Turkey in Syria: new flashpoint
A revelation to me - there is a small, sovereign Turkish land in Aleppo! The Turks have a tiny garrison and have warned approaching ISIL to stay away.
Taken from one report:
Quote:
There are currently around 25 Turkish soldiers based in and around Jaber Castle in Aleppo, which contains the tomb of Suleyman Shah, the grandfather of the founder of the Ottoman Empire, Osman Gazi.....According to international agreements made in 1921, the territory is officially Turkish property with Turkish appointed guards and a Turkish flag. Turkey warned that any attempt to attack the territory would be considered an attack on Turkey and an attack on a NATO member.
Note the report refers to ISIL earlier this week being 35 kms away. So is this really nearby or a ploy by the Turkish government mired in internal issues?
Link:http://www.worldbulletin.net/turkey/...ased-in-aleppo
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bio05ohIYAAbMpp.jpg
Flashpoint reappears over Turkish tomb in Syria
EA reported yesterday that:
Quote:
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
has confirmed that Turkey has sent its first military convoy into Syria. Erdoğan said the convoy took “aid” to the tomb of Süleyman Shah, the grandfather of the founder of the Ottoman Empire, 25 kilometers (about 16 miles) inside Syria in Aleppo Province.
Claims circulating on social media on Wednesday said six Turkish tanks, 12 armored vehicles, and 300 Turkish soldiers had been deployed 200 meters from the positions of the Islamic State of Iraq and as-Sham. Video showed part of the convoy moving through a Kurdish checkpoint in northern Syria
Link:http://eaworldview.com/2014/04/syria...eppo-province/
Today EA reports ISIS has issued a demand to Turkey, in a video:
Quote:
Although the Turkish armed forces are expected to withdraw immediately, we have given a three-day period. We ask them to remove the Turkish flag and withdraw the soldiers. We do not give consent to the armed forces of a secular country within ISIS’s sacred land. Otherwise, we will demolish the tomb.
Within a daily update:http://eaworldview.com/2014/04/syria...election/#ISIS
Even more curious the way the Turks left
One analyst concludes that:
Quote:
on the way out, reports indicate that the convoy passed through Jarabulus – ISIS controlled territory.
There are scattered reports that ISIS stopped the convoy at the Qara Qawzak Bridge. As far as I can tell, ISIS controls the bridge. Pro-PYD folks have tweeted that there was some sort of interaction between the Turkish convoy and ISIS at the bridge. After the interaction, the convoy is reported to have continued on to Manbij, before turning towards Jarabulus, and then re-entering Turkey through Karkamis. I find this odd.
The most straight-forward way to go about this would have been to simply turn back and return through PYD controlled territory. Why did the TSK choose to proceed over the bridge and then return through ISIS controlled territory? Here is the route
Link:http://turkeywonk.wordpress.com/2014/04/24/2945/
The map below shows the entire route.
http://turkeywonk.files.wordpress.co...ng?w=640&h=400
ISIS, Turkey, NATO and now?
Responding to ISIL / ISIS advances in Iraq & Syria is complicated by the stance of Turkey, why is complicated. That a NATO member has provided support, even sanctuary is a reminder of how Pakistan (via ISI) followed its national interests over Afghanistan.
Turkey regards itself as nation that stands as a bridge between Europe, Asia and the Middle East. It has been a longstanding NATO member, which has provided bases to the USA, sometimes with restrictions even a veto on use like today and before in the Second Gulf War.
A Washington "insider" last week commented that Turkey's stance on ISIS / ISIL as a NATO member was very hard to understand and accept for the USA.
Today I found two different, complimentary articles:
a) Turkey’s ISIL crisis is worse than you think:http://america.aljazeera.com/opinion...evantisil.html
Quote:
After two years of tolerating the group as it funneled recruits and supplies into Syria, Turkey has come to the realization that the group represents a serious threat to its national security. How did Turkey get into such a predicament?
b) Turkey and the "Islamic State”:https://www.opendemocracy.net/vicken...state%E2%80%9D
Quote:
Turkey is notably reluctant to join a military campaign against ISIS. In fact, Ankara's ambiguity towards the radical Islamist group has deep political as well as historical roots.
SWC / SWJ has three directly relevant threads:
1) Turkey in Syria: new flashpoint:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ad.php?t=20263
2) Why Syrians in Turkey are Not “Refugees” and Why it Matters:http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art...why-it-matters
3) Turkey mainly, Iraq and the Kurds (2006-2012):http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ead.php?t=3104
Following the seizure by ISIS of forty plus Turkish diplomats @ Mosul, Turkey refrained from a hostile response. This week the hostages were exchanged for a larger number of ISIS prisoners.
Some expect this will enable Turkey to change its stance. I am unconvinced. The roots of their stance are deep and criticism can be deflected by their acceptance of millions of refugees, with 130k Kurds this week.
Turkey: Cautious partner in battle against ISIS
A short comment from the Australian Lowy Institute:http://www.lowyinterpreter.org/post/...LCC=769279010&
Quote:
The Obama Administration will need to appreciate that Turkey is status conscious, focused on what the ultimate political order in its region will look like, and doesn't take a simplistic view about the sources of Islamist radicalism. These are, in fact, eminently reasonable positions for Turkey to take. It will be up to the US to account for them and be flexible and attentive if it can.
Old news or something new?
As the Turkish parliament debates renewal of permission for Turkish troops to cross into Iraq and Syria, just by coincidence Tweets that ISIS have moved closer to the tomb:
Quote:
Deputy PM Arinc says ISIS militants are advancing on Suleyman Shah tomb in northern Syria.
Anyone remember the Blank Check...
The last time anyone issued a blank check the Austrian Empire decided to pick a fight with Serbia...and we all know what happened next. Has Jens Stoltenberg just given the Turks the green light to expand the conflict further? What with them provoking the Syrians a few years ago with some Phantoms and with the shady goings on currently I, for one, am left slightly bemused. Aside from my questioning Turkey's membership in NATO after the Cold War I am not sure assisting one vile Islamic regime against another bunch of Islamic nut-jobs inside a third party's state territory (which is, legally speaking, still the sovereign government...anyone remember the old non-intervention clause of the UN?) is going to benefit anyone or keep the problem localised (shouldn't we be helping the actually victims; Syria and Iraq?). I for one am awaiting a Turkish Gleiwitz ...
Press conference by incoming NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg
Quote:
Our responsibility is ... the basic responsibility is to stand up and be very clear to everyone to protect Turkey - that collective defence, that Article 5 is something which is also going to be applied if Turkey is in any way attacked. That's the reason why we have the Patriot systems deployed in Turkey. And that's the reason why I will underline that when I visit Turkey in the near future. And we plan to continue to have a military presence in Turkey with the Patriot missile systems.
When it comes to the decision in the Turkish Parliament that's not related to a NATO operation; but that's a national Turkish decision. And I think I will leave that to the Parliament of Turkey to decide.
Turkey Steps In: A Good Thing?
A short commentary from The Soufan Group, which covers all points:http://soufangroup.com/tsg-intelbrie...-a-good-thing/
Oh yeah, let's help the Turks because...
CHP lawmakers accuse Turkish government of 'protecting ISIL and al-Nusra militants'
AKP Opens a Hospital Only for Jihadists
Lets not forget that Turkey helped manage the "Jihadi highway" that funneled jihadis and equipment into Syria, or that they were intent on toppling Assad so bad that they encouraged the very idiots who are now, apparently, a threat to them. But what do I know? :wry:
From: ISIS and the Threat to Turkey
Quote:
ISIS may have become a security threat to Turkey, but many blame the very existence of this threat on the ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) itself. Turkey's open-door policy since the beginning of the Syrian crisis has allowed many Syrians jihadists to freely enter its territory, and Ankara has been accused of turning a blind eye, if not direct support, to foreign jihadists in its territory. Syrian Kurds continue to argue that Turkey provided Sunni jihadists, including ISIS, with arms and sanctuary. They allege that Turkey has done this to counter the Kurdish militant group People's Protection Unit (YPG), which it regards as the Syrian arm of the Kurdish terrorist group that has long plagued Turkey, the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK).
It's not only foreigners who fault the Turkish government on this issue. In an address to his party meeting on June 17, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, Turkey's main opposition leader, openly accused Erdogan of supporting ISIS, saying that for the first time in history Turkey has become a country that supports terrorism. "The biggest terror attack in our history was done by al Qaeda in 2003, and yet so many foreign al Qaeda fighters have crossed over to the Middle East from Turkey. We have paid the price for this, and we continue paying it," Kilicdaroglu said. Following the speech, the Republican People's Party (CHP) submitted a proposal to the parliament for an inquiry into ISIS funding by Turkey.
On the same day, Devlet Bahceli, leader of the Turkish Nationalist Party (MHP), also made a similar speech. Calling the apparent shift in the government's Syria policy the product of "a late confession of remorse," he explained that those who helped and provided support to ISIS in Syria are now primarily responsible for the blood that is being shed. "Unfortunately the AKP is in this mess and it is a rotten ring of this dark hand that has inflamed this ISIS monster. The AKP's Syria policy is the reason why our borders are now filled with radical and savage elements," Bahceli said.
People need to ask as to why hasn’t ISIS blown up any Ottoman tombs ...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
davidbfpo
Good question... (regardless of who asked it; I've been wondering that myself)
"People need to ask as to why hasn’t ISIS blown up any Ottoman tombs anywhere in Syria and Iraq while they destroyed everyone else’s who wasn’t Ottoman?"
Are other Ottoman era tombs important for Turkey?
A good question repeated by Tukhachevskii:
Quote:
People need to ask as to why hasn’t ISIS blown up any Ottoman tombs anywhere in Syria and Iraq while they destroyed everyone else’s who wasn’t Ottoman?
The cited source refers to such tombs, but are there any I ask?
On a quick search I found two other mosques do have tombs, in Deir ez-Zor now held by ISIS and another method has been used:
Quote:
The rooms that contain the tombs have been filled with cement
Link:http://www.worldbulletin.net/haber/1...hreat-in-syria
As Turkey regards the Suleyman Shah tomb as its own national territory and not another tombs you have an answer. The other Ottoman era tombs are not Turkish territory.
Turkish enclave (Tomb) is evacuated
The NYT reports that Turkish forces entered Syria and evacuated the garrison at the tomb and the tomb's contents:
Quote:
The Turkish Army launched an operation into Syria to evacuate soldiers guarding the Tomb of Suleyman Shah, which has been besieged by Islamic State militants, and move the tomb’s remains, an official and Turkish news media reported on Sunday.The military then destroyed what was left of the site to prevent the militants from using the enclave, and one soldier was killed by accident during the operation, CNN Turk said Sunday, citing military officials.
The operation, called “Sah Firat,” began on Saturday and involved a large convoy of tanks and other heavy weaponry that entered Syria through Kobani....
Link:http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/22/wo...orts-say.html?
The BBC has a report, with some footage of the returning Turkish convoy and this:
Quote:
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the remains of Suleyman Shah would be moved elsewhere in Syria.
Turkish Withdrawal: The Implications
A thorough joint commentary by a RUSI SME and 'Turkey Wonk':https://turkeywonk.wordpress.com/201...-implications/
It is interesting to note the tomb's new home is in the "grey zone" in Syria @ Eshme village; the zone is a narrow area where local rebel groups do not exert full control.
From the conclusion:
Quote:
Turkey, however, has proven yet again that its role in the Syrian conflict must not be overlooked. It has links to all the main actors operating in northern Syria and is able to generally get its way with most of them, albeit with the occasional disagreement. The biggest change appears to be Ankara’s approach to ISIS. Since 2013, Turkey had treated ISIS as an irritant, rather than a major security threat, but the Suleyman Shah operation is the clearest sign to date that this approach is changing.
They conclude that Turkey's role will remain limited.
With an ally like Turkey?
Yesterday 'National Interest' had an article 'Turkey's Secret Proxy War in Libya?', which ends almost with:
Quote:
If Turkey were backing Libya’s jihadists, it would fit a dangerous pattern of Turkish support to extremist regional actors.
Link:http://nationalinterest.org/feature/...ar-libya-12430
Then today Al-Monitor has a Turkish author writing 'Pakistan warns Turkey: Don’t make our mistakes', citing a Pakistani politician:
Quote:
I warned Davutoglu when he was here, ‘You are repeating in Syria the mistakes we made in Afghanistan. Organizations you support now will turn against you.’ Pakistan was wrong in becoming party to the war in Afghanistan and was wrong in supporting the Taliban. We are now paying the costs of these mistakes."
Link:http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/orig...mistakes.html?
Pentagon Chief: Turkey Needs to Do More to Fight IS
Pentagon Chief: Turkey Needs to Do More to Fight IS
Entry Excerpt:
--------
Read the full post and make any comments at the SWJ Blog.
This forum is a feed only and is closed to user comments.
Why is Turkey Attacking the Kurdish Militants Instead of ISIS?
Why is Turkey Attacking the Kurdish Militants Instead of ISIS?
Entry Excerpt:
--------
Read the full post and make any comments at the SWJ Blog.
This forum is a feed only and is closed to user comments.
Changing the regional equation
After a six year hiatus Israel and Turkey are friends again, which will be a lot more than diplomacy:
Quote:
The reconciliation deal between Israel and Turkey will see a return to normal diplomatic relations, but ties are unlikely to have the warmth that they did in the past. It is Turkey's growing diplomatic problems - strategic tensions with Russia; difficulties with Europe due to the growing authoritarianism of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan; and above all the failure of Turkey's Syria policy (which has also soured ties with Washington) - that have prompted this move.
Link:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-36639834
FP added:
Quote:
Netanyahu credited U.S. Vice President Joe Biden for acting as a peace broker between Israel and Turkey.
