"'The Sky Is Falling,' also known as 'Chicken Licken,' 'Chicken Little' or 'Henny Penny' is an old fable about a chicken (or a hare in early versions) who believes the sky is falling. The phrase has also become used to indicate a hysterical or mistaken belief that disaster is imminent."
~ Wikipedia.
~ Wikipedia.
HPG's Headquarters Commander, Bahoz Erdal, denied reports today that Turkish forces made any cross-border operations into South Kurdistan.
DEBKAfile, quoting the "official" Cihan News Agency, originally made the truly wild claim that 50,000 Mehmetçiks were the first in a massive "wave of Turkish invaders, with more to come."
Later, a hysterical AP report claimed that a mere "hundreds of Turkish troops" crossed the border. Finally, Iraqi border guards "dismissed the report," again from the AP.
Meanwhile, later in the morning as the hysteria was on the upswing, Firat News Agency published the first remarks by HPG's Headquarters Commander, as well as remarks from US and South Kurdistani officials that the "invasion" could not be confirmed. HPG believes the lie leaked by Cihan was permitted by the Turkish general staff in order to gauge the reaction to it.
It may also have been an attempt by the Ankara regime to influence world opinion about the situation in order to increase pressure on PKK by influencing Western agencies against it, a taste of which can be had from NY Sun. Earlier in the week, the Ankara regime announced it would prepare a letter on "Northern Iraq" to justify possible military operation, following in the footsteps of the American example in Iraq and Israel's example last summer in Lebanon.
And that's an interesting point, given that today's invasion hysteria was initially created by the Turkish and Israeli sides of the iron triangle (i.e DEBKAfile and Cihan).
The hysteria also served as a cover for truly alarming news, that of the declaration of a "State of Emergency" (OHAL), by the Turkish general staff, as posted on their website. This newfangled OHAL is supposed to be "limited" in scope and applies to Şirnex (Şirnak), Culemêrg (Hakkari),and Sêrt (Siirt), where much recent fighting has taken place. These areas border South Kurdistan and Iran, so a "State of Emergency," even "limited" will bring a news blackout to the region, as the OHAL did throughout Turkish-occupied Kurdistan during the 1990s.
The Turkish general staff's lapdog, Erdoğan, says that it isn't correct to say that the new OHAL is OHAL because it's "limited," but history and experience teach that we will have to wait to define exactly what "limited" means as it applies to the new version of OHAL. Erdoğan also states that the general staff is taking the measure with the authority of the civilian government.
And that, boys and girls, is a cosmetic manner of hiding the fact that the Paşas are still firmly in control.
