DIPLOMATS, ARMS SALES, AND TERRORISTS

“Diplomacy - The art of letting other people achieve your ends” ~ Unknown.

The Washington Times has a little article on all the woes of the Turkish ambassador to the US, Nabi Sensoy, and the burden that seems to weigh on him the most is the big, bad PKK. As usual, though, it really isn't about the PKK; it's really about Kurds:

The PKK units, Mr. Sensoy said, have received arms, safe passage and other logistical help from the two leading Iraqi Kurdish parties -- both of which are strongly allied with Washington.

"The United States is on record saying it is an enemy of terrorism wherever it is in the world," Mr. Sensoy told editors and reporters at The Washington Times yesterday. "We take the United States at its word."

Right, he takes the US at it's word. No one takes Turkey at its word, so we know that this guy doesn't take the US at its word. Phony naivete just doesn't play well coming from a Turkish diplomat. Besides, if the US really meant what it said, it would have shut down the Ankara regime a long time ago.

I certainly cannot understand why Mr. Sensoy, and the regime he represents, is so concerned as to any assistance the PKK might receive from their southern brothers, because it seems to me that the Turkish regime has received quite a bit more assistance from the US. In fact, from 1950 to 1998, Turkey received some $11,662,920,000 worth of military hardware (see Table 1), $10.5 billion of that figure was delivered between 1984-1998. $8 billion of that $10.5 billion bill was paid for with the generosity and hard-earned money of the US taxpayer. In fact, the American public probably doesn't realize how very generous it has been.

Oh, well, there's one born every minute.

But Turkey is just protecting itself from all its aggressive neighbors. . . right? If you believe that, then you're a sucker too. There was only one war Turkey has waged since 1984, and that is its dirty war against the Kurdish people. The US officially recognized this as early as 1995 (unofficially, the US has known all the dirty details from Day 1) :

The first official acknowledgment of the role of U.S. weaponry in human rights violations in Turkey came in a June 1995 State Department report that was conducted as the result of legislation promoted by key members of Congress such as Rep. John Porter (R-IL). Although State Department investigators were denied access to key conflict areas in the southeast by the Turkish government, their summary of the evidence they were able to gather was conclusive: "U.S.-origin equipment, which accounts for most major items of the Turkish military inventory, has been used in operations against the PKK during which human rights abuses have occurred." The report also found "highly credible" evidence that U.S.-manufactured Sikorsky Black Hawk transport helicopters, Bell-Textron Super Cobra attack helicopters, and FMC Corp. M-113 armored personnel carriers had been used to attack Kurdish villages and violate the human rights of civilians. Citing evidence from 1992 through 1995, during the height of Turkey's campaign to depopulate Kurdish villages, the report notes that "it is highly likely that such equipment was used in the evacuation and/or destruction of villages."(30)

Human Rights Watch knew all about it too:

Human Rights Watch also found that U.S. made tanks, armored personnel carriers, and other weaponry were directly implicated in abuses perpetrated by Turkish security forces. One specific example underscores how these U.S. systems have been used by Turkish forces in their campaign of destruction against Kurdish villages:

"A former Turkish soldier told Human Rights Watch that on August 18-20, 1992, troops used U.S.-supplied M-48 and M-60 tanks, 105mm artillery, U.S.-supplied M-113 armored personnel carriers, U.S.-designed M-16 rifles, and LAW anti-tank rockets to assault the town of Sirnak following an alleged PKK provocation. Twenty-two civilians died in the assault, sixty were wounded, and many of the town's 25,000 residents fled in panic. Much of the town was destroyed."(32)

Human Rights Watch has also confirmed that Turkish forces often use U.S.-origin small arms to commit abuses: "Particularly troubling was the preference displayed by Turkey's special counterinsurgency forces, who are renowned for their abusive behavior, for U.S. designed-small arms such as the M-16 assault rifle," made by Colt Industries. The report goes on to note that U.S.-designed M-16 rifles and M-203 grenade launchers, capable of firing a wide range of 40 mm high explosives, are "prevalent in the Jandarma and special police forces, which have the worst human rights reputation in Turkey's southeast." In addition, officers in the Bolu and Kayseri Commando brigades of the Turkish army, who have been trained by the U.S. and "are considered far more abusive of the civilian population than the regular Army," carry U.S.-made M-16s.(33)

Tell me, who are the terrorists here? Who is carrying out terrorism? Who is providing material assistance? Funding? Training? The ones who engage in all these activities are the terrorists. Those who remain silent in this knowledge are the terrorists. Those who continue to support the Turkish state and its allies in this are the terrorists. Those who fight against it are not terrorists. Add to that the fact that, as far as I'm concerned, anyone who suggests that Kurds should have simply acquiesced in continued repression, that Kurds should have done nothing, well, those people are terrorists too.

"Good Kurd" and "Bad Kurd." Both fight back, but both get different labels, and anyone who applies these labels is also a terrorist, because the labels are the means by which Kurdish blood is spent to pay for someone else's interests.

According to The Washington Times, Mr. Sensoy acknowledges that the US has a bit of trouble in Iraq so, as much as his regime would like to see the US engage Kurds militarily, i.e. commit genocide for Turkey, he realizes that the US is unlikely to go for this idea. The US has a history of sitting around and letting everyone else commit genocide, such as against the Armenians, in Cambodia, in South Kurdistan, in the former Yugoslavia (Okay, former Yugoslavia was something the Europeans claimed they had perfect control over, but when everything went south, the Europeans did what they always do--Nothing, which is exactly what they are doing about the repression of Kurds today.), in Rwanda, in Darfur, but the US is not in the habit of actually engaging in genocide. . . unlike Turkey.

Instead of committing their genocide for them, the Ankara regime would like the US to lean on the KDP and PUK, at least to get PKK out of the way so that Turkey can easily invade to take over Kerkuk, all under the pretext of defending the sacred honor of the long-suffering Turkmen population there, no doubt. A new North Cyprus scenario, sans l'eau, but with plenty of oil. And now that more oil deposits have been discovered in South Kurdistan, Turkey is lusting after Kurdish land like a jihadi lusts for virgins, all of which is covered over with the same plaintive refrain we always hear:

"You have great influence over these people [KDP/PUK]," he said, adding that average Turks were increasingly frustrated by the apparent inability to contain the PKK threat from Iraq.

These people . . . Mr. Sensoy can't even bring himself to say the word, "Kurds." I can picture the Turkish ambassador now, batting his eyelashes rapidly as he turns misty over the feelings of the Turkish people. Unfortunately, what makes all of this emphasis on "feelings" so phony is the Turkish ambassador's complete inability to turn misty over the feelings of the Kurdish people, especially the Kurdish people his government has terrorized for over eighty years.

Speaking of Turkish terrorism, Mr. Sensoy continues with remarks on Turkish-occupied Northern Cyprus and the problems Turkey is facing with the EU over maintaining its occupation. Hasn't this gone on long enough? I'm surprised Turkey hasn't extended the invasion to take over the entire island. That would reunify it, wouldn't it? Go on, Mr. Sensoy, you know you want to.

The end of the article was pretty frightening:

Turkey remains central to U.S. foreign policy on a variety of fronts, including Iran's nuclear program, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and relations with the Islamic world. Mr. Sensoy said Turkey, an overwhelmingly Muslim nation with a rigorously secular democratic government, was a key to avoiding a "clash of civilizations" in the post-September 11 world.

So, Turkey is central to US foreign policy over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Well, now we know why that's all screwed up. In that light, the idea of Turkey being central to negotiations over Iran and nukes should make everyone want to run for the mountains. Yikes!

Pretty ironic too, how everyone believes this nonsense about Turkey having a "rigorously secular democratic government" when it controls all religion and violates everyone's free expression rights. How can "insulting Turkishness" or "denigrating the army" be a crime anywhere but in a fascist state? How can Kurdish mayors be charged, tried and convicted for saying that Turkey contains multiple ethnicities, or for saying that there should be a general amnesty for PKK, if Turkey is not a fascist state? And how can the rest of the world go on playing its part in this disgusting charade, while at the same time making a pretence of sincerity in its calls for "peaceful solution?"

By the way, Mr. Sensoy, did your security goons get all the photos of the Washington demonstrators uploaded to their computers yet? I remember that. Do you?

A few small items:

First of all, Michael Totten is going to have an article about the Başurî Kurds in the August/September issue of Reason magazine. If you're in the US, you can find Reason at Barnes & Noble, probably at Borders, too. If you aren't in the US and can't get Reason, you can bookmark ReasonOnline and watch for the article later in the fall.

There is also a very interesting post about Erdogan giving lessons on freedom of speech to the European Parliament at Ovi Lehti.

I wouldn't want anyone to miss the moron at Informed Comment. Can anyone tell me exactly what the "Kurdistan Regional confederacy" is? I have never heard such a thing in my life, but it must exist because Professor Know-It-All says so. Hehehe. . . actually he's dissing Kurds here because it's not the first time he has refused to use the proper name of South Kurdistan's government (Shhh, I'm not going to say what it is because I find stupidity to be highly amusing).

Informed Comment is the internet version of the Sunni Triangle, ideologically speaking. Of course, if these smartasses are serious about Iraq's investment situation, I know I can link them up with a vacation, mortgage, or--what the hell--a textile factory in Baquba. I'm sure any number of Rastî readers would be happy to help out too. If you are, let me know. Together, we can help the smartasses of the world put their money where their mouths are. Besides, it would be interesting to see what a fine, Ba'athi batik looks like.

Finally, there's some information at KurdishInfo about TSK atrocities against the gerîlas, in particular a gerîla from Rojhelat. This information is similar to other news that has come out slowly in the last few months. If you are squeamish, don't scroll all the way down that page, just read the information. You have been warned.

Where did Turkey get all the weapons and training to do this, and who, exactly, are the real terrorists?