act against separatist Kurdish rebels in neighboring northern Iraq as talks began here with visiting US Central Intelligence Agency director Porter Goss.<br><br>"In the struggle against terrorism, all countries emphasize the importance of intelligence sharing... It is well known that Turkey shares intelligence with the US and other countries in this context," Justice Minister Cemil Cicek said after a cabinet meeting.<br><br>"Moreover, Turkey has expectations from the US regarding in particular the separatist terrorist organization," Cicek said.<br><br>He was referring to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), listed as a terrorist group by both Ankara and Washington and which has been fighting Turkey since 1984 when it took up arms for Kurdish self-rule in the southeast.<br><br>The CIA director's visit "should be seen in the context of intelligence-sharing and other measures... on this basis," Cicek said.<br><br>Goss's visit comes on the heels of talks here last week between FBI director Robert Mueller and Turkish officials, in which the PKK was high on the agenda.<br><br>Turkey has long been frustrated by Washington's reluctance to act against PKK bases in the mountains of northern Iraq, where the militants retreated after declaring a unilateral ceasefire in 1999.<br><br>PKK violence in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast has markedly increased this year after the group called off a five-year truce in June 2004 and its militants began infiltrating back into Turkey.<br><br>Washington has been leery of committing itself to military action, arguing instead for means to dry up the group's financial resources.<br><br>Goss was to meet Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Emre Taner, head of the Turkish intelligence agency MIT, and General Director of Police Gokhan Aydiner Monday and Tuesday, US embassy officials said, but gave no other details.<br><br>Media reports said allegations that the CIA flew and interrogated terror suspects through Europe would be also on Goss's agenda in Ankara.<br><br>Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul denied Sunday that the CIA interrogated terror suspects on Turkish soil.<br><br>He confirmed, however, that a US aircraft, widely reported to have been chartered by the CIA to transfer suspected terrorists, made two stopovers in Istanbul in October and November.<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--> <p></p><i></i>
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Postby Gouda » Wed Feb 14, 2007 9:05 am

Cross-posted:

A passage from imperial apologist and pagan ethos journalist Robert Kaplan's 1994 essay "The Coming Anarchy" published before his book of the same title:
http://www.theatlantic.com/ideastour/ar ... an-8.mhtml

Resource distribution is strengthening Turks in another way vis-a-vis Arabs and Persians. Turks may have little oil, but their Anatolian heartland has lots of water—the most important fluid of the twenty-first century. Turkey's Southeast Anatolia Project, involving twenty-two major dams and irrigation systems, is impounding the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Much of the water that Arabs and perhaps Israelis will need to drink in the future is controlled by Turks. The project's centerpiece is the mile-wide, sixteen-story Ataturk Dam, upon which are emblazoned the words of modern Turkey's founder: "Ne Mutlu Turkum Diyene" ("Lucky is the one who is a Turk").

Unlike Egypt's Aswan High Dam, on the Nile, and Syria's Revolution Dam, on the Euphrates, both of which were built largely by Russians, the Ataturk Dam is a predominantly Turkish affair, with Turkish engineers and companies in charge. On a recent visit my eyes took in the immaculate offices and their gardens, the high-voltage electric grids and phone switching stations, the dizzying sweep of giant humming transformers, the poured-concrete spillways, and the prim unfolding suburbia, complete with schools, for dam employees. The emerging power of the Turks was palpable.

Erduhan Bayindir, the site manager at the dam, told me that "while oil can be shipped abroad to enrich only elites, water has to be spread more evenly within the society. . . . It is true, we can stop the flow of water into Syria and Iraq for up to eight months without the same water overflowing our dams, in order to regulate their political behavior."

Power is certainly moving north in the Middle East, from the oil fields of Dhahran, on the Persian Gulf, to the water plain of Harran, in southern Anatolia—near the site of the Ataturk Dam. But will the nation-state of Turkey, as presently constituted, be the inheritor of this wealth?

I very much doubt it.


According to the map, the great hydropower complex emblemized by the Ataturk Dam is situated in Turkey. Forget the map. This southeastern region of Turkey is populated almost completely by Kurds. About half of the world's 20 million Kurds live in "Turkey." The Kurds are predominant in an ellipse of territory that overlaps not only with Turkey but also with Iraq, Iran, Syria, and the former Soviet Union. The Western-enforced Kurdish enclave in northern Iraq, a consequence of the 1991 Gulf War, has already exposed the fictitious nature of that supposed nation-state.

On a recent visit to the Turkish-Iranian border, it occurred to me what a risky idea the nation-state is. Here I was on the legal fault line between two clashing civilizations, Turkic and Iranian. Yet the reality was more subtle: as in West Africa, the border was porous and smuggling abounded, but here the people doing the smuggling, on both sides of the border, were Kurds. In such a moonscape, over which peoples have migrated and settled in patterns that obliterate borders, the end of the Cold War will bring on a cruel process of natural selection among existing states. No longer will these states be so firmly propped up by the West or the Soviet Union. Because the Kurds overlap with nearly everybody in the Middle East, on account of their being cheated out of a state in the post-First World War peace treaties, they are emerging, in effect, as the natural selector—the ultimate reality check. They have destabilized Iraq and may continue to disrupt states that do not offer them adequate breathing space, while strengthening states that do.
Last edited by Gouda on Tue Mar 13, 2007 4:13 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby Gouda » Mon Feb 19, 2007 8:17 am

Just in. Further entanglements. Agreements being made on further use of Kurds as economic and destabilization resources? Israel showed Turkey, after all, that they were able to work with the Iraqi Kurds with impunity. Kurds useful in Iran, as they were in Iraq. Kurds in Turkey contained now due to false flags against the PKK, which coincided with CIA, FBI and General Ralston's involvement in the Turk-Kurd issue. Furthermore, Syria + Turkey also have major water, oil and Kurd disputes.

Iran and Syria vow alliance against US, Israel
http://rawstory.com/news/dpa/Iran_and_S ... 72007.html

Tehran- The presidents of Iran and Syria on Saturday vowed
alliance against what they called US and Israeli conspiracies against
the Islamic world.

ISNA news agency reported Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as saying
that the Islamic world in general and Iran and Syria in particular
should maintain their vigilance and neutralise conspiracies aimed at
sowing discord among Muslims.


Israel seeks an alliance with Turkey against Iran
http://www.campaigniran.org/casmii/inde ... =node/1418

According to Israeli newspapers, which have given extensive coverage
to Olmert's Turkey visit, Turkey's mediating role in certain issues
between Israel and Syria, the Palestinian problem as well as the Black
Sea-Red Sea pipeline project will be on the agenda.

(...)

Emphasising Turkey's role as a "a leading Muslim state which remains
at the centre and which may constitute a bridge to Arab countries",
Olmert implied that Turkey can play a coordinating role with other
Arab countries in Israel's policy of targeting Iran.

Turkey's increasing co-operation on military issues and its bilateral
agreements with Israel since 1990's indicate that the co-operation
against Iran's nuclear programme might go beyond diplomatic efforts.
Within the framework of the Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA)
signed between the two countries, Israel is regularly taking part in the
'Reliant Mermaid' naval exercises and 'Anatolian Eagle' aerial
exercises. While the Israeli fighter plains have been conducting
training flights in the Turkish airspace from the airbase in Konya,
the Israeli commandos have been receiving snow training in Bolu
mountains for some time. The military relations between the two
countries are being supported by co-operation in the fields of defence
industry and intelligence sharing against terrorism.

(...)

It is believed that Turkey's airspace can be used if Israel launches
such an attack on Iran's nuclear installations. In the event of
possible more comprehensive military operations, such co-operation
might enhance within the framework of bilateral agreements. It is
feared that Israel's use of Turkish territory and air space in
attacking Iran might turn Turkey itself into a target.
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Postby Gouda » Wed Feb 21, 2007 7:11 am

Portion of a good article (part 1 of 2) on Iranian Sunni Kurd groups, US-Israeli support for separatist groups in Iran, and the ubiquitous smuggling role...

(...)

Many of the politically active Kurds are forced to lie low or flee across the border to Iraq. There, they can pick up military training and political indoctrination at a camp run by Pejak - the Party of Free Life in Kurdistan - on the inaccessible Mount Qandil. Pejak subscribes to the teachings of now-imprisoned Abdullah Ocalan, the former leader of Turkey's banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Pejak's cadres are mostly educated male and female activists, and it emerged as a force in northern Iraq as a result of the collapse of the Iraqi state. Ever since then, reports have emerged linking US and Israeli covert operations with these anti-Tehran groups.

(...)

"We have the right to launch attacks against Iranian forces," said Cemil "Cuma" Bayik, the de facto leader of the PKK, a quasi-socialist rebel movement entrenched in a decades-long guerrilla war for independence in the majority-Kurdish southeast of Turkey. In 2005, Pejak killed at least 120 Iranian soldiers in Iran, according to the Jamestown Foundation. In 2006, the guerrilla attacks continued undiminished. Also active is the left-wing Komala (Revolutionary Toilers of Iran) group that was founded in 1969 and was affiliated with the also-banned Communist Party of Iran. Last year, a senior Komala representative, Abdullah Muhtadi, traveled to Washington for a conference of Iranian minority groups amid speculation that the US administration was exploring a way of working with the group against Tehran.

On January 16, a commentary by Aref Mohammadzadeh in the conservative daily Jomhuri-ye Eslami accused Washington of "devising a strategy against the Islamic Republic similar to the one which had led to the collapse of the Soviet Union" and which aims at "fomenting and strengthening separatist movements and tribalist groups".

"One of the duties of these [recruited] individuals is to make connections inside Iran in order to recruit other people, and also to be in contact with Western authorities, organizations and institutions and present false and fabricated reports on the situation of ethnic groups in Iran," the commentary said.

Triumphant Iranian soldiers encountered last summer on the outskirts of Marivan in the Kurdish heartland claimed to have been involved in a skirmish the previous night in which "we killed the Khomeini of the Kurds", a comparative reference to the late ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. But very little news filters out from Kordestan, and the Ministry of Islamic Guidance in Tehran throws bureaucratic obstacles in the path of foreign journalists seeking to visit the province.

With the region kept underdeveloped, smuggling provides a lucrative source of income...


http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/IB21Ak02.html
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Postby Gouda » Mon Mar 12, 2007 3:20 am

Over 3,500 PKK members active in northern Iraq: Turkish commander
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/20070 ... 56337.html
Turkish Land Forces Commander General Ilker Basbug estimated that around 3,500 to 3,800 members of the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) were located in the north of Iraq, especially in regions close to the Turkish border.

Basbug announced the figure when he visited injured Turkish soldiers at a military hospital in Diyarbakir city, southeast of the country.

There are nearly 500 PKK members around the Mount Qandil, Basbug was quoted as saying by the semi-official Anatolia news agency.

Basbug said that the PKK members began crossing into Turkey from northern Iraq in March and such infiltration would continue in times ahead.

Basbug added that 101 PKK militants "were rendered ineffective" during operations in the winter.

The Land Forces commander also noted that the terrorist activities in Turkey were directly affected by developments in Iraq.

"Turkey may always take necessary precautions against the separatist organization in the north of Iraq when military circumstances require in accordance with the domestic and international laws," Basbug said.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, launched an armed campaign for an ethnic homeland in the mainly Kurdish southeastern Turkey in 1984, sparking decades of strife that has claimed more than 30,000 lives.

Source: Xinhua
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Postby HiFi_Zither » Mon Mar 12, 2007 7:28 pm

more stable version of the map
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Postby Gouda » Tue Mar 13, 2007 4:16 am

Thanks HiFi Zither!
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