UPDATES AND THINGS TO WATCH

"The speaker does not have any connections to American Turkish interests."
~ Spokesman for Dennis Hastert, while Hastert served as Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Let me list a few updates on the interview in American Conservative magazine with Sibel Edmonds:

1. Congressional Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) responds to Sibel's statements that she, Schakowsky, was trapped in a Turkish espionage honeypot operation. Additional update here.

Now when you read what Schakowsky's spokesman says in reply, bear in mind what Dennis Hastert's spokesman said in response to the 2005 Vanity Fair article on Sibel:

"This is all nonsense. It's not being reported by the mainstream press because there's no factual evidence. The reporter does not have a transcript of any wiretapped conversations that we know of and, even if we did, it's preposterous. The speaker does not have any connections to American Turkish interests."

Hastert joined Dickstein Shapiro in 2008, where he was going to provide "strategy advice" to D & S clients, among which is BOTAŞ. For more, see Luke Ryland's post on the matter. Hastert now works on a $35,000 per month contract through D & S for the TC.

2. Sibel's letter to the Congresswoman, in pursuit of the facts.

3. Connecting the Deep State's trail in the US, from Susurluk and Chicago to Ergenekon.

4. Be prepared for additional information on the role of former US ambassador to Turkey and former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs (that would be the number 3 position in the US State Department), Marc Grossman, in connection with Sibel's story. As Sibel stated in the AmCon interview:

Grossman became a person of interest early on in the investigative file while he was the U.S. ambassador to Turkey [1994-97], when he became personally involved with operatives both from the Turkish government and from suspected criminal groups. He also had suspicious contact with a number of official and non-official Israelis. Grossman was removed from Turkey short of tour during a scandal referred to as “Susurluk” by the media. It involved a number of high-level criminals as well as senior army and intelligence officers with whom he had been in contact.

Grossman was pulled from Turkey "short of tour" because he was involved with Susurluk. The military representative in Grossman's embassy in Ankara was Douglas Dickerson, who worked as Grossman's weapons procurement guy. Kurds should know exactly what that means: early to mid-1990s, American weapons procurement for Turkey, slaughter of Kurds, Dirty War, extrajudicial murder, forced displacement, destruction of villages, torture, etc.

In 2005, Grossman abruptly and quietly left the number 3 position at State. Why?

5. The Schmidt v. Krikorian hearing with the Ohio Elections Commission is due to resume this week on 1 October and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we will witness a spectacular fireworks display.

A LITTLE TASTE OF REALITY

"We have never accepted the accusation that we are terrorists. As an organization, we have never resorted to military warfare for arbitrary reasons or personal pleasures. Yes, we are fighting with weapons, but this is due to the state terror inflicted upon our people. Our identity, political culture, and linguistic heritage have been brutally suppressed by state terrorism."
~ Abdullah Öcalan.

Photos from Amed (Diyarbakır), from various news services at YahooNews and Hürriyet:



















And by the way Sayın Başbakan, the only trash on the streets of Amed is TSK and the police forces.

From Doğubeyazıt, again at Hürriyet:








For more photos of the serhildan in Amed, check Hevallo's place. Don't forget to read his memorial for Lice and browse the photos of that genocidal attack. It's truly excellent.

For photos of the serhildan in Batman and Şırnak, check here.

It looks like a lot of cars have gone up in flames all around Istanbul yesterday--38 cars in total:





And there have been arson attacks against the Turkish embassies in Finland and Austria.

All in all, it's just a little taste of what will happen if something happens to Öcalan. You have been warned.

Oh, yeah, what Ahmet Türk said:

The military coup in 1980 conducted "political, social and cultural genocide" on Kurds and paved the way for the establishment of the [ ] organization, PKK, the leader of the pro-Kurdish party said on Tuesday.

Turk's remarks came after tensions rose in the region over the DTP's claims that Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned leader of the [ ] organization PKK, had been mistreated in Imrali prison where he is serving a life sentence. The claims sparked huge protests in the mainly-Kurdish southeastern regions, leaving one person dead.

BIJÎ SEROK APO!

BÜYÜKANIT HIDES REALITY

"Truth: the most deadly weapon ever discovered by humanity. Capable of destroying entire perceptual sets, cultures, and realities. Outlawed by all governments everywhere. Possession is normally punishable by death."
~ John Gilmore.

There's a remarkable video over at Youtube--embedded here for your convenience--with a bit of translation included, so you get the idea of what's going on:

A disastrous strike to the organization [PKK] from the TSK . . .

In its statements, the Turkish general staff says 100% of targets hit . . .

100% of targets have been hit . . .

General Yaşar Büyükanıt celebrated this success by hugging General Aydoğan Babaoğlu and expressed his feelings by saying, "I am proud of these kids . . . "

The targets were hit; the public is being convinced that the organization received a disastrous strike . . .

The general staff, unlike before, issued statements one after the other, mentioning the numbers of the organization's losses. . .

The general staff stated 200 targets had been hit; 150-175 "terrorists" have been pacified (from the media 26 December 2007) . . .

On 9 January 2008, General Yaşar Büyükanıt visited the GES [Genelkurmay Elektronik Sistemler] commander , who played a key role in the operations . . .

Everyone thought the general staff's visit was a visit to congratulate. However, with the exception of one: GES commander General Münir Erten . . .

Because Münir Paşa knew from the beginning that the operation was a failure and the number of "terrorists" killed was only 5 . . .

There were only five people killed . . .

The main reason for the General Staff to visit the GES commander was to make him corroborate the number of 175.

Here are very striking statements from General Münir Erten:

"The general staff would make statements about the bombings of December 16 and 18. They were looking for consistent information, thus they asked us (GES commander) "How many people we killed in the operations?" We openly said that five people [guerrillas] were killed and eight wounded. The first four of them were wounded in the first bombardment; the latter four were wounded when we had a land operation with two companies south of Şemdinli. Since they could not mention this in the statements, they just mentioned that numerous people [guerrillas] have been pacified.

"In a presentation where General Büyükanıt was also invited, he called me and made me sit right beside him. Then he said, 'I am very glad of the information you provided. I am receiving very good news from you.'

[By this quote, Büyükanıt is basically telling Münir Paşa to shut up, because Büyükanıt does not want to reveal the actual number of guerrillas killed--five. By mentioning "good news", Büyükanıt is referring to the phony 150-175 body count of his official statements.]

Here's the war balance of the operation, mentioned by GES commander, General Münir Ertan, which is being hidden from the public: 5 dead, 8 wounded . . .

Questions waiting for answers:

1. Why was the reality known by the Turkish chief of staff and the vice chief of staff hidden from the public?

2. Are there any other realities that are being hidden from the public?

3. While the results of the [aerial] operations are so disastrous [for TSK], what was the main goal of those operations and of the land operation that will begin on 22 February 2008? Is the goal of this new operation to relieve AKP from the pressure from the people about the headscarf, and thus to change the focus?

4. Has the number of dead for this new operation already been determined?

This video was originally posted on Youtube on 20 February 2008 . . . ONE DAY BEFORE LAND OPERATIONS BEGAN.

So who leaked the extremely confidential information about the date the land operation would begin?

Now, if the Turkish general staff lied about the number of guerrillas killed in their air strikes, but HPG clearly stated from the beginning that only five guerrillas were killed, you know who you should believe.

Now that you do know who to believe, what are you going to make of Turkish general staff claims of a land operation that includes "around 8,000 troops"? What are you going to make of Turkish general staff claims that the TSK killed 79 guerrillas? What are you going to make of Turkish general staff claims of who is a "terrorist"?

Now that you do know who to believe, what are you going to make of HPG claims that the guerrillas killed 22 Turkish soldiers in the Çiya Reş region? What are you going to make of HPG claims that the guerrillas killed 19 Turkish soldiers in the Zap and Zagros regions? What are you going to make of HPG claims of guerrilla possession of the bodies of 15 Turkish soldiers?

Now that you do know who to believe, what are you going to make of the official international media that takes the Turkish general staff as its source and what other realities is the official international media hiding from the public?

GOALS AND A PLAN: ANALYSIS FROM ÖZGÜR GÜNDEM

"Here are Kurdistan's rebellious mountains, not Palestine's streets!"
~ PKK statement.

Özgür Gündem has a rundown of analysis on the current situation in Kurdistan. Beginning with a review of recent events, the bulk of which has also been posted earlier this week on Rastî.

ÖG then lists the likely goals and plan of the Ankara regime:

Dirty goals.

1. After the aerial operations, land operations for invasion started.

2. Turkey made the US accept its demands but, more importantly, Turkey promised to fulfill all the demands of the US.

3. Turkey's main agenda is the complete annihilation of PKK. For that reason, Turkey demands more effective solutions beyond support for aerial strikes. Turkey implemented more than 20 operations, however it did not achieve any result. This time, in order to achieve a successful result, Turkey demanded the following from the US, England, and Israel: Special forces will be used rather than the use of conventional force; provision of their training, weaponry, and technical support; point-target operations instead of a frontal war; the military and intelligence reinforcement for this type of operation; and finally, acquiring the support of the PUK and KDP. It is mentioned that, with the support of US and Israeli intelligence and technical support, PKK's top administrators will be targeted. Besides, Turkey wants to impede the annexation of Kerkuk to South Kurdistan, which, in exchange for South Kurdistan's cooperation against PKK, Turkey is willing to recognize without the inclusion of Kerkuk.

4. The US, Israel, and England will provide military, technical, and intelligence support to Turkey. In return, Turkey, to whom countless weapons have been sold, would take the side of the US, England and Israel, against Iran. In addition, Turkey would send troops to Southern Afghanistan, which most NATO countries refuse to do.

5. Talabanî accepted Turkey's demands. In return, he has been invited to Turkey.

6. In this invasion plan, more than Talabanî, Barzanî is concerned. It has been observed that there is a tremendous effort to convince Barzanî. However, Barzanî is not convinced because he knows that Turkey's only goal is not the annihilation of PKK but also the Kurdish authority in the South. For that reason, he wanted Turkey to take some concrete steps that would prove Turkey's only aim is PKK. Turkey, on the other hand, hinted that it could found a consulate in Hewler. In return, it wanted Barzanî to explicitly state that he is against PKK. At this point, the process stopped. Thus the operations began despite Barzanî. An implication of this action is "You do not have any options other than cooperating with Turkey or remaining silent; these are your only choices." The statement of the Turkish general staff, regarding the invasion operation, mentioning "blackmailing regional factors" confirms this fact.

7. Thus it is obvious that Turkey's only goal is not only the annihilation of the PKK, but all Kurds are targeted.


Seige plan.

1. Turkey is trying to cover the fiasco of the air strikes by mentioning that air strikes would not be effective so land operations are required. By doing so, Turkey is covering the billions of dollars that have been spent during the previous operations.

2. Thinking that PKK has been weakened by air strikes, Turkey aims to create a buffer zone in South Kurdistan parallel to the one in Şirnak, Siirt, and Hâkkari.

3. Turkey aims to lay seige particularly to PKK regions in South Kurdistan.

4. This policy benefits the US, which aims to gain Turkey's cooperation against Iran, because the US wants Turkey to increase its influence in the regions where PKK has a presence For that reason, the US supports Turkey.

ÖG notes that PKK will become stronger while under attack because the freedom movement has dominated the area for some time, with the guerrillas having far greater practical knowledge of the terrain as it actually is on the ground. We are also reminded that PKK has been preparing itself for Turkish ground operations--both invasion and point-target attacks--for the last two years. An example, from May 2005:

[TSK] unsuccessful with its operations

The HPG officials said that the [TSK] has been unsuccessful in its operations and that the HPG’s new way of actions on the basis of small groups of guerrillas with active and high action capacity led to [TSK]’s classical operation tactic to be in vain.

HPG officials said that as a result of this new way of action, [TSK] had difficulties in “imposing clashes on the guerrilla under its initiative” and that the [TSK] military troops have become an open target for the guerrilla teams who have spread well into the territory.

HPG officials drew attention that the guerrillas are no longer raid police stations but aim permanent points where [TSK] is well established in.

40% of HPG losses are as a result of informers and ambushes.

HPG officials said that this was “a reflection of the strategic changes made” and that the military strategy changed accordingly”. They underlined that “actions undertaken were no longer to establish free areas” but “to force the other side to a resolution”.

They also added that guerrilla losses, as a result, decreased in comparison with past years, but the [TSK]’s losses increased due to a change in guerrilla movement.

HPG officials said that in the last year [TSK] has been trying to gain control through on the spot operations based on intelligence and informants. Hence the 40% of the losses incurred has been due to informers and ambushes.

A decrease in the village guard losses

The balance sheet of one year also draws attention to the losses of village guards. It can be seen that after the decision of June it represents 1% of the total losses of the [TSK] as compared with hundreds of village guards losses in the 1990’s. It was pointed out that this is in accordance with the decision “if the village guards do not participated in active warfare they will not be treated as targets” of the HPG II Conference.

The clearest warning to the US-England-Israel-Turkey alliance is summed up in ÖG thusly: "Here are Kurdistan's rebellious mountains, not Palestine's streets!"

In the meantime, HPG freedom fighters have brought down a Cobra in Çemço, Zab region, and HPG has lost two guerrillas.

Şehîd namirin!

TURKEY'S EU-FUNDED WAR CRIMES IN KURDISTAN

"In Turkey, where the majority of an estimated 25 to 30 million Kurds live, resistance is costly; as the pictures show, even your dead body is not immune from abuse and degradation."
~ Kani Xulam, "Turkey's War Crimes".

ANF, via Özgür Gündem, suspects executions without judgement during recent clashes in Bingöl:

The operation in Dallıtepe village, Bingöl, in whcich TSK clashed with HPG guerrillas, has some contradictory statements from various sources. On the night that the conflict took place, news agencies (Cihan News Agency and Ihlas News Agency) provided news to the Turkish media that five guerrillas were killed and five were captured alive. In addition, the chief of police of Adilcevaz, Bitlis, called Salih Toro to tell him to come and identify one of the martyred guerrillas--his brother--and also that five guerrillas were captured alive.

Salih Toro went from Bitlis to Bingöl to identify the body of his brother based on the information given by the Adilcevaz police station. When he arrived at the Bingöl state hospital morgue, he was shocked to see ten corpses, because he had been told there were five corpses. His brother was not among any of the ten corpses. He realized that the information he received from the police station and the scene he witnessed at the hospital was inconsistent.

Toro then applied to the Bingöl IHD. DTP's Bingöl provincial chairman Ömer Faruk Ersöz mentioned that there were bullet wounds on the heads and through the hearts of the guerrilla corpses. Having previously been a member of a medical staff, Ersöz has some familiarity with wounds. "I used to be a medical staff member. Therefore I know how living organisms react when wounded. The HPG guerrillas that have been shot in the head and through the hearts might have suffered close-range shots. The skin of some of the corpses was peeled and the possibility of this kind of peeling happening during operations is very low. The skin appears as if it had been peeled by a knife."

Turkey abolished capital punishment for all crimes in 2004 but extrajudicial murder continues and all Turkish security forces enjoy impunity.

The hevals at KurdishInfo compiled reports from DIHA and ANF to continue the story--which grows more shocking (English):

In the Bingöl countryside of Dağlıtepe, 10 HGP-guerrillas lost their lives and were taken to the mortuary where the corpses were thrown on a heap allegedly because of a "lack of space". The pro-Kurdish party DTP and Turkey’s Human Rights Association (İHD) said that this was a crime and inhuman treatment.

The Democratic People’s Initiative is urging people to take a stand and see off the guerrillas’ funerals.

The governor of Bingöl, İrfan Balkanlıoğlu, said, "some of them weren’t circumcised". In response to this statement, the DTP province chairman Ömer Faruk Ersöz reacted: "There is a mentality which makes politics upon peoples genitals. The governor should immediately apologise to the people", demanded Ersöz.

The Human Rights Association’s department chairman in Bingöl, Mehmet Şirin Yanılmaz, asserted that "whatever opinion, whatever nation one might be from, the treatment meted out is inhumane. What kind of mindset doesn’t even show respect for the dead? Therefore one must treat everyone with humanity", insisted Yanılmaz.

The Democratic People’s Initiative said that the Turkish government and its army insist on war: "Despite all the efforts to achieve a cessation of fighting, the AKP and its supreme commander Yaşar Büyükanıt keep on insisting on war. It should be well understood that it is this organisation which thrives on blood and conflicts among people", they maintained.

[ . . . ]

As for the guerrillas who lost their lives, the Initiative said that they "send their condolences to the martyrs of freedom and democracy, to the guerrillas’ families, the people, its unquestionable force the PKK, and its military force the HPG. The Kurdish people should take care of their guerrillas wherever they may be. The people should see off the funerals of our guerrillas", they encouraged.

Balkanlıoğlu needs to provide proof of his own circumcision because we certainly can't take his word for it, the dirty, dirty boy. And this incident raises questions about the humanity of good Turkish Muslims like Balkanlıoğlu. Is this the behavior Balkanlıoğlu's religion teaches? Is this the behavior the religion of the mortuary workers teaches them? Or were they simply born as dirty, uncircumcised pigs?

Guess who's been helping to fund these atrocities? The EU. From ANF via Özgür Gündem:

It has been revealed that the EU is subsidizing the TSK under the name of a donation program. Seeing the TSK as the major impediment against democracy, the EU donated 497 million euros in 2007 to the Turkish General Staff.

These donations are made for the TSK's modernization. The EU's economic aid, supplied for the last five years, indicates the EU's hypocrisy. In the EU's 2007 donation program planning, the Turkish General Staff received most of the aid.

For the modernization of the TSK, the EU gave 497 million Euros in economic aid in 2007. This aid will continue in 2008, 2009, and 2010. According to this plan, the EU will donate 538 million Euros in 2008, 566 million Euros in 2009, and 653 million Euros in 2010.

It's kind of odd, don't you think, that the Turkish military and government are so very eager to receive money from the hands of dirty, uncircumcised Europeans?

Well, maybe it's not so odd after all.

TURKISH MILITARY: "GOOD BOYS" GO FREE

"I know that officer, we worked in the region together. He is not a kind to commit crime."
~ Yaşar Büyükanıt.

The Şemdinli murderers have been freed.

The two JIT officers and the "confessor" who were convicted to 39 years, 10 months and 27 days by Van's 3rd Heavy Penalty Court for manslaughter, forming a gang, and attempting manslaughter, have been released by the military court that was retrying their case. Apparently the military court does not believe that that the perpetrators of the Semdinli bombing will attempt to escape or that they have the ability to destroy evidence. The state's perpetrators were released during the first session of the military court. The court also decided to re-examine the evidence of the Şemdinli bombing until the court's next session. It also kindly invited the perpetrators to attend the second session.

Thus, those state organs which were trying to release the suspects from the very beginning, have achieved their end.

The lawyers for the victims left the court, saying they would not be a part of the game, since the military court is under the authority of Büyükanıt, who said of perpetrator Ali Kaya, "I know him; he's a good boy." With this statement, Büyükanıt intervened in the court's decision-making process--a violation of Article 288 of the Turkish Penal Code (attempting to influence the judiciary). Because Büyükanıt is at the top of the military hierarchy under which the court falls, the court will not come to a decision that contradicts Büyükanıt's statement.

Mark my words.

Basically, Büyükanıt's statement, which came immediately following the bombing, is a warning to everyone concerned in the case--including the courts--to keep out of the military's business. The example of Büyükanıt's interference with the judiciary should dispel any fears of democracy breaking out in Turkey and should confirm who it is that holds real power in Turkey.

Interference with judicial proceedings of the Şemdinli bombing case were two of the five concerns Amnesty International had regarding the handling of the case:

Interference in the investigation: After the 9 November bombing, a number of senior government and military officials made comments which Amnesty International regards as constituting direct interference in the course of the investigation of the incident. Among them, the Prime Minister made negative remarks regarding the credibility of witnesses to the incidents in Semdinli testifying on the events, and the Head of the Army publicly gave a positive character reference for one of the suspects. Amnesty International considers that judgements about the reliability of witnesses must be a matter for the court alone, and that discussions of the character of the accused must not be allowed to prejudice the course of the trial.

Amnesty International also notes that the General Chief of Staff [Hilmi Özkök] made laudatory comments about the Head of the Army [Yaşar Büyükanıt], while at the same time being responsible for a decision on whether or not the latter would be subject to an investigation by the military prosecutor on the basis of the information forwarded by the Van prosecutor (see the third concern). The Ministers of Justice and the Interior also commented publicly on the content of statements made by individuals interviewed by the Parliamentary Investigative Commission into the Semdinli incidents. One public official interviewed by the commission was subsequently removed from his position as Head of the Intelligence Bureau of the Security Directorate. Amnesty International is concerned that the Ministers’ comments may have discouraged public officials from sharing information with the Commission and may have contributed to prejudicing the final – and inconclusive – results of the commission’s investigation.

And:

Interference in the prosecution and independence of the judiciary: Shortly after the 92-page indictment had been submitted to the panel of judges at the Van Heavy Penal Court for their approval in early March 2006, the content of the indictment became a subject of intense discussion between the government and the military, with the General Chief of Staff seeking extraordinary meetings with the Prime Minister and the President. Amnesty International considers that on the basis of these actions and public statements made by different parties, the content of the indictment was deemed unacceptable to some senior authorities even before the court – invested with the authority to accept or reject it – had made its decision. Amnesty International considers that the merits or defiencies of an indictment prepared by a prosecutor should be a matter for the court alone to decide, and that the actions of the General Chief of Staff constituted a direct interference in the proper role of the prosecution as well as in the independence of the judiciary.

This should be a cut-and-dried case since the perpetrators were captured by local residents of Şemdinli as they fled the scene of the crime. The vehicle which the perpetrators drove was found to have been registered to Jandarma forces. Among the contents of the trunk were three Kalishnikovs, magazines for the Kalishnikovs, hand grenades, drawings of the bookstore and of Seferi Yılmaz's home. Additionally, an assassination list and ID cards of Pakistani citizens and receipts of the Iraqi Turkmen Front were found in the vehicle. Furthermore, the Şemdinli bombing was only one out of twenty that were carried out in Şemdinli and Yüksekova between July 2005 and 9 November 2005, the day of the Şemdinli bombing--a fact which was ignored in all the reporting about Şemdinli.

Remember the "confessions" of retired Turkish military officers such as Erdal Sarızeybek, and his book I Saw the Betrayal, or Altay Tokat. Both have admitted to committing acts of terror in Turkish-occupied Kurdistan against Kurdish civilians or civil servants.

We also need to recall the words of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the wake of the Şemdinli bombing: "We will follow up on this incident, no matter where it leads, and whoever has to pay the price will pay it." The release of the Şemdinli murderers today is another indicator of the close cooperation between the Islamists and the Paşas which was part of the deal reached by both that resulted in an Islamist resident of Çankaya Köşkü. In return, Büyükanıt's threat regarding the status of his "good boys" is heeded by all and the Paşas are allowed to continue their Dirty War in Turkish-occupied Kurdistan.

Meanwhile, back at Qendil, Murat Karayılan says that AKP Kurds are not Kurds, but you heard it here first. By now AKP's position vis-a-vis the Kurdish people should be clear from the track record it has in dealing with serious issues in Turkish-occupied Kurdistan . . . issues like Şemdinli.

TURKEY'S KURDISH POLICY

"Turkey must be aware that we will be faced with an independent state in the north of Iraq when conditions are suitable. I can say that this would be a security problem rather than a political problem."
~ Yaşar Büyükanıt, Chief of General Staff.

The nice people at Info-Turk.be have translated IHD's statement on the Beytüşşebap massacre:

A minibus, in the rural area of Beytüssebap district of Sırnak province, was raked. 12 people (children, women and men) in the minibus were killed. At the moment, perpetrators of the attack are unknown.

The region has been declared as security zone a few months ago. As a result; entrance and exit is being kept under the control by security forces of the State. Media and public opinion, currently, do not have proper, right information about the attack.

So, as Human Rights Association (IHD) we are commenting the attack within the framework of our principal attitude that is; We are defending dominance of peace in our country. Keystone of peace is composed of human rights and freedoms, democracy and rule of law.

As IHD we are against attack, which targets civilian, without considering peace period or war period. We condemn the violation of the Article 3, which is about prohibition of arbitrary murdering and common in Geneva Conventions that are the most important documents of Humanitarian Law. We are against extrajudicial executions, which are violation of right to life, by the State organs.

We are against executions by organizations that use arm as a tool in their activities, too. The attack in Şırnak is inhuman and cruel.

IHD considers the attack as the one, which should be condemned and be against without regarding its perpetrators or aim. We are sharing sorrow of families whose relatives killed in the attack.

We demand for revealing perpetrators and bringing them to justice.

The Turkish version is at IHD's website.

Hevallo has taken the time to deconstruct the Ankara regime's initial lie about a seven-year-old being killed in the massacre. He also reminds us of the games played at the Hudson Institute, where quite a few scenarios for Turkish-occupied Kurdistan were concocted. I have to agree with him that it's entirely possible that a scenario like the one played out over the weekend in Beytüşşebap might be one of the results of the game plan hashed out by the perverted minds involved with Hudson.

In the meantime, Yaşar Büyükanıt has set up DTP as a target for the regime's assassins:

We are faced with a mentality which cannot bring itself to call a terrorist organisation terrorist, which calls members of this terrorist organisation "brothers", and which calls the Turkish Armed Forces "separatist".

Remember that DTP's Ankara office came under gunfire earlier this week.

Yaşar Paşa goes on to blame the incompetence of the TSK, in its fight against the Kurdish freedom movement, on those pesky human rights types, which is what he did in June.

And, as if it weren't enough to treat the Kurdish problem in Turkey (which the Ankara regime created) as a strictly security matter, Büyükanıt says that an autonomous Kurdistan in the South will "be a security problem rather than a political problem". It is clear then that the Ankara regime considers South Kurdistan as a "problem" in and of itself and has nothing whatsoever to do with PKK.

Land forces commander, İlker Başbuğ, who will succeed Büyükanıt as chief of the Turkish general staff, parroted the same idea earlier:

Land Forces Commander Ilker Basbug signaled Monday that the main worry of the Turkish Armed Forces regarding northern Iraq is the danger of the region becoming a center of attraction for Turkey's Kurds.

The area which is run by the autonomous administration of the Kurdistan Regional Government seems to be regarded as a main threat to Turkish unity.

"It is a fact that the developments in north of Iraq has given political, legal, military and psychological strength to the Kurds living in the region as they have never had or experienced before in the past. We must be careful about the developments in north of Iraq as these may give some of our citizens a feeling of belonging to this region," the Land Forces chief said.

The idea of Kurdish autonomy as a threat to the Turkish state will be the guiding principle of Turkish policy toward the South for the foreseeable future. The Ankara regime's fears of Kurds in Turkish-occupied Kurdistan getting uppity as a result of Southern autonomy is the reason for the renewed Dirty War in the North. TSK's massacre in Beytüşşebap is the practical expression of this policy. Expect to see many more similar TSK atrocities.

There's more on Büyükanıt's remarks about the "threat" of South Kurdistan at TNA which concludes with his remarks on the division of Turkey:

Let us be sure of one thing. No force can divide Turkey. No one has the power to divide Turkey.

Unfortunately, Büyükanıt is merely the most recent in a long line of fascists who, all by themselves, divided Turkey a very long time ago.

TURKISH ARMY COMMITS MASSACRE IN BEYTÜŞŞEBAP

"Security forces will intervene with every possible means indiscriminately, including against women and children."
~ R. Tayyip Erdoğan.

From Özgür Gündem:

HPG Headquarters Command issued a statement about the massacre of 12 people, including 7 village guards. HPG said: "The raid on a minibus that was carrying villagers in Beşağaç (Hemkan), village of Beytüşşebap was commited by the extension of the Turkish army, JITEM."

HPG said further that the Turkish army intensified the number of its operations, with every kind of dirty warfare and special warfare tactics, since the first of October 2006, when HPG's unilateral ceasefire went into effect.

The Turkish army implemented 483 operations. In these operations, the Turkish army used chemical weapons and cluster bombs, systematically burned Kurdistan's forests, used civilian vehicles during operations, and committed war crimes in front of the entire world.

It is not a surprise that the Turkish army intensified its operations after the July 22 elections, which shows that the military and AKP agreed on the annihilation of the Kurdish people. Earlier, the Turkish generals made statement: "If you want to drive out terrorism, the best would be to aim at the supporters of the terrorists."

Check an earlier post about TSK starving Kurdish villagers and murdering Kurdish infants, and you'll have an idea of what the Paşas mean when they say they plan to "aim at the supporters." They mean that the entire Kurdish population is their target.

Another indication that the military and AKP agreed, was the recent visit of Abdullah Gül to the region. This visit was played up in the media as Gül's "reaching out" to the Kurdish people. However, the true reason for Gül's visit to The Southeast was to thank the military for accepting his presidency. In return, the Paşas have AKP's blessing for a new Dirty War.

It began with the Şemdinli bombing. Even though Erdoğan stated that the the perpetrators would be pursued to the end, he promised that whoever was responsible, would be punished. AKP did nothing, however, because the trail of the perpetrators led to the top of the Turkish general staff--Yaşar Büyükanıt. The prosecutor Sarıkaya was removed from the bar for his attempt to open an investigation against Büyükanıt. Erdoğan made comments denigrating the credibility of witnesses. Now there will be a retrial in a military court, leaving the fox to guard the henhouse.

Finally, HPG states that the Beytüşşebap massacre was committed by TSK in order to create hatred between the village guards and HPG, in an attempt to marginalize HPG and sway public opinion against the Kurdısh freedom movement. For the last few years village guards have not engaged HPG gerîlas if it were possible to avoid engagements. Some vıllage guards have gone so far as to turn their weapons back over to the state. Tensions between village guards and gerîlas had been greatly reduced.

A number of large operations have taken place in Beytüşşebap since the Dirty War began, the most recent being at least 20 days of fighting around the town of Beytüşşebap. All of these have occured without any comment from the media. However, this massacre did draw media attention. The sudden emphasis on an atrocity in Beytüşşebap is an indication of its importance to the regime as anti-gerîla propaganda. The only ones interested in creating anti-gerîla propaganda is the Ankara regime and its ruling military elite.

Beytüşşebap is famous as the first rebellious Kurdish town in modern Turkish history, with its rebellion taking place in 1924, the year before Şêx Seîd's rebellion.

In related news, Hevallo mentions the resignation of Joseph Ralston as the US "PKK coordinator." Ralston had the chance to force the Ankara regime's hand to accept the ceasefire that went into effect one year ago today. How many lives would have been saved if the ceasefire had been accepted?

Instead, Ralston's legacy to the Kurdish people is the Beytüşşebap massacre in exchange for a couple of business deals. Brilliant job, murderer!