Let's talk Turkey

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Re: Let's talk Turkey

Postby seemslikeadream » Mon Aug 15, 2016 8:42 pm

What’s Happened to America’s Turkish-based nukes?
August 10, 2016
Note by the Saker: the following was sent to me by a person I know but who decided to write under an alias. When I asked my contact how sure he was of his info, he replied: “Well the source in xxxxxxx does have connections (ex-military intelligence) and it is also surely logical that they would. I can do no better than that.” This means that the source is unknown and that the information itself is unsupported by other sources. Normally I would not post such info, but I have had several contact asking me about this and expressing similar hypotheses. Besides, the article does ask the right questions, So I will post it anyway, but please, caveat emptor.

——-

by Balkan Visitor

To which neighbouring country (Russian target) did the Americans hastily ship the majority of their huge nuclear arsenal in Nato’s giant Incirlik Airbase in Turkey? Prime candidates would be either Bulgaria or Kosovo.

Bulgaria had no Russian bases in Soviet times, but now has a number of US ones and is already in increasing danger at a time of growing Cold War 2.0 tensions. If Washington moved nukes into the country without the government’s permission, it would be a display of arrogance that could cost the USA dear.

But to use the huge US base in Kosovo would be to put the weapons just a few miles form major concentrations of armed Jihadists, surely unwise even by Washington’s standards of recklessly or deliberately sending weapons to places from which they are promptly seized by Al Qaeda or ISIS.

And how many of the 90 missiles did they even manage to spirit out of the country before President Erdogan, shocked by the fair-weather (dis)loyalty of his American allies stopped them moving out the rest?

For that was surely the purpose of the mass blockade by 5,000 Turkish nationalists, power cuts, and the sealing off of the whole base by 7,000 heavily armoured Turkish troops.

However many nukes are left, they certainly now form extra bones of contention between Ankara and Washington. This will, on balance, probably move the world’s nuclear Doomsday Clock back a minute, with anything that weakens the Nato encirclement of Russia making Planet Earth a slightly safer place.

Conversely, there is also the outside risk that, if Erdogan really goes into full chimp-out mode, he might send troops in to seize the remaining warheads and turn his spinning top new Ottoman Empire into a nuclear power overnight. Each of the B-61 bombs has a 170 kiloton yield – more than ten times the force of the Bomb which destroyed Hiroshima (incidentally, together with Nagasaki, the city that was home to the most Orthodox Christians in Japan at the time)

Even though it might have problems with also coming up with delivery systems, that really would be the law of Unintended Consequences hitting home in spectacular fashion. Interesting times!
http://thesaker.is/whats-happened-to-am ... sed-nukes/
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Re: Let's talk Turkey

Postby PufPuf93 » Thu Aug 18, 2016 4:17 pm

Interesting article in aftermath of failed coup. The Turkey-USA-NATO relationship seems majorly weakened (and maybe not that well thought out before and after coup by USA). Erdogan is unpredictable. Consider the source.
I could not get the body to copy. Comments at link are worth a glance.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-08-1 ... out-turkey

As Turkey "Considers Military Cooperation" With Russia, US Said To Move Nukes Out
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Re: Let's talk Turkey

Postby stillrobertpaulsen » Wed Aug 31, 2016 8:55 pm

I didn't post this because I particularly agree with the author's analysis, I think it's extremely oversimplified, to say the least. But I posted it since I do agree with the final analysis, that the US should not support Turkey on this, and also because - Turkey invades and occupies Syria?! Funny how I haven't seen that on the CNN website. Guess there must be more important news!

Erdogan's Waterloo: Turkey Invades and Occupies Syria
Supporting Turkey would make the U.S. complicit in Turkey’s land grab.
By David L. Phillips / The Huffington Post
August 30, 2016

The Obama administration has assiduously avoided U.S. military engagement in Syria. President Barack Obama is wary of the pottery barn rule: “You break it, you own it.” Supporting Turkey’s invasion and occupation of Syria would be a strategic mistake, making the United States a protagonist in Syria’s civil war.

Vice President Joe Biden went to Ankara last week on a mission to repair U.S.-Turkey relations. Upon arrival, Biden learned that Turkish Special Forces, tanks, and fighters with the Free Syrian Army (FSA) were invading Syria, targeting Jarablus near the Turkish border.

Biden endorsed Turkey’s “Operation Euphrates Shield.” He also claimed that the U.S. provided air power. However, eye witnesses say no bombs were actually dropped on Jarablus.

Slipping into Syria’s quagmire is not in America’s interest. Nor is being played by Turkey.

Operation Euphrates Shield violates Syria’s sovereignty. Supporting Turkey would make the U.S. complicit in Turkey’s land grab.

Turkey keeps pushing south. It has no intention of relinquishing territory. To justify its presence, Turkey will populate a Syrian enclave for refugees.

Turkey wants a seat at the table of the Geneva peace process. It seeks equal standing with Russia and the United States.

Given Turkey’s sordid history supporting Islamists, it will be more difficult to negotiate an end to Syria’s conflict with Turkish troops on-the-ground.

The Obama administration has been giving weapons and air support to the People’s Protection Forces (YPG), Syrian Kurdish forces numbering 40,000. The PYG is America’s most reliable ally against ISIS. Washington will continue to support the YPG if it fights ISIS east of the Euphrates.

Erdogan abhors U.S. cooperation with the YPG, which he calls a terror group. Erdogan wants the U.S. to make a choice between Turkey and the YPG, but was repeatedly rebuffed.

The Obama administration must be steely-eyed about Turkey’s intentions. Erdogan says the primary purpose of Operation Euphrates Shield is to fight ISIS. This is patently false.

Turkish-backed Islamists never engaged ISIS in the so-called battle for Jarablus. Before invading, Ankara made a deal with the Islamic State. Rather than resist, ISIS forces simply changed into FSA uniforms. Jarablus was “liberated” from ISIS with barely a shot.

Unlike Falluja and other battles where ISIS used civilians as human shields, civilians were evacuated from Jarablus. The Islamic State does not want civilians to identify newly clad FSA members as hard core ISIS fighters.

It is not surprising that Erdogan and ISIS made a deal. ISIS and Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) are ideologically aligned. They are both branches of the Muslim Brotherhood. Despite official denials, there is a mountain of evidence that Turkey provided weapons, money, and logistical support to Islamists in Syria beginning in 2014. Turkey also underwrote the Islamic State by transporting its oil and selling it on the international market. About 500 Islamist fighters are still transiting from Turkey to Syria each month.

According to Erdogan, Euphrates Shield was aimed at the YPG and “terror groups that threaten our country.” Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu pledged that Turkey would “do what is necessary” to keep Kurdish fighters east of the Euphrates River. Turkey announced plans for a safe zone 90 kilometers long and 40 kilometers wide, stretching from Jarablus to Marea, deep into Kurdish controlled territory.

In fact, Turkey is trying to prevent the YPG from establishing a contiguous Kurdish territory that would make Rojava a reality. Erdogan fears that Rojava’s existence will inspire Kurds in Turkey to intensify their demands for greater autonomy.

Erdogan’s hostility towards the Kurds is no secret. He insists that the YPG and PKK are the same, even though the U.S. Government says they are distinct.

It was predictable that Turkey would drop the pretense of fighting ISIS and focus its operation on the PYG. The Obama administration knows what’s going on.

A senior Pentagon official told CNN: “The Turks never cared about Jarablus until the Kurds wanted to get there.” Special Envoy Brett McGurk called Turkey’s targeting of the PYD “unacceptable and a source of deep concern.”

U.S.-Turkish relations were already on the rocks because of Turkey’s wholesale crackdown on oppositionists after the failed coup of July 15. The relationship is further challenged by Turkey’s decision to go after America’s allies in Syria.

Turks are increasingly restless. They welcomed Operation Euphrates Shield, which restored the military’s credibility after the coup. They were told the operation targeted their two nemesis - ISIS and the YPG/PKK. Now Turks are growing concerned about the end game. How long will Turkish troops stay in Syria and what will they accomplish?

The term “October surprise” is used to describe an event just prior to the U.S. presidential election, which is the work of a foreign foe. This time, the October surprise came in August with Turkey’s invasion of Syria.

Obama must guard against manipulation. Providing military and diplomatic support to Turkey’s invasion and occupation creates a conundrum, vexing his successor.

Syria will be Erdogan’s Waterloo. The U.S. Government must not be tethered to Turkey’s sinking ship.
"Huey Long once said, “Fascism will come to America in the name of anti-fascism.” I'm afraid, based on my own experience, that fascism will come to America in the name of national security."
-Jim Garrison 1967
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Re: Let's talk Turkey

Postby seemslikeadream » Sat Nov 26, 2016 10:47 pm

Turkey has weaponized refugees

November 25, 2016, 03:23:23 PM EDT By Adam Button, ForexLive


Erdogan threatens to throw open borders to refugees

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan threatened today to allow a fresh flood of refugees into Europe after the EU Parliament cast a non-binding vote to end suspend talks on the EU entering the bloc.

"You did not keep your word," Erdogan said in a speech.
Image
"You cried out when 50,000 refugees were at the Kapikule border," he said, referring to the border crossing with Bulgaria. "You started asking what you would do if Turkey would open the gates. Look at me - if you go further, those border gates will be open. You should know that."

Turkey had accepted a deal where they would keep migrants in exchange for accelerated talks on joining the EU and $6.3 billion through 2018.

In 2015, before the deal, 750,000 refugees passed through Turkey on the way to Europe. The UN estimates that 2.7 million refugees are in Turkey.

The vote in European Parliament may make no difference but the idea of using a flood of refugees as leverage -- or even as a trump card -- brings the problems of the negotiations into focus. It also highlights one of the many reasons why Britain is headed for the exits.

If Erdogan were to make good on his threat and unleashed a fresh wave of refugees, it would weigh on the euro on concerns that another wave of social problems and costs would break the elites failing grip on power in Europe.



Read more: http://www.nasdaq.com/article/turkey-ha ... z4RAoa5QRK


Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warns Europe that Turkey could open asylum seeker gates
Updated Fri at 3:44pm

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
PHOTO: Tensions are rising between Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and European leaders. (Reuters: Osman Orsal)
RELATED STORY: Two dead after fire breaks out at Greek asylum seeker campRELATED STORY: European MPs call for end to Turkey EU membership talks
MAP: Turkey
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to unleash a new wave of asylum seekers and migrants on Europe after politicians there voted for a temporary halt to Turkey's EU membership negotiations.

Key points:

Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatens "border gates will be opened"
He warns Europe not to forget "the West needs Turkey"
The EU is Turkey's largest trading partner
Europe's deteriorating relations with Turkey, a buffer against the conflicts in Syria and Iraq, are endangering a deal which has helped to significantly reduce an asylum seeker influx which saw more than 1.3 million people arrive in Europe last year.

"You clamoured when 50,000 refugees came to Kapikule, and started wondering what would happen if the border gates were opened," Mr Erdogan said, referring to a Bulgarian border checkpoint where asylum seekers massed last year.

"If you go any further, these border gates will be opened," he told a women's conference, dismissing Thursday's vote in the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

"Neither I nor my people will be affected by these empty threats.

"Don't forget, the West needs Turkey."
In response to Mr Erdogan's comments German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the EU and Turkey must honour their commitments.

"The refugee deal with Turkey, I think, this agreement is in the mutual interest of both sides," Ms Merkel said.

"And that's why we as Europeans must meet our commitments and Turkey must do the same."

The agreement struck in March with Ankara, under which Turkey helps control migration in return for the promise of accelerated EU membership talks and aid, has reduced the influx via Turkey to a trickle.

But its neighbours are still struggling to cope.

Clashes broke out at a camp on the Greek island of Lesbos after a fire killed a woman and a six-year-old child late on Thursday, while Bulgaria said it would extradite hundreds of asylum seekers to their native Afghanistan next month after they clashed with riot police.

The vote by the European Parliament in favour of freezing Turkey's EU accession talks was non-binding and Germany, France and most other EU states back continued engagement, despite their concerns about Turkey's human rights record.

European leaders fear putting at risk Mr Erdogan's cooperation on migration at a time when far-right and anti-immigrant parties have seen their popularity rise, particularly with elections next year in France, Germany and the Netherlands.

'We are the ones who feed 3 million refugees'

Sensing Europe's weakness, Mr Erdogan has repeatedly threatened in recent days that Turkey could "cut its own umbilical cord" and sever ties with the EU, playing migration as his trump card.

But Turkey also needs Europe.

The EU is Turkey's largest trading partner and its 11-year membership negotiations, though long stalled, served in their early years as an important anchor for pro-market reforms and investor confidence.

"Cutting off membership talks would harm both sides. We are aware of this," said Yasin Aktay, a spokesman for the ruling AK Party, which was founded by Mr Erdogan.

"We support the continuing of relations, we know this will benefit us and them.

"But if there is a negative step from the other side, we will not be held responsible for the consequences."

Refugees at a coast guard station in the Turkish coastal town of Dikili
PHOTO: Turkey is home to about 3 million refugees. (Reuters: Murad Sezer)
Mr Erdogan is riding a wave of nationalist sentiment after a failed military coup in July, and his emotional criticism of Europe plays well to a domestic audience angered by what it saw as lacklustre Western support for Turkey after the attempt.

The European Parliament voted for freezing talks because of what it saw as Turkey's "disproportionate" reaction to the coup.

More than 125,000 people accused of links to the plotters, from soldiers and judges to journalists and doctors, have been dismissed or detained over the past four months.

"There are millions of migrant babies across the world ... but no step is being taken. What step is being taken? Debating whether or not Turkey should be in the EU," Mr Erdogan said.

"We are the ones who feed 3 million refugees. You have not even kept your promises."

Turkey is home to the world's largest refugee population, housing some 2.7 million Syrians and 300,000 Iraqis.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-11-26/e ... es/8060120



[I]n Turkey, officials including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a religiously conservative Muslim, demanded that Mr. Trump’s name be removed from Trump Tower in Istanbul after he called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States. More recently, after Mr. Trump came to the defense of Mr. Erdogan — suggesting that he had the right to crack down harshly on dissidents after a failed coup — the calls for action against Trump Towers have stopped, fueling worries that Mr. Trump’s policies toward Turkey might be shaped by his commercial interests.”
http://theslot.jezebel.com/new-york-tim ... 1789388733
Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started.
They could still get him out of office.
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Re: Let's talk Turkey

Postby elfismiles » Tue Nov 29, 2016 11:23 am

I’ve been threatened for exposing Turkish state terror ties
But that comes with the job
by Nafeez Ahmed
https://medium.com/insurge-intelligence ... 02e67ca8be
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Re: Let's talk Turkey

Postby seemslikeadream » Sat Dec 17, 2016 7:36 am

Big chill
Turkey's relationship with the EU is worse than ever

By Tim Hume on Dec 15, 2016
As European Union leaders met in Brussels on Thursday for their final summit of the year, one topic was likely at the forefront of discussions: What to do about Turkey?

Relations with the bloc’s powerful Eurasian neighbor, which has long sought to become the first majority-Muslim country to join the union, have sunk to a new low at a time when cooperation has never been more critical. A bitter standoff is developing between Ankara and Brussels, throwing the hard-fought refugee deal between the parties into a state of uncertainty.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has threatened to cancel the agreement if European leaders don’t follow through on a pledge to allow visa-free travel into Europe’s Schengen zone for Turkish nationals. And on Thursday he continued his tough talk, saying Turkey would have back-up plans in the event the long-stalled deal falls apart.

But European politicians say the visa liberalization can’t take place until Turkey meets a number of democratic “benchmarks” — including rewriting anti-terror laws — and have threatened to stall EU accession talks in protest of Erdoğan’s authoritarian post-coup crackdown.

“The EU-Turkey relationship is increasingly fickle, challenging, and it’s only heading south,” said Fadi Hakura, an analyst at Chatham House, a U.K.-based think tank.

“We’re seeing the language of cooperation and coexistence increasingly being replaced by aggressive, robust rhetoric by both sides. There are growing frustrations, miscommunication and mistrust.”

The European Parliament has threatened to freeze EU accession talks with Turkey

EU leaders are meeting just weeks after the European Parliament overwhelmingly voted in favor of a nonbinding resolution to freeze negotiations with Turkey on joining the 28-member union, a process that began in 2005.

The largely symbolic resolution was passed to protest what it described as Ankara’s “disproportionate repressive measures” following July’s failed coup attempt. Erdoğan has launched a wide-ranging and ever-growing crackdown on perceived enemies of the state, leading to the detention of more than 36,000 people.

The move drew a furious response from Turkey’s president, who threatened to unleash a flood of illegal migrants across Europe’s borders in retaliation.

“If you go any further, these border gates will be opened,” he said in a speech in late November. “Do not forget: The West needs Turkey.”

The breakthrough migration deal is yet to be fully implemented

Hanging in the balance is the landmark deal struck between Brussels and Ankara in March, which has helped to turn off the tap on surging migration from Turkey, a major transit point for African and Middle Eastern refugees and migrants, into the EU.

The deal has drastically cut migration along the major Eastern Mediterranean route from Turkey to Greece. While 885,000 people used the route in 2015, only 180,000 did so in the first 11 months of this year, according to Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency.

The core tenets of the deal came into effect in March, leading to a marked reduction in the numbers of migrants crossing into Greece, in return for €3 billion from the EU toward Turkey’s costs of caring for the nearly 3 million registered refugees on its soil.

Visaless travel for Turks for up to 90 days in the Schengen zone was supposed to have been introduced by June. But the measure has stalled as Turkey has failed to meet all of the 72 “benchmarks” specified by the EU for the proposal, most notably the reworking of anti-terror laws, according to an EU official. In response, Erdoğan has stalled on signing off on a readmission agreement that would allow non-Turkish nationals illegally in Europe to be sent back to Turkey.

Talks over the migration deal are in limbo

As a result, the deal now exists “in a sort of stalemate,” said Hakura, kept alive by sheer political will on both sides. “I think the deal will continue in a state of limbo because neither side has any overwhelming interest to rupture it,” he said. “There are too many interlocking interests, from security to economic matters.”

Hakura believes that, unlike when the deal was originally signed, the EU now has the upper hand in the relationship — making sure an improved border and maritime protections are in place to deal with any future influx of migrants. And Turkey is facing economic problems, including a dramatically depreciating currency, that would make preserving an economic relationship with the EU that much more important.

Similarly, the European Parliament’s symbolic but nonbinding resolution to freeze Turkey’s accession negotiations was little more than an expression of frustration at Turkey — and one that merely reflected the true status of the talks, Hakura said.

“In reality, the accession process has been at standstill since negotiations started in 2005,” he said. “The likelihood of Turkey ever joining the EU is extremely remote – I would go so far as to say practically zero.”

The migration deal looks set to be kept alive on similarly flimsy grounds, for a while at least — although Hakura said its prospects do not look healthy in the long term. “Ultimately, this kind of deal cannot be sustained if both sides are at cross-purposes.”
https://news.vice.com/story/turkeys-rel ... -than-ever
Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started.
They could still get him out of office.
But instead, they want mass death.
Don’t forget that.
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Re: Let's talk Turkey

Postby seemslikeadream » Sat Dec 31, 2016 8:59 pm

Istanbul Reina nightclub attack 'leaves 35 dead'

At least 35 people have lost their lives in an attack on a nightclub in Istanbul, the city's governor has said.
Among the dead is one police officer, Vasip Sahin stated, adding that it was a terror attack.
At least another 40 were injured in the attack which took place in the Reina nightclub, in the Ortakoy area, at about 01:30 local time (23:30 GMT).
One attacker was involved, the governor said, while CNN Turk reported he was dressed in a Santa Claus costume.
"A terrorist with a long-range weapon ... brutally and savagely carried out this incident by firing bullets on innocent people who were there solely to celebrate the New Year and have fun," Mr Sahin told reporters at the scene of the upmarket Reina nightclub, which sits on the banks of Bosphorus in the city's European side.

At least 40 people were injured in the attack
There were reportedly as many as 700 people in the nightclub at the time of the attack, some of whom are believed to have jumped into the river to escape.
Dogan news agency reported that some witnesses claimed the attackers were "speaking Arabic" while Turkish television channel NTV said special force police officers were searching the nightclub.
Istanbul was already on high alert with some 17,000 police officers on duty in the city, following a string of terror attacks in recent months.
Many were carried out by so-called Islamic State (IS) or Kurdish rebels.

Ambulances queue up outside the nightclub
Less than a fortnight ago, the Russian ambassador, Andrei Karlov, was shot dead by off-duty Turkish policeman Mevlut Mert Altintas as he gave a speech in the capital Ankara in December.
After the shooting, the killer shouted the murder was in revenge for Russian involvement in the conflict in the Syrian city of Aleppo.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38481521



Istanbul terror attack: 35 killed as gunman 'dressed as Santa' opens fire at nightclub in Turkey
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/12 ... ub-turkey/


owner of night club says he had been warned by U.S. State department in the last 10 days of increased threat of terrorist attack

info came from street level talk

attacker still in the night club
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Re: Let's talk Turkey

Postby seemslikeadream » Thu Jan 05, 2017 12:44 pm

CBS/AP January 5, 2017, 9:03 AM
Deadly bomb blast, shootout near Turkish courthouse

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/izmir-turke ... r-suspect/
Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started.
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Re: Let's talk Turkey

Postby seemslikeadream » Thu Jan 05, 2017 5:12 pm

Could Erdoğan be losing his grip on a dangerous, divided Turkey?
By contributors | Jan. 5, 2017 |

By Alpaslan Ozerdem and Bahar Baser | (The Conversation) | – –
Turkey’s New Year was marred by a terrorist attack, claimed by the so-called Islamic State (IS), that killed 39 people and injured many more at a famous nightclub in Istanbul. After nearly two years of deadly incidents and alarming political instability, Turks were once again left counting the dead – and wondering how much more their country can take.
In the last 18 months, Turkey has seen 33 bomb attacks that have claimed 446 lives, 363 of them civilians. Some commentators even claim that low-level terror is now almost the norm in Turkey.
To make things more complicated still, the latest attack comes only six months after a bizarre failed coup, undoubtedly one of the most significant events in Turkey’s modern history.
The coup’s planners had little public support, and opposition leaders have also constantly underlined that it would have been a tragedy if it had succeeded. So, the aftermath was a huge opportunity for Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Turkish president, and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to correct the country’s disturbing course: to restore trust between various ethnic and religious communities, to start a new peace process with the Kurds after the last one failed in 2015, and to bring greater democracy to the country.
But instead of trying to put Turkey back on the right track, the AKP government has done quite the opposite.
Divide and rule

The post-putsch period has brought chaos and enmity as well as a total crackdown on groups and individuals, including academics, journalists, teachers, lawyers and judges. Some of them were supposedly linked to the followers of exiled religious leader Fethullah Gülen, while others support different opposition groups.
This sort of authoritarianism has been brewing in Turkey for some time, especially since the elections of June 2015 failed to hand the AKP a ruling parliamentary majority. There followed an increased level of political violence and terrorism for a period of four months, enough to convince Turkish voters that without an AKP majority, there would be no end to the bloodshed the country was witnessing. After campaigning on that basis for a re-run of the June elections, Erdoğan won the majority he so badly wanted – but the result did nothing for peace and security.
The coup attempt was the next critical turning point. Erdoğan himself called it “a gift from God” that enabled the rulers of “New Turkey” to shore up their power with ever harsher policies. Only five days after the attempted coup, the AKP government declared a state of emergency; it was originally scheduled to last three months, but was then extended until mid-April 2017. It has become a useful tool for the government, which is still using the failed putsch as an pretext to crack down on opposition.
Rather than downplaying the divisions among different ethnic and religious groups in Turkey in the post-putsch period, the ruling party and the president are deepening the country’s many divisions, all the while assisted by the mainstream media. They are creating a fractured political environment which will enable them to promote constitutional amendments, in the long run presenting Erdoğan’s long-held dream of an executive presidential system as the only thing that can bring Turkey back from the brink.
But the strategy may yet backfire.
On the brink

In the broadest sense, the country’s social and political order has proven remarkably resilient in the face of terrorism, disasters and civil unrest, but it is now under more pressure than ever. Despite the strictures of the state of emergency, Turkey clearly remains vulnerable to terrorist attacks.
The violence of the last few years has so far boosted Erdoğan’s already strong public support, with many Turks trusting him to keep them safe – but with fear and uncertainty is on the rise.
Erdoğan is feeling pressure on various fronts. For example, IS recently released a video in December purporting to show two Turkish soldiers being burned alive in Syria; the authorities could not give a satisfactory answer on whether the claim was actually true. Then the Russian ambassador was assassinated by a Turkish policeman in the capital city, sending a message that no-one in Turkey is really safe. The continuing insecurity is already devouring the tourism sector, tanking the Lira, and undercutting the economy in general (with exports in particular on the wane).
All this will make it increasingly hard for the AKP to consolidate its voter base. The government seems incapable of safeguarding the basic conditions of security and stability, and if IS and other groups mount further attacks like the one on New Year’s Eve, indecisive voters might actually start to move towards other political parties. The very insecurity that helped Erdoğan strengthen his power base could yet be his downfall.
The Conversation
Alpaslan Ozerdem, Chair in Peace-Building, Co-Director of Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations, Coventry University and Bahar Baser, Research Fellow, Coventry University
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

http://www.juancole.com/2017/01/erdogan ... vided.html
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They could still get him out of office.
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Re: Let's talk Turkey

Postby American Dream » Tue Feb 07, 2017 2:16 pm

TURKEY’S THIRTY-YEAR COUP
Did an exiled cleric try to overthrow Erdoğan’s government?

By Dexter Filkins


http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/ ... -year-coup
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Re: Let's talk Turkey

Postby seemslikeadream » Tue May 02, 2017 2:27 pm

Trump sends US Troops to Patrol Turkish-Syrian Border as Ankara Threatens US Allies
By Juan Cole | May. 1, 2017 |

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – –
Only one fighting force in Syria is practically speaking taking on Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) on the ground, and that is the Syrian Democratic Forces, the bulk of whose fighters are leftist Kurds of the “People’s Protection Units” (YPG). They are joined by some rural Arab clans of Syria’s northeast, but I think the US Pentagon exaggerates the number of Arabs involved. The SDF is mostly Kurds, i.e. it is mostly YPG.
This weekend, the YPG fighters made another advance against Daesh, in the small town of Tabaqah due east of the Daesh capital, al-Raqqa. Tabaqah probably had a population of about 80,000 in 2011 when the Syrian civil war began.
The SDF announced that they had made enormous progress in Tabaqa, a strategic town that is key to controlling the biggest dam in Syria. The campaign there is called “Euphrates Fury,” which aims at liberating the town’s population from Daesh/ ISIL.
Communiques from the YPG claimed that they had almost completely taken the town by Sunday evening (yesterday), with the exception of a handful of villages in the

The YPG says that after Tabaqah is properly subdued, they hope to go on to Raqqa and take down the so-called ISIL “caliphate.”
Ironically, even as the YPG fighters were putting their lives on the line to take a key town away from Daesh, Turkey was threatening them.
On Daesh, Turkey hasn’t been all that interested, despite having been the victim of several Daesh bombings. Ankara has its eye instead on Kurdish separatism in Turkey itself, and fears a successful Syrian Kurdish mini-state could give Turkish Kurds ideas.
As I wrote for The Nation last Friday, last week Turkey bombed YPG positions and killed over 20 fighters (i.e. over 20 allies of the 500 US special operations personnel on the ground in Syria). Turkey views the YPG as a branch of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and thus as a terrorist organization. The United States government disagrees and has a close battlefield alliance with the Kurds against Daesh.
So Trump had to order US military personnel up to the Turkish-Syrian border to put themselves between the Turkish troops and the Syrian YPG. The US military is now protecting the YPG with its own bodies, from a NATO ally.
Turkey is nevertheless threatening to hit the YPG “at night and without warning.”
The Anadolu Agency is reporting that
“Ankara is gravely concerned by photos of U.S. soldiers attending the funerals of YPG terrorists in the wake of Turkish airstrikes against PKK/YPG targets in Syria and northern Iraq, said Turkey’s president Sunday.
“We are seriously concerned to see U.S. flags in a convoy that has YPG rags on it. We will mention these issues to President [Donald Trump] during our visit to the United States on May 16 . . .”
So there you have it. Trump is in the position of trying to separate and make peace among two American allies, one of them a major military power and NATO member, the other a rag tag band of leftist Kurds. In the meantime, it is the ragtag band that is advancing on ISIL in Raqqa.
—-
Related video:
Al Jazeera English: “Turkey threatens further strikes on US-allied Syrian Kurds”
https://www.juancole.com/2017/05/troops ... atens.html
Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started.
They could still get him out of office.
But instead, they want mass death.
Don’t forget that.
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Re: Let's talk Turkey

Postby seemslikeadream » Tue Aug 08, 2017 11:14 am

Is Turkey on brink of Invading Syrian Kurds, US BFF?
By contributors | Aug. 8, 2017 |

TeleSur | – –
The Turkish Armed Forces are massing on the Syrian border days after a reshuffle of top brass in the country’s military in anticipation of a potential invasion that could dramatically complicate Syria’s ongoing civil war.
Kurdish militia backed by U.S. forces are currently taking part in an assault against the Islamic State group in their Syrian stronghold Raqqa. Turkey accuses the militia, known as the YPG, of being a “terrorist” group tied to the Turkey-based Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, against whom Turkey has waged a decades-long counterinsurgency campaign.
There have been regular exchanges of rocket and artillery fire in recent weeks between Turkish forces and YPG fighters who control part of Syria’s northwestern border. On Monday morning, the YPG official website released video of its fighters firing an anti-tank guided missile system, or ATGM, at a tank belonging to the “terrorist groups under the Turkish army’s command” — a reference to Turkish-backed Free Syria Army fighters — near the city of Azaz, Syria. Other footage showed YPG forces firing multiple rocket launcher systems at FSA targets.
Recent clashes have centered around the Arab towns of Tal Rifaat and Minnigh, near Afrin, which are held by the Kurdish YPG and allied fighters. However, the YPG’s release of a video showing the deployment of an ATGM system is controversial, especially because the White House approved the arming of the group in May despite protests from the Turkish government.
Turkey, which has the second largest army in NATO after the United States, reinforced the northwestern section of the border over the weekend with artillery and tanks, and Erdogan said Turkey was ready to take action.
“We are determined to extend the dagger we have put into the heart of the terror entity project … with new moves,” Erdogan said in a speech on Saturday in the eastern town of Malatya.
“We would rather pay the price for spoiling plans against our future and liberty in Syria and Iraq rather than on our own soil,” he added, referring to the YPG in Syria and PKK bases in Iraq. “Soon we will take new and important steps.”
Erdogan’s comments follow the appointment of three new leaders of Turkey’s army, air force and navy last week — moves which analysts and officials said were at least partly aimed at preparing for any campaign against the YPG militia.
“With this new structure, some steps will be taken to be more active in the struggle against terror,” an anonymous Turkish government source told Reuters. “A structure that acts according to the realities of the region will be formed”.
The battle for Raqqa has been underway since June, and a senior U.S. official said Friday that 2,000 Islamic State fighters are believed to be still defending positions and “fighting for every last block” in the city. Even after the recapture of Raqqa, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has left open the possibility of longer-term American assistance to the YPG.
Turkey, however, has adopted an increasingly angry tone in public communications with its NATO partners, raising fears in Washington of a potential split in the organization.
Last month, Turkey’s official Anadolu Agency wire service published a detailed map revealing the locations of U.S. airports, military bases, and personnel in Syria in the Raqqa countryside. While the Pentagon complained that the release jeopardizes U.S.-led coalition efforts, Ankara was likely nonplussed by the complaint in light of their view that Washington is colluding with forces who pose a terrorist threat to Turkish national security.
In July, Erdogan noted that Turkey had reached the final stage of negotiations with Russia for the acquisition of Russia’s S-400 air defense system, which is inconsistent with NATO’s treaty-wide air defense network.
via TeleSur
——-
Related video added by Juan Cole:
Press TV: “Erdogan to wage new war against Kurds”
https://www.juancole.com/2017/08/turkey ... yrian.html


Report: Turkey begins building border wall with Iran
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ISTANBUL — Aug 8, 2017, 8:09 AM ET

A Turkish media report says Turkey has begun construction of a wall along the country's frontier with Iran, mimicking the Turkish barrier along the Syrian border.

The private Dogan news agency said the governor of Agri province, Suleyman Elban, inspected the construction of the security wall on Tuesday. The Turkish authorities are constructing the 2-meter wide, 3-meter high barrier with portable blocks, the report said.

Turkey is building the wall along parts of the Iranian border to boost its security by halting the infiltrations of Kurdish militants and illegal smugglers.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced in January plans to build a wall along its borders with Iraq and Iran, similar to the one currently being erected along the 911-kilometer (566-mile) frontier with Syria.
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wir ... n-49091539
Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started.
They could still get him out of office.
But instead, they want mass death.
Don’t forget that.
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Re: Let's talk Turkey

Postby seemslikeadream » Thu Oct 12, 2017 10:14 pm

The man at the crux of the U.S.-Turkey dispute is about to go on trial

By David Ignatius
October 12, 2017 at 8:03 PM

At the center of the increasingly bitter dispute between the United States and Turkey is a demand by an irate President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that American prosecutors free a Turkish-Iranian gold dealer who is about to go on trial on money-laundering and fraud charges.

The confrontation sharpened Thursday, as Erdogan protested in Ankara that the businessman, Reza Zarrab, was being squeezed as a "false witness" about corruption. Turkey alarmed Washington by arresting a U.S. consular official last week, in what some U.S. officials feared was an attempt to gain leverage for Zarrab's release before the scheduled Nov. 27 start of his trial in New York. Turkish and American officials plan to meet next week for talks to ease tensions.

What dirt could Zarrab dish in court? A possible preview comes in a May 2016 court filing by then-U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. Citing a December 2013 Turkish prosecutor's report, Bharara's memo said the Turkish evidence "describes a massive bribery scheme executed by Zarrab and others, paying cabinet-level governmental officials and high-level bank officers tens of millions of Euro and U.S. dollars to facilitate Zarrab's network's transactions for the benefit of Iran" to evade U.S. sanctions against that country. Bharara's memo noted that these "conclusions are corroborated by emails obtained through the FBI's investigation."

Erdogan's campaign to free Zarrab has been extraordinary. He demanded his release as well as the firing of Bharara in a private meeting with then-Vice President Joe Biden on Sept. 21, 2016, in which U.S. officials say half the 90-minute conversation was devoted to Zarrab. Erdogan's wife pleaded the case that night to Jill Biden. Turkey's then-justice minister, Bekir Bozdag, visited then-Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch in October to argue that the case was "based on no evidence" and that Zarrab should be released.

Erdogan appealed personally about the matter in his last two phone calls with President Barack Obama, in December and early January, former aides say. "Our operating assumption was that Erdogan's obsession with the case was that if it moved forward, information would come out that would damage his family, and ultimately him," said one former senior Obama official.

Erdogan's government began cultivating Donald Trump's team before the election. Michael Flynn, then a campaign aide, was hired as a pro-Turkey lobbyist, and his firm continued to receive Turkish money during the transition. After Flynn resigned as national security adviser in February, the Turks began working with Rudy Giuliani, a close Trump adviser.

The case is toxic to Erdogan because it intersects with his nemesis, the self- ­exiled Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania. Erdogan blames Gulen's followers for gathering and leaking the 2013 evidence about Zarrab, which Turkish media reports say included allegations against Erdogan's family. When Erdogan met with Biden a year ago, he claimed bizarrely that Bharara was a Gulenist tool, according to a former official.

Giuliani's involvement is one of the many unusual aspects of this case. He contacted Bharara on Feb. 24 to inform him that he planned to travel to Ankara on Zarrab's behalf. Trump fired Bharara in March; around that time, Giuliani began pressing the Justice Department for "some agreement between the United States and Turkey" to aid American "security interests" and help Zarrab, Giuliani said in a filing with the court.

Despite these various attempts to halt the prosecution, the case rolled forward — and even broadened in an expanded indictment last month that named a former Turkish cabinet minister and three other prominent Turks. Then- ­Justice Minister Bozdag on Sept. 11 condemned the expanded charges as another "coup attempt." Erdogan sees Gulenist plotting behind the 2013 allegations against his inner circle and a failed July 2016 military coup.

Erdogan may have hoped that Trump would support his push to free Zarrab. And Trump initially seemed sympathetic to the Turkish leader, inviting him to Washington for a May meeting. But that visit was marred when Erdogan's security detail attacked protesters outside the Turkish ambassador's residence; and Trump's maneuvering room has narrowed because of investigations surrounding his administration.

Some U.S. officials fear that Erdogan might be seeking bargaining chips in the detention of pastor Andrew Brunson, arrested a year ago on charges he backed Gulen, and the arrest last week of Metin Topuz, a longtime employee of the U.S. consulate in Istanbul, who a Turkish newspaper has alleged was in contact with a pro-Gulen prosecutor back in 2013. And Erdogan himself suggested last month a trade of Brunson for Gulen.

The phrase "NATO ally" is repeated so often about Turkey that it obscures how adversarial and autocratic recent Turkish actions have been. Washington is worried about what's next.

Twitter: @IgnatiusPost
https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/ ... story.html
Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started.
They could still get him out of office.
But instead, they want mass death.
Don’t forget that.
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Re: Let's talk Turkey

Postby seemslikeadream » Thu Oct 12, 2017 10:53 pm

seemslikeadream » Thu Sep 07, 2017 8:38 am wrote:Superseding Indictment Further Alleges that Nine Defendants Conspired to Lie to U.S. Government Officials About International Financial Transactions for the Government of Iran and Used the U.S. Financial System to Launder Bribes Paid to Conceal the Scheme

U.S. Attorneys » Southern District of New York » News » Press Releases

Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Southern District of New York
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, September 6, 2017
Former Turkish Minister Of The Economy, Former General Manager Of Turkish Government-Owned Bank, And Two Other Individuals Charged With Conspiring To Evade U.S. Sanctions Against Iran And Other Offenses

Superseding Indictment Further Alleges that Nine Defendants Conspired to Lie to U.S. Government Officials About International Financial Transactions for the Government of Iran and Used the U.S. Financial System to Launder Bribes Paid to Conceal the Scheme

Joon H. Kim, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Dana Boente, the Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security, William F. Sweeney Jr., the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced today the filing of a superseding Indictment charging MEHMET ZAFER CAGLAYAN, a/k/a “Abi,” SULEYMAN ASLAN, LEVENT BALKAN, and ABDULLAH HAPPANI with conspiring to use the U.S. financial system to conduct hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of transactions on behalf of the Government of Iran and other Iranian entities, which were barred by United States sanctions; lying to U.S. government officials about those transactions; laundering funds in connection with those illegal transactions, including millions of dollars in bribe payments to CAGLAYAN, ASLAN, and others used to facilitate the scheme; and defrauding several financial institutions by concealing the true nature of these transactions. The superseding Indictment further alleges that CAGLAYAN’s co-defendants – REZA ZARRAB, a/k/a “Riza Sarraf,” MEHMET HAKAN ATILLA, MOHAMMAD ZARRAB, a/k/a “Can Sarraf,” a/k/a “Kartalsmd,” CAMELIA JAMSHIDY, a/k/a “Kamelia Jamshidy,” and HOSSEIN NAJAFZADEH, who previously were charged in this case with the same offenses – participated in the same overarching scheme to violate and evade prohibitions against Iran’s access to the U.S. financial system. The case is assigned to United States District Judge Richard M. Berman.

REZA ZARRAB was arrested on March 19, 2016, and ATILLA was arrested on March 27, 2017. REZA ZARRAB and ATILLA are scheduled to begin trial on October 30, 2017, before Judge Berman. CAGLAYAN, ASLAN, BALKAN, HAPPANI, MOHAMMAD ZARRAB, JAMSHIDY, and NAJAFZADEH remain at large.

According to the allegations contained in the superseding Indictment filed today in Manhattan federal court[1]:

The scheme functioned largely by using the Turkish government-owned bank (“Turkish Bank-1”) at which ASLAN was the General Manager, ATILLA was the Deputy General Manager of International Banking, and BALKAN was an Assistant Deputy Manager for International Banking, to engage in transactions that violated U.S. sanctions against Iran. The defendants used Turkish Bank-1 to facilitate REZA ZARRAB’s ability to use his network of companies to supply currency and gold to the Government of Iran, Iranian entities, and SDNs using Turkish Bank-1, while concealing Turkish Bank-1’s role in the violation of U.S. sanctions from regulators. HAPPANI was an employee of REZA ZARRAB’s and assisted him in operating the scheme through this network of companies. CAGLAYAN, who was serving as Minister of the Economy in Turkey at all times relevant to the Superseding Indictment, received tens of millions of dollars’ worth of bribes in cash and jewelry from the proceeds of the scheme to provide services to the Government of Iran and to conceal those services from U.S. government officials. Using his position as Minister of the Economy, CAGLAYAN directed other members of the scheme, including officers of Turkish Bank-1, to engage in certain types of deceptive transactions, approved the steps taken by other members to implement the scheme, and protected the scheme from competitors as well as from scrutiny. As a result of this scheme, the co-conspirators induced U.S. banks to unknowingly process international financial transactions in violation of the IEEPA.

* * *

CAGLAYAN, 59, is a resident and citizen of Turkey. REZA ZARRAB, 33, is a resident of Turkey and dual citizen of Turkey and Iran. ASLAN, 47, ATILLA, 47, BALKAN, 56, and HAPPANI, 42, are residents and citizens of Turkey. MOHAMMAD ZARRAB, 39, is REZA ZARRAB’s brother and is a resident of Turkey and dual citizen of Turkey and Iran. JAMSHIDY, 31, is a resident of Turkey and dual citizen of Turkey and Iran. NAJAFZADEH, 67, is a resident of Iran and the UAE and a citizen of Iran. Each defendant is charged with conspiracies to defraud the United States, to violate the IEEPA, to commit bank fraud, and to commit money laundering, as well as substantive counts of bank fraud and money laundering. The conspiracy to defraud the United States count carries a maximum term of imprisonment of five years. The conspiracy to violate the IEEPA, money laundering conspiracy, and substantive money laundering counts each carry a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years. The bank fraud counts each carry a maximum term of imprisonment of 30 years. The maximum potential sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by the judge.

Mr. Kim praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI and its New York Field Office, Counterintelligence Division, and the Department of Justice, National Security Division, Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.
The prosecution of this case is being handled by the Office’s Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Michael D. Lockard, Sidhardha Kamaraju, and David W. Denton, Jr., and Special Assistant United States Attorney Dean C. Sovolos, are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance from Trial Attorneys Elizabeth Cannon and David Recker of the Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.
The charges contained in the superseding Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the superseding Indictment, and the description of the superseding Indictment set forth herein, constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.


Image

Why Giuliani Held a Secret Meeting With Turkey’s Leader
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/20/nyre ... ml?mcubz=0



Judge Seeks to Clarify Rudy Giuliani’s Role on Gold Trader’s Team
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/28/nyre ... ml?mcubz=0



A Mysterious Case Involving Turkey, Iran, and Rudy Giuliani
https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-des ... y-giuliani


Judge: Giuliani, Mukasey Are Dismissive Of Charges Against Turkish Businessman They Represent
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2017/05/02/ ... an-zarrab/


Rudy Giuliani, the jailed Turkish gold trader and the secret meeting with Erdogan
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/u ... -1.3056527


Feds accuse Giuliani of undermining officials in Turkish banker case
http://nypost.com/2017/03/31/feds-accus ... nker-case/


A judge wants Rudy Giuliani to disclose who's paying him in Iran sanctions case
The former mayor has teamed up with ex-U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey to defend Turkish businessman Reza Zarrab

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20 ... -sanctions


Rudy W. Giuliani: Defending an Iranian Sanctions Evader
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/rud ... 5a227cb6cf



Rudy Giuliani Swears He Held A Secret Meeting With Turkey’s Dictator
Image
Left: Turkish President Erdogan, Middle: Alleged felon Reza Zarrab, Right: Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s “Cyber Czar”
Rudy Giuliani just swore to a federal judge that he has violated the Logan Act while representing a client in New York, who is accused of violating sanctions against Iran.
It seems an obvious attempt to circumvent the federal legal process, and involves the Republican former-Mayor playing diplomat.
Federal law prohibits US citizens from conducting any private foreign policy with a government with which America has a dispute, under the Logan Act.
Trump named Giuliani as his “Cyber Czar” in January, but no further reports indicate the job’s duties or work products or if the position exists anywhere outside news reports.
The former New York Mayor tried to cut a deal with Turkey’s dictator in a secret meeting held in February, which he intimates was to exchange an Iranian-Turkish citizen accused of criminally violating American economic sanctions against Iran for something of value to the United States.
Rudy Giuliani admitted holding the secret meeting with Turkish dictator Recep Tayyip Erdogan, along with ex-Bush attorney general Mike Mukasey, in an extraordinary attempt to move the criminal case in a New York federal court against a Turkish gold trader into the diplomatic arena.
The New York Times reports:
The purpose of the visit by Mr. Giuliani and Mr. Mukasey was rather extraordinary: They hoped to reach a diplomatic deal under which Turkey might further aid the United States’ interests in the region. In return, the United States might release the two men’s client, Reza Zarrab, a Turkish gold trader being held in a Manhattan jail whose case had attracted Mr. Erdogan’s interest.
Ironically, the sworn statements were only filed, because federal prosecutors noticed that Giuliani’s firm, and the Bush-era former attorney general Mike Mukasey had previously represented the banks who are victims of the crime, and notified the judge of the obvious legal conflict of interest.
The Turkish trader’s lawyers told the federal judge presiding over the felony trial that Giuliani and Mukasey’s work “would not require them to appear in court” in an attempt to keep the matter under wraps.
But he judge required Rudy Giuliani and Mukasey to explain themselves and released their sworn statements, which are embedded below.
Both lawyers claim that the defendant Zarrab is paying their bills, and not the Turkish state.
If the Turkish state were in any way involved with sponsoring Zarrab’s defense, the lawyers could be forced to register as Foreign Agents themselves.
The affidavits filed show that Giuliani firm Greenberg Traurig employs a Turkish Foreign Agent named Robert Mangas, who is lawfully registered under FARA to represent their Ambassador to the United States.
That places Giuliani’s firm Greenberg Traurig effectively on the side of Turkey in this dispute, even though Rudy purports to represent Zarrab.
Even more bizarre, two private lawyers then obtained a State Department briefing before meeting with Turkish President Erdogan and as they stated under oath to the court, their efforts were more or less diplomatic in nature and not legal representation in the normal sense of the word.
The Times also reported that Turkey’s Foreign Minister complained to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson about former Obama appointee Preet Bharara’s job performance as a US Attorney, just a couple of weeks after Trump removed him from office, reversing an earlier public decision to keep the highly regarded attorney in place:
The subject of Mr. Zarrab came up again three weeks ago during a visit to Ankara, Turkey, by Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson. During that visit, Turkey’s foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, accused Preet Bharara, then the United States attorney in Manhattan, whose office first charged Mr. Zarrab, of being a pawn of anti-Turkish forces. Mr. Bharara, who was fired by President Trump last month, had characterized Mr. Cavusoglu’s remarks as “political propaganda.”
Preet Bharara responded to the revelation that Giuliani had undertaken a diplomatic mission outside of government service on Twitter with a finger-wagging statement, which is polite legalese for “this stinks.”

Turkey’s authoritarian ruler even harangued former-VP Joe Biden last year at a UN meeting over the Zarrab case, so plainly there is a diplomatic dispute over this case.
Ever since the 9/11 terror attacks Rudy Giuliani has traded on his fame obtained through government service to transform himself into an international oil and gas lawyer, a security consultant and apparently now, a freelance diplomat for hire.
Giuliani’s client list includes nearly all of the major players in the Trump Russia dossier, and his giddy, pre-election interviews admitting foreknowledge about the FBI’s role in last year’s election have raised numerous red flags.
Trump’s former surrogate and Muslim Ban advisor is playing hard and fast with legal ethics, and now too with one of the earliest laws Congress passed to delegate diplomatic power exclusively to the federal government’s executive branch.
Today’s admission raises serious legal questions about Rudy Giuliani’s conflicted interests, about the legality of pursuing diplomacy outside of government service, and even worse, makes it difficult to determine which country he is actually representing in these negotiations.
If all of that is not enough, Giuliani is still Trump’s “cyber czar” and hasn’t done anything about it, failing to meet the self-imposed deadline of creating a plan with the National Security Counsel in his first 90-days on the job.

Perhaps it’s better that Giuliani is spending most of his time being an illegal diplomat, rather than making serious national security plans in DC, which his foreign ties would render instantly insecure upon arrival.
Read all about Rudy Giuliani’s admission of a secret mission to Turkey’s President here:
https://thesternfacts.com/rudy-giuliani ... 812684dbee


seemslikeadream » Thu Sep 07, 2017 1:07 pm wrote:This will connect to General Yellowkerk's intervention on Turkey's behalf, as well as PLANNING INTEL OPS ON US SOIL FOR CASH.


Flynn Delayed Anti-ISIS Plan That Turkey Opposed
by COURTNEY KUBE

A former senior Obama official confirmed to NBC News that after months of disagreement, the Obama administration had decided to arm the Syrian Kurds — but in January incoming National Security Adviser Mike Flynn asked his counterpart, Obama National Security Adviser Susan Rice, not to do it.

McClatchy first reported that Flynn had blocked the plan to arm the Syrian Kurds for an attack on Raqqa, the ISIS capital in Syria, a move that was opposed by the Turkish government, which Flynn had been paid $500,000 to represent.

Related: Flynn Attended Intel Briefings While Taking Money To Lobby For Turkey

Flynn had not yet registered as a foreign agent or disclosed that Turkey had paid him as a lobbyist. After he was fired as national security adviser, Flynn registered as a foreign agent with the Justice Department.

The former Obama official told NBC News that several senior officials in the outgoing administration had lobbied for months to arm the Syrian Kurds, known as the YPG, but both President Obama and adviser Ben Rhodes were against it. The administration went back and forth with the Turks about the issue until December 2016, when Obama decided it was “the right thing to do,” the official said.

Since the implementation would extend past Trump's inauguration, Rice told Flynn of the decision in early January. Flynn told her not to move forward with the plan. He said he didn’t trust the Obama administration’s decision-making process and the Trump administration would undertake its own review of ISIS policy, according to the official.

After Flynn was fired as national security adviser on Feb. 13, the Trump administration opted to arm the YPG after all.

Image: National security adviser General Michael Flynn arrives to deliver a statement during the daily briefing at the White House
National Security Adviser Michael Flynn arrives to deliver a statement during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington on February 1, 2017. Carlos Barria / Reuters file
The Obama White House was surprised Flynn opposed the plan to arm the YPG, according to two former Obama officials. The former Obama officials insist the review by Trump officials delayed the final encirclement and then assault on Raqqa, the ISIS capital, by anti-ISIS forces.

A U.S. military official also said the decision slowed the assault on Raqqa, but not by much. Anti-ISIS forces would not have been ready to go into Raqqa in January. Now the city is encircled, but the Syrian Kurds still don’t have the equipment they need to start moving into the city.

“It certainly caused an operational slowdown, but not one that they can’t recover from,” the U.S. military official said.

A lawyer for Flynn did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/fl ... ed-n761656




https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_cont ... ceBvMsnY2I



The U.S.–Turkey Spat Is Becoming a Full-Blown Diplomatic Crisis
By Joshua Keating

President Donald Trump reaches to shake Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s hand before a meeting on Sept. 21 in New York City.
AFP/Getty Images

A Turkish court’s sentencing of a Wall Street Journal reporter, in absentia, to two years in prison on Tuesday is both the latest example of the Turkish government’s ongoing crackdown on freedom of the press as well as another flare-up in an escalating diplomatic crisis between Ankara and Washington. The reporter, Ayla Albayrak, a dual Finnish–Turkish citizen, was charged with spreading terrorist propaganda for an article about urban warfare in Turkey’s Kurdish-majority southeast. The well-reported and balanced article included quotes from members of the PKK, the Kurdish militant group considered a terrorist organization by both Turkey and the United States. Albayrak is currently in the United States so thankfully won’t join the dozens of other reporters jailed in Turkey in an unprecedented recent crackdown—but won’t be able to return to Turkey..

The charge against a reporter for an American newspaper comes a little over a week after the arrest of a Turkish employee of the U.S. embassy in Ankara. That arrest prompted the United States to suspend non-immigrant visa services to Turkish citizens. Less than a day later, Turkey issued an identical suspension targeting Americans. This means that with some exceptions, Turks and Americans are now indefinitely barred from traveling to each other’s country.

The embassy employee, Metin Topuz, has been accused of espionage and links to Fethullah Gulen, the exiled U.S.-based cleric whom Turkey accuses of masterminding last year’s failed coup attempt.* Hundreds of people in Turkey accused of Gulen ties have been purged from their jobs or arrested since the coup attempt.

These include about a dozen Americans. Among them are Serkan Golge, a NASA scientist of Turkish descent who was arrested while vacationing with family. The evidence against him is that he had an account at a Gulen-linked bank and possessed a $1 bill—supposedly a kind of calling card for members of the Gulenist conspiracy. Andrew Brunson, an American Christian pastor who had lived in Turkey for 23 years, has been in jail since October accused of Gulenist links. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan more or less admitted last month that Brunson is being used as a bargaining chip in Turkey’s ongoing efforts to get the U.S. to extradite Gulen.

“ ‘Give us the pastor back’, they say. You have one pastor as well. Give [Gulen] to us,” Erdogan said. “Then we will try [Brunson] and give him to you.” (The U.S. government is not convinced by Turkey’s claims that Gulen masterminded the coup, and even if it were, a court would have to approve the extradition request.)

Jailing U.S. citizens, embassy employees, and reporters for American media organizations on dubious charges, not to mention holding them for ransom, would be a blatant provocation to any U.S. administration. Given Trump’s proclivities, you might expect him to go ballistic about this. Last fall, when Iran charged two Americans with espionage, Trump tweeted, “This doesn't happen if I'm president!”

Yet as recently as Sept. 21, Trump described Erdogan as a “friend of mine” and said the U.S. and Turkey are “as close as we’ve ever been.” This was after Erdogan had rebuffed his request to release Brunson and after Erdogan’s bodyguards had been charged in the videotaped beating of protesters on U.S. soil.

To be fair, most of the current crisis with Turkey isn’t Trump’s fault. Erdogan’s main grievances against the United States—the unwillingness to extradite Gulen and the support for Kurdish fighters in Syria—predate the current administration.

But U.S.–Turkish relations are important. Finding a diplomatic solution to the breakdown—one that doesn’t involve just giving Erdogan everything he wants—should be a major priority for the administration. If the president’s limited attention span wasn’t currently occupied with blundering toward unnecessary conflicts with North Korea and Iran and feuding with both his own secretary of state and the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, there’d be a lot better chance of resolving the crisis.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/ ... risis.html
Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started.
They could still get him out of office.
But instead, they want mass death.
Don’t forget that.
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Re: Let's talk Turkey

Postby seemslikeadream » Tue Jan 30, 2018 6:21 pm

A 1x1 tracking pixel was used as evidence of treason against 30,000 Turks, sent tens of thousands to jail


When Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Turkish government took reprisals against hundreds of thousands of people suspected to have been involved in the failed coup of 2016, one of the criteria they used for whom to round up for indefinite detention as well as myriad human rights abuses (including torture) was whether people had a cookie on their computers set by a 1x1 tracking pixel served by Bylock, which the Erdogan regime says is evidence of support of exiled opposition leader Fethullah Gülen.

The tracking pixel was used by Bylock to gather data on its users, but it was also used by common free services, including an app that helped users find Mecca for daily prayers.

Turkish authorities used the pixel as evidence in treason accusations aimed at 11,480 people whom it now deems innocent; independent experts believe at least 30,000 people were wrongly accused based on the pixel's presence; many were imprisoned based on that accusation. It published a list of the phone numbers that had been "wrongly" accused -- but some of the people on that list had already committed suicide out of fear of reprisals from the state.

Not everyone on the list had been imprisoned, but many had lost their jobs and homes as a result of the treason accusations.

Turkish authorities only admitted their mistake when a pair of digital forensics experts called Tuncay Beşikci and Koray Peksayar and a lawyer named Ali Aktaş spoke out about their work the pixel's traces and were noticed by government officials who'd been implicated by the pixel and wanted to clear their names. They believe that the creations of Bylock deliberately mixed their tracking pixel into apps not associated with the Gülenist movement in order to make it useless as evidence of guilt.

On the day I was there, Beşikçi said he has about 200 mobile phones in his office to investigate.

"We have 81 cities in Turkey — I have victims from each and every city," he said.

Beşikçi is currently investigating countless phones sent to him by people desperate to clear their names. (Nil Köksal/CBC)

Elif has yet to taste the happiness of freedom — her phone number was not on the recent list of wrongly accused.

Her husband, a member of the Turkish navy, lost his job simply because of the accusations against her.

After a week in custody, Elif and her family have been living with her parents in another Turkish city. Like many of the victims, they are surviving on the kindness of family and friends.

'Terrifying': How a single line of computer code put thousands of innocent Turks in jail [Nil Köksal/CBC]
https://boingboing.net/2018/01/28/30000-accused.html
Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started.
They could still get him out of office.
But instead, they want mass death.
Don’t forget that.
User avatar
seemslikeadream
 
Posts: 32090
Joined: Wed Apr 27, 2005 11:28 pm
Location: into the black
Blog: View Blog (83)

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