LOTS OF TSK DEAD AT BEZELE

"A democratic environment must be created for the Kurdish citizens of this country, so that they feel secure and free; and where also the youth in the mountains must return to their homes."
~ Ahmet Altan.

There has been another major HPG operation against the Bezele garrison, the same garrison that was targeted in May. The Ankara regime is in shock, although it is not announcing to the public just how bad the situation really is; it admits only fifteen Turkish soldiers killed while the body count is actually much worse. The regime is also lying about the number of HPG guerrillas killed, as it did in December 2007.

Note that as of 1400 hours Pacific time, the websites for Roj TV and Özgür Gündem, are not available. Only the Fırat News site and Yeni Özgür Politika are working, although YOP is quite slow. From Fırat News, we have the HPG statement on the operation(copy-amd-paste this link: http://www.firatnews.com/haber-3912&baslik=font-colorred-flash-font-bezele-karakoluna-eylemin-ayrintilari-belli-oldu.anf):

The details of the Bezele garrison operation are revealed

The details of the Bezele garrison operation in Şemdinli were revealed. HPG announced that in this operation 62 soldiers were killed and 32 wounded. During the operation, nine HPG guerrillas lost their lives while a number of arms were confiscated. The operation was video recorded by guerrilla forces.

The statement from HPG-BİM is as follows:

"On 3 October 2008, an operation was implemented by our guerrilla forces against the TSK, which began an operation from Bezele garrison of Şemzinan district of Hakkari. Simultaneously, an attack by our guerrilla forces was initiated against three hills belonging to the Bezele garrison.

"The very intense operation against the three hills began at 1300 hours and lasted until 1700 hours. Meanwhile the Bezele garrison was fired upon with heavy weapons. After the intense and severe conflict, the three hills belonging to the enemy were destroyed and finally captured by our guerrilla forces.

"On the first hill, 25 soldiers were killed and on the second, 27 soldiers were killed, among whom was a second lieutenant; on the third hill, 10 soldiers were killed. During the operation, which lasted until noon on 4 October, most of Bezele was destroyed and sixty-two soldiers were killed, among whom were several high-ranking officers. In addition, in this conflict, more than 30 soldiers from TSK were wounded. Within the garrison and outside, there were several unidentified [TSK] casualties."

One Cobra helicopter damaged

"Turkish army aircraft lost the initiative within the clash and even bombed the garrison's hills [where TSK personnel were located; they bombed themselves].

Additionally, a Cobra-type helicopter, which came to the scene, was damaged by our guerrilla forces. The damaged Cobra needed to leave the area immediately."

9 guerrillas lost their lives

"In these clashes, nine of our comrades fought heroically and reached martyrdom. The identitites of these comrades will be announced later on."

15 HK33 assault rifles confiscated

"In the clashes, 15 HK33 assault rifles, several night vision binoculars, [military] devices, and military equipment were confiscated. On the hills that were destroyed, a number of both heavy and light weapons were destroyed by our guerrilla forces."

The operation was videotaped

"This operation and clashes were recorded by our guerrilla forces.

"After the clashes on 4 and 5 October, TSK's aircraft and artillery bombed Basya valley and its peripheries."

Congratulations for our guerrilla forces are definitely in order, along with condolences for the loss of nine comrades.

In other news, the Turkish General Staff has decided to relocate five garrisons and the Bezele garrison will move to a nearby hill, Berçar Tepe, although the general staff claims that plans to move the Bezele garrison were in the works last year.

I find this very difficult to believe and, most likely, it's a cover story for the paşas. They don't want to have to disclose who it was that, in their utter stupidity, chose the location for the Bezele garrison. Given that it's located on low ground and completely surrounded by much higher terrain, attacking the garrison is like shooting fish in a barrel. HPG has been very smart to exploit the weakness inherent in the location of the Bezele garrison.

One would think that the positions on the surrounding hills would provide enough view of the various avenues of approach that there would be plenty of warning time to provide cover fire to the garrison.

Obviously, this has not worked at all, so one has to wonder why? Were the soldiers stationed there properly trained? Probably not. Did they have sufficient weapons? Questions arose about that subject during the censored Dağlica investigation last year. Again, the answer is probably not. Were the soldiers awake and at their posts? Your guess is as good as mine; however, don't expect these questions or others like them to be discussed too much in Turkish media.

Ahmet Altan is the first on the charge to demand accountability for the TSK fiasco at Bezele, noting that the paşas are the only ones benefiting from this 30-year war while both Kurdish and Turkish youths are dying. He also notes that TSK censored all media questioning, according to a court order, about last year's Dağlıca raid. An accountability of TSK's failure by the media was also avoided through paşas-initiated censorship in May 2008, when another successful HPG operation was conducted against the Bezele garrison. Altan raises questions of responsibility for these failures, and others that have occurred in the last thirty years:

Who is failing?

Who can it be other than the commanders?

Look, there is something odd here. The people who cannot protect these kids, do not take sufficient precautions, do not give any accounting of their faults, and do not complete what is lacking, are the commanders . . .

At the same time, they are the ones who most want the continuation of the war.

They object to any democratic and peaceful step which will end this war.

Altan's bluntly-worded main point today is "Finish this god-damned war":

Because no one can win this war.

A democratic environment must be created for the Kurdish citizens of this country, so that they feel secure and free; and where also the youth in the mountains must return to their homes.

PKK offered a democratic and peaceful solution in August 2008, and it's still available (copy-and-paste because it, too, is censored: http://www.kurdish-info.net/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3467), but so far has been rejected by the ruling Islamist AKP and their boys in the Turkish General Staff. As Ahmet Altan said, "They object to any democratic and peaceful step which will end this war."

On the other hand, at this point, it looks like Turks prefer to blindly give their lives for paşas and politicians who don't give a fat shit about the dead because they're too busy enjoying the power and wealth that comes with the perpetuation of war.

It's very generous of the Turkish people to waste their lives so that the minority in the ruling oligarchy get to enjoy theirs. Very generous, indeed.