Turkey Looks to Rebuild Military After Purging Half Its Generals
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Turkey Looks to Rebuild Military After Purging Half Its Generals
Turkey Looks to Rebuild Military After Purging Half Its Generals
Entry Excerpt:
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Things are now escalating between EU/NATO and Turkey over the coming Erdogan instituted referendum on his new Presidential system which is a single leader dictatorship and no freedom of the press....with over 127 journalists currently in jail including a just arrested German/Turkish reporter for Die Welt....
In the last ten days this has escalated badly with Germany bluntly telling Turkey they cannot send their AKP and government officials to Germany to conduct political rallies on German soil....
This has led to a series of Turkish government statements of accusing Germany of being Nazi's and Hitler again...including Erdogan....this is inflammatory in nature and it is deliberate on the part of Erdogan as it makes he look as a hard leader to the 1.5M Turks residing in Germany.....
Merkel and her FM have bluntly told Turkey to stop the inflammatory Nazi statements...warning that it can in fact make moves against Turkey that will not benefit Turkey.....
Today a leading German politician who sits in the EU Commission openly questioned by the EU is providing Turkey with 4B Euros in aid to assist in merging into EU WHEN Erdogan does not want to and is going the opposite direction with creating an Islamic State and a single ruler and no democratic processes....BUT then his FM "demanded visa free travel to EU countries"...we were promised it...he "forgot it was to be part of the merging process and not a separate reward to Turkey...WHAT is interesting is that Turkey had actually fulfilled 24 of the 28 steps needed to merge into EU and was actually doing very well and then Erdogan simply applied the brakes and went the other direction....WHEN he suddenly was confronted with massive charges of corruption by the free Turkish press backed up with audio tapes of his corruption and the corruption of his sin...
Turkey depends economically right now on EU trade and support and yes Erdogan could jump to Russia but Russia cannot carry the financial burden of 6-9B Euros of aid and trade per year...as does EU....
THIS escalated even more this weekend when the Turkish FM wanted to go to Holland conduct political rallies for the Turkish referendum there....
WHEN it appeared he might be blocked he then threatened Holland with unnamed sanctions....
THEN the Dutch did in fact block him in travelling to Holland...they said basically you can come for official reasons and talks not no political rallies on Dutch soil...
Fighting fire with fire, still makes you a pyromaniac.
This is getting out of control!
Dutch withdraw Turkish minister's travel permission in rally dispute- CNN Turk
http://reut.rs/2mwxY1C
AND here we go....it's the Nazi's striking again.....
The Dutch are 'Nazi remnants' and "fascists"says Turkish President @RT_Erdogan.
Erdogan calling the kettle black as he is sliding Turkey into fascism of a single authoritarian leader.
BreakingNews
Turkish president #Erdogan threatens to cancel Landing Permission for #Dutch planes in #Turkey.
REMEMBEr recently when Germany critiqued him in his political rallies he held recently he would not allow even the German Minister of Defense visit her AF elements flying recce against Is from Turkey....
Wilders sees connection between decision to block Turkish FM from landing in NL and the Dutch general elections.
Typical Wilders the ultra rightist populist who was to win and now is losing badly since Trump was elected would say this....as it hurts him....
BUT he has missed the key point...many EU leaders are simply now fed up with Erdogan and are following Merkel's pushback....over the same style of Nazi statements....
NOW the Erdogan threat against Holland on their election day.....and who states the term Nazi.....
LIVE President Erdoğan on Netherlands decision for no landing permission for FM: Our people will disrupt your conspiracy on 16th April
He voiced something similar this week in his clash with Germany...for their election in SEPT....
BUT WAIT..Erdogan does not even know his own Turkish laws he has yet to change so still in effect.....
A reminder of this timely piece by @dpa_intl from last week: #Turkish election law prohibits campaigning abroad
http://dpaq.de/x5YZj
Leave it up to Germans to point out Turkish law to Erdogan....
AND yet he seems to believe he can force EU to do anything he wants to do....like visa free travel and massive Euro loans....
ANADOLU AGENCY (ENG)
✔
@anadoluagency
Turkey summons Dutch envoy to Foreign Ministry after FM's flight permit gets canceled
Last edited by davidbfpo; 03-11-2017 at 08:16 PM. Reason: copied from Germany thread
ANADOLU AGENCY (ENG)Originally Posted by OUTLAW 09
✔
@anadoluagency
#BREAKING Turkish family minister's vehicle intercepted while entering the Netherlands, Turkey's envoy says
UPDATE: Turkish delegation including 'Family Minister' being escorted to German border by Dutch police.
Tukrish minister is behind the building of the Turkish Consulate in Rotterdam. Police is not allowing her to get inside the Consulate.
Special intervention team of the Dutch Police is blocking the Turkish minister Sayan Kaya entering the Turkish Consulate in Rotterdam
Any well informed official in the Turkish Foreign Ministry will know this. Erdogan is deliberately provoking EU states for campaign purposes
BREAKING Turkish Foreign Ministry labels Dutch gov's treatment to Turkish officials as "hostile" act, "a first in 405 years of relations"
Last edited by davidbfpo; 03-11-2017 at 08:16 PM. Reason: copied from Germany thread
At the next NATO meeting....
Can the representatives from Holland and Turkey please explain to us just WTH is going on???
Turkey referendum: Riot police use water cannon and horses to disperse protesters outside Turkish consulate in Rotterdam
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world...try-1.3007083#
In a number of the videos and photos coming out of the clearance of the demo by Dutch riot police you will notice groups of young Turkish men throwing the fascist Grey Wolf hand signs...
The Turkish Grey Wolf group is in fact a hard core 300% fascist group responsible in the 80/90s on the streets in Germany violence against those Turks who were considered to be leftist and or liberal/secular .
Grey Wolf fighters have been spotted fighting together with FSA and the Turkish Army in Syria....
So it is unusual to have Turkey call the Dutch Nazi's and fascists when they themselves are fascists...
Erdogan's hypocrisy knows no limits....
Rudaw English
✔
@RudawEnglish
#Live: Turkish President @RT_Erdogan says #Netherlands will pay the price for setting the dogs on Turks in Netherlands.
If one looks back at the demos being conducted all across Turley originally against the Erdogan corruption and son charges..Erdogan used water cannons..dogs...roit gas and brutality against anyone in those demonstrations and they were Turks beating up on Turks.....
Not Dutch police telling Turkish rioters they must disperse before going into action...as they had no demo permit...
How Strongly is NATO Ally Turkey Pivoting to Russia and Iran?
How Strongly is NATO Ally Turkey Pivoting to Russia and Iran?
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Turkish Tragedy – Rise and Fall of Turkish Armed Forces
Hamid Hussain, our occasional contributor, has an article on the struggle between the elected government, the "deep state" and the Turkish military. It is on the attachment due the size (5 pgs).
He concludes:There is now an obvious choice for Erdogan. A transparent trial of the accused officers and appropriate punishments will strengthen institutions, but using this failed coup attempt to side-line all opposition and embarking on a witch hunt will surely backfire. He could usher in a new era of a professional and non-political TSK or try to fill the ranks with unqualified partisans. If he follows the former course, there is a chance that TSK will recover over a decade or two but if he follows the later course, then Turkey will see instability and potential chaos for a long time.
Last edited by davidbfpo; 12-31-2017 at 08:30 PM. Reason: 148,350v
davidbfpo
War is coming [back] to the cities
Hat tip to WoTR for this article https://warontherocks.com/2018/01/ol...rkeys-war-pkk/ which dissects what happened when the PKK opted to fight in Turkish cities (it has been cross-posted on the Urban Operations thread).
The authors have observations on the wider impact on urban operations, for strategy and operations. Near the end:This dynamic suggests armed groups might choose to target cities even when their chances of military success are slim, that is, if they believe that they can frame the urban battle in ways that will help them achieve their long-term strategic objectives.
Last edited by davidbfpo; 04-28-2018 at 10:26 AM. Reason: 161,042v today
davidbfpo
Eclipse of Turkish Armed Forces
Taken from an article by Hamid Hussain, a SWJ contributor:“In Turkey, we have marriage of Islam and democracy. The child of this marriage is secularism. This child gets sick from time to time. The Turkish armed forces are the doctor which saves the child. Depending on how sick the child is, we administer the necessary medicine to make sure the child recuperates”. General Cevik Bir; former Deputy Chief of General Staff of Turkish army
Turkish Armed Forces (known by the Turkish initials TSK - Turk Silahli Kuvvetleri) have gone through a dramatic change in the last two years. In July 2016, a faction of TSK tried and failed to bring back TSK on the center stage of Turkey. This failed coup attempt was the result of rapidly deteriorating relations between ruling Justice and Development Party (known by its Turkish initials AKP - Adalat ve Kalkinma Partisi) and TSK spanning over fifteen years.
TSK assigned itself the role of the guardian of the state and Kemalist tradition. TSK had a key role in making decisions about national security, economy and foreign relations. Supreme Military Council (known by its Turkish initials YAS – Yuksek Askari Shura) was the instrument used for military’s dominance. Civilian bureaucracy and judiciary dominated by secular elite were junior partners of TSK.
In 1997, TSK forced removal of Islamist Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan what was later called ‘post-modern coup’. In 2000, AKP came to power and its leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan gradually increased his power while avoiding direct conflict with powerful army. There was now conflict between two power centers. AKP didn’t have qualified cadres to control state bureaucracy. Erdogan made an alliance with cleric Fethullah Gulen. Gulen’s organization Hizmet has been focused on excellence in education for three decades. Gulenist sympathizers joined state bureaucracy especially police and judiciary. Repeated electoral successes of AKP with control of legislature combined with penetration of state structure by Gulenist sympathizers strengthened the civilian hand. They now felt confident to confront TSK and snatch back some powers.
Gulenist sympathizers in police and judiciary embarked on an ambitious plan of state restructuring by clipping the wings of TSK. Several former and later serving officers were accused of plotting coups. Hundreds of officers were charged, arrested and prosecuted in two notorious alleged conspiracies; Ergenekon and Balyoz (Sledgehammer). Later, hundreds of officers including high ranking officers were convicted and sentenced to long prison sentences. TSK was gradually losing its internal cohesion due to emergence of various factions. Senior officers lost the confidence of junior officers for failing to protect officer corps from real and imagined conspiracies propagated by pro AKP and pro Gulenist media houses and large-scale arrests of officers.
A group of second and third tier TSK officers decided to strike before Erdogan further clipped TSK wings in upcoming August 2016 YAS meeting. Elements from major army formations, special forces, army headquarters, air force and helicopter pilots and naval officers were involved in the coup attempt. TSK senior brass was not in the loop. Headquarter of coup plotters was at Akinci air force base.
On 15 July afternoon, a helicopter pilot Osman Karaca went to MIT headquarters to warn about impending coup. MIT chief Hakan Fidan informed head of military police and later army chief General Hulusi Akar. General Akar issued orders banning military flights over Turkish air space and prohibited movement of armored vehicles. This upset the original coup launch time of 3 am July 16. Coup plotters moved the time to 8:30 pm July 15. This proved to be a fatal error as streets were bustling and Erdogan was able to rally his supporters. Major General Mehmet Disli of strategic planning branch at General headquarters went to Akar’s office informing him that coup was in motion and asking him to take charge. When angry Akar refused, he was arrested and flown to Akinci air base.
Coup plotters bombed Turkish parliament building and police headquarters. Erdogan made the courageous move of flying back to Istanbul and asking his supporters to come out in streets. Protestors confronted soldiers on the streets. Coup attempt failed in few hours and government forces quickly restored order. Erdogan on landing at Istanbul airport declared that ‘if we accept that everything happens for a reason, then this uprising is a gift from God to us because this will be the reason to cleanse our army’. He truly cleansed the armed forces by sacking and arresting thousands of officers and Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs). Almost half of flag rank officers of Turkish army, air force and navy were sacked.
Deeply suspicious of the army, Erdogan closed all military colleges and academies and transferred several military institutions including hospitals and business interests of TSK to civilian control. To counter military’s coercive power, he has strengthened police special forces, paramilitary forces and civilian intelligence. In Syria, during recent operations against Syrian Kurds, army was used only initially especially tanks but later police special forces and Gendarmerie were deployed on Syrian territory. Erdogan has also expanded the role of private security contractors to fill the security gap. He hired retired Brigadier Adnan Tanriverdi as his military advisor. Adnan was retired in 1997 on suspicion of having Islamist leanings. In 2012, he started a private security firm SADAT.
In the aftermath of the coup, Erdogan had two choices. A transparent trial of accused officers and strict punishments or using failed coup attempt to silence all opposition. Unfortunately, he embarked on the later course with large scale sacking and arrest of not only army personnel but civilian bureaucracy, police and judiciary. In addition, all opposition including Gulenist sympathizers and Kurds are on the receiving end. Hundreds of academics were sacked and many journalists have been arrested and large media houses taken over by the government. This has divided Turkey right in the middle. Half of Turkey hates and other half loves Erdogan. This is a recipe for long term instability. In this environment, it is inevitable that this polarization will affect TSK. It will take more than a decade to restructure TSK on professional grounds while at the same time keep it under civilian control.
davidbfpo
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