Mideast Mirror
June 23, 2010 Wednesday
Message to Erdogan
Turkey has been placed in the position of a country that needs
U.S./Israeli help. And this has occurred via the gateway of the
Turkish army, with all that this implies regarding the renewal of the
rivalry between the army and the ruling Justice and Development [AKP]
party over Turkey’s image at home and abroad. In the Turkish/Israeli
clash over Palestine, Turkey has had it relatively easy. The massive
wave of sympathy for the Palestinians has covered up all internal
splits. By contrast, the current wave Ã? that of hostility to the Kurds
Ã? carries within it the seeds of a domestic split over defining
Turkish interests Ã? Mohammad Ibrahim in Lebanese an-Nahar
Turkey has today emerged as a free and independent country; a
pioneering and leading country that has principles and defends its
values. And because the opponent in this case is Israel, Turkey and
the Erdogan government had to pay the price. The winning card in this
regard was that of Kurdish rebels who Ã? like other secessionist
organizations Ã? are moved by foreign hands that exploit their need for
support to implement their own private schemes and secure their own
private aims Ã? Qatari Asharq
The recent upsurge in attacks in Turkey by the rebel Kurdish Workers’
Party (PKK) appears to be a U.S./Israeli reminder of TurkeyÃ-s
vulnerability for which it needs U.S. and Israeli support, maintains a
Lebanese commentator. The timing and scale of the attacks in
particular indicates that Israeli hands are exploiting the Kurds to
send Recep Tayyip ErdoganÃ-s government a message, claims a Qatari
daily.
FROM ISRAEL TO THE KURDS: “Within a very short period, Turkey has
moved from clashing with Israel to clashing with the Kurds,” writes
Mohammad Ibrahim in Wednesday’s centrist Lebanese daily an-Nahar.
As a result, Turkey’s image seems somewhat contradictory. From leading
the civilian action backed with the state’s authority against an
internationally isolated Israel, we have moved to a somewhat ‘Israeli’
picture of Turkey: Attacks by PKK rebels near the borders with Iraq;
‘serious’ Turkish military casualties by the standard of the
Turkish/Kurdish conflict; subsequent Turkish infiltration into
Northern Iraq in hot pursuit of the terrorists.
While Turkey attempts to impose a new way of viewing Hamas Ã? namely,
as a resistance movement Ã? on the world, it is unrestrainedly using
the same adjectives [to describe the PKK] that Israel usually uses to
describe Hamas.
The only thing missing from this ‘Israeli’ picture of Turkey in
pursuit of the PKK was the statement now provided by Turkish Chief of
Staff General ?lker Ba?bu?, who said: ‘Over the past ten days, we have
been using the Heron system Ã? the surveillance system we bought from
Israel Ã? in Northern Iraq.’ He was referring to the
Israeli-manufactured pilotless drones that constitute a major part of
the pursuit of Kurdish rebels across the borders with Iraq. The same
Ba?bu? said that this pursuit by means of Israeli pilotless drones was
being done ‘in coordination with the Americans.’
In other words, what we have is a full Turkish/U.S./Israeli security
arrangement to help prevent the infiltration of the Iraqi/Turkish
borders by PKK fighters.
It seems, however, that this arrangement has faced some recent
setbacks. The Israeli technical teams that train Turkish crews in the
use of the pilotless drones have left because of the Turkish/Israeli
crisis caused by the ‘Freedom Flotilla.’ Another noteworthy
development was the Turkish armyÃ-s denial of reports that the U.S. had
denied Turkey intelligence information regarding the movements of
Kurdish fighters across the Turkish/Iraqi borders.
To this should be added two other considerations: First, the weighty
U.S. presence in Iraqi Kurdistan, which is the Iraqi entity closest to
the U.S.; second, the historical intelligence link between Israel and
Iraqi Kurdistan.
If we add these two other considerations to what was mentioned above,
it would be difficult to dismiss the recent escalation in the
Kurdish/Turkish confrontation as a mere ‘conspiracy theory.’
Turkey has been placed in the position of a country that needs
U.S./Israeli help. And this has occurred via the gateway of the
Turkish army, with all that this implies regarding the renewal of the
rivalry between the army and the ruling Justice and Development [AKP]
party over Turkey’s image at home and abroad.
In the Turkish/Israeli clash over Palestine, Turkey has had it
relatively easy. The massive wave of sympathy for the Palestinians has
covered up all internal splits. By contrast, the current wave Ã? that
of hostility to the Kurds Ã? carries within it the seeds of a domestic
split over defining Turkish interests.
There will be those who will warn against going too far in clashing
with Israel and, behind it, with the U.S, whether this is attributed
to ‘foreign hands’ in the Kurdish action, or merely the convergence of
Turkish/U.S./Israeli interests over the Kurdish file.
The U.S. has announced its readiness to help Turkey with everything it
requires to confront the ‘terrorism’ it is facing. This announcement
came against the background of a suppressed misunderstanding during
the Turkish/Israeli clash. In fact, it is not unlikely that Israel
will subsequently express similar readiness if the situation in
Southeast Turkey were to develop further.
The Kurds are not the sole vulnerable point of the AKP’s Turkey, which
is seeking to lead the international condemnation of Israel. The
Armenian file is ready to use. Anyone following the activities of U.S.
congressmen would know that preparations are underway to proceed with
a resolution deeming the early 20th century massacre of the Armenians
as a case of genocide, with all the sensitivity this elicits amongst
Turks from all shades of the spectrum.
“In the coming period, influencing the Turkish domestic situation will
be the subject of a ‘debate’ regarding Turkish/Israeli relations, with
the question of U.S./Turkish/relations hovering in the background,”
concludes Ibrahim.
EndÃ?
UNPRECEDENTED ESCALATION: “The sudden and unprecedented escalation of
violence in Turkey by PKK militias Ã? which unilaterally ended a truce
this month Ã? raises more than one eyebrow and poses more than one
question,” writes the editorial in Wednesday’s Qatari daily Asharq.
For one thing, how did this sudden awakening of the slumbering militia
come about, at this level and without any prior warning? For another,
who benefits from these acts of sabotage at this particular time?
Moreover, towards whom should the finger be pointed Ã? domestic hands
or beneficiaries outside Turkey?
What we can glean from the facts, and what seems clear to any
observer, is that this escalation did not come from nowhere. It is
difficult to accept the claim that its timing is innocent. Nor can it
be separated from the attempt to restrain TurkeyÃ-s new inclination to
play a role deemed suitable for Ankara on the international arena,
given Turkey’s political history, geographic location, and military
weight.
This is especially clear after the ‘Freedom Flotilla’ with which
Turkey presented a new face to the world, one that the world was not
accustomed to when it viewed Turkey with condescension, exploiting
that country’s desire to join the EU to dictate terms and impose
positions that are as far as possible from the country’s interests,
views, and independence.
Turkey has today emerged as a free and independent country, a
pioneering and leading country that has principles and defends its
values. And because the opponent in this case is Israel, Turkey and
the Erdogan government had to pay the price. The winning card in this
regard was that of Kurdish rebels who Ã? like other secessionist
organizations Ã? are moved by foreign hands that exploit their need for
support to implement their own private schemes and secure their own
private aims.
We know that the Kurdish rebels have never been weaker than they are
today. There are two reasons for this:
– First, the militias wilted and shriveled when their head was cut off
and the government’s pressures grew stronger after it arrested the
secessionist PKK leader, Abdullah Ocalan. As a result, Ankara found
itself in a stronger position than any time before throughout its
confrontation with this group over a quarter-of-a-century, ever since
the PKK rebellion began in 1984. In fact, the PKK is today classified
as a terrorist organization by both Europe and the U.S.
– Second, the Erdogan government’s policy is to grant the Kurds their
full rights Ã? so much so that the Turkish parliament postponed the
debate of a government plan that aims to end the rebellion after
protests from the opposition parties that accused the government of
submitting to ‘terrorists’ and undermining national unity.
“In light of this, we can quite simply conclude that there are Israeli
hands and other hands friendly to Israel that are at work tampering
with Turkey’s security. These hands are exploiting the rebels, but the
‘rope’ of this exploitation is short,” concludes the daily.
From: A. Papazian