TURKEY, ISRAEL, HYPOCRISY

"Hypocrisy can afford to be magnificent in its promises, for never intending to go beyond promise, it costs nothing."
~ Edmund Burke.

Debkafile doesn't have a whole lot of credibility as far as I'm concerned but this is interesting because it's so much in character for Katil Erdoğan:

Monday, Jan. 5, Erdogan outdid himself in vituperation when he accused Israel of "perpetrating inhuman actions which would bring it to self-destruction. Allah will sooner or later punish those who transgress the rights of innocents," he said.

It's so much in character for Katil Erdoğan because it reaches the stratosphere as far as hypocrisy goes, even though Israel apologized for having embarrassed its stalwart ally. I doubt very much, though, that Erdoğan will "freeze the long-standing military ties between the US's foremost defense allies in the Middle East" because there's simply too much at stake. Too much money, that is. It was only one short month ago that Turkey took possession of it's new, highly-coveted Israeli military hardware, the Heron:

December 27, 2008: Israel Aircraft Industries has recently delivered Turkey the first two Heron UAVs, part of a package worth $183 million signed between Turkey and Israel in 2005. The aircraft are deployed at the Batman military base in Southeast Turkey. Israel is expected to deliver the remaining 8 Herons in the upcoming months. The package includes 10 IAI Heron UAVs, operated by ground control systems developed by Elbit Systems.

Turkey steps up reconnaissance operations of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles monitoring suspected Kurdish resistance in Southeastern Turkey and Northeast Iraq

Another Heron delivered to Turkey earlier this year was crashed in July 2008 while on a mission over Southeastern Turkey. Israel provided turkey with a surplus Searcher type UAV to augment its operations, but this UAV has also been lost. Turkey has also leased UAV services of three Aerostar tactical UAVs built by Aeronautics defense Systems, to augment its reconnaissance activities monitoring PKK activities in Southeastern Turkey and Kurdistan.

Not that it looks like the paşas know how to operate the new Herons as well as they know how to operate a golf ball and I guess that's why they've had Israelis operating the Herons for them--a piece of intel that even appeared in Haaretz.

Of course, it's not enough just to have unmanned aerial vehicles but now the paşas want armed unmanned aerial vehicles. Zaman reports that the paşas may spurn the American-made Predator in favor of the Israeli-made Harpy:

In a related development, Today's Zaman learned that Turkey may have now shifted its interest from US-made Predator UAVs, which can be configured into armed UAVs, to Israeli-made armed Harpy2 UAVs.

"Turkey needs at least one armed UAV," said a local industry source.

Despite an earlier acknowledgement by a Turkish commander that Ankara plans to buy a General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Predator UAV, the SSM is understood to have been delaying its official proposal to the US company for the purchase of a Predator, said the same source.

Turkish Land Forces Commander Gen. Isik Kosaner acknowledged at a press conference on Oct. 27 that Turkey plans to buy a US-made UAV, noting that one Predator UAV is currently at the disposal of the Turkish military and has been gathering intelligence on the activities of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), mostly in northern Iraq.

If purchased, the US has pledged to supply Turkey with the system within 18 months.

However, Turkey shifted its focus to the Israeli Harpy after Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gönül was introduced an armed UAV during his visit to Israel in late October. That development may have influenced Turkey to go to Israel for the purchase of an armed UAV, said a Turkish defense industry source.

Does anyone really believe Katil Erdoğan is going to say "No" to the paşas? Does anyone really believe the paşas are only going to use armed drones on "military" targets? Sure, just like the US only uses drones on "military" targets? Think again.

Turkey is still trying to bring the Gaza situation to the UN Security Council:

In a swift reaction to Israel’s ground incursion into Gaza, the Turkish capital has harshly condemned Israel’s move, which it said was “unacceptable,” while calling on the UN Security Council to take immediate steps to bring the situation under control.

What's so funny about this is that it was in 2006, shortly after Israel's failed "incursion" into Lebanon, that Turkey became hot to follow the Israeli example in order to invade South Kurdistan--in another failed "incursion", I might add. From AsiaTimes:

This vividly reminds one of a similar blunder in the summer of 2006, when US officials backed Israel's cross-border incursions into southern Lebanon with the stated aim of "neutralizing" a terrorist organization (Hezbollah) and destroying its "organizational infrastructure".

The vocabulary used in both occasions, and the reactions solicited from Washington, are so strikingly similar that, inevitably, they invite comparisons between Israel's ultimately futile misadventure in Lebanon and Turkey's operation that is already a week long. Despite the US's prodding to "keep it short", it may end up approximating Israel's 33-day campaign against Hezbollah. This is particularly so since the Turkish army has to endure harsh winter conditions in addition to a resilient foe of about 3,000 or so PKK fighters.

In both cases, Israeli and Turkish leaders have tried to elicit world sympathy by stressing their "rightful cause", and in the expressions of "understanding" by both the US and the European Union seen at the beginning of both conflicts, one can detect the undercurrents of a failed Western policy that simply does not learn from history.

There are important differences between the two cases, but the similarities are unmistakable. This is particularly so in the area of asymmetrical warfare and the not-so-declared motives of the invading armies, ie, in Lebanon for Israel to fight a proxy war with Iran and in Iraq for Turkey to undermine the Kurdish path toward greater autonomy and, perhaps, eventual independence.

Zaman is also crying over its claim that Israel has been using cluster bombs in Gaza. It didn't do that when Turkey carpeted civilian areas in South Kurdistan with cluster bombs in October 2007.

Besides, even as far back as nine years ago, it was widely recognized that there was more than just a military relationship between Israel and Turkey, that there were economic ties like free trade zones, tourist resorts populated by Israeli visitors (and benefiting TSK), water agreements, and, perhaps most importantly, support for Turkey from the Israel lobby in the US. All of this in spite of the Israeli-Turkish relationship as a destabilizing factor in the Middle East.

I'm also completely amazed that global corporate media lapdogs have failed, in recent days, to point out the US role in maintaining destabilization, something David Rose of Vanity Fair pointed out last April. The only recent article on that can be found at Alternet.

No, I don't believe that Turkey is going to freeze its relationship with Israel, militarily or otherwise, no matter what Debkafile says. Even Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Çiçek will back me over Katil Erdoğan over that:

Turkish government spokesman and Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Çiçek signaled during a news conference on Monday that Ankara was not considering retaliation against Israel through suspending the countries' military relationship or canceling a recent project agreement signed with Israel.

Çiçek's statement came in response to a reporter's question about whether Ankara would cancel the recent arms deal with Israel -- a reflection of heightened expectations among the Turkish public that Turkey should cancel or suspend military cooperation with Israel as a means of deterring Israel from attacking Gaza.

The "recent arms deal with Israel" referred to here is the $141 million contract awarded to Israeli Aerospace Industries (the same people that brought you the Heron) for "comprehensive intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance applications" for the Turkish air force. These systems will help Turkey to continue its bombing of North and South Kurdistan. Further cooperation will ensure that Turkey benefits from the military lessons learned by the IDF in the current Gaza campaign.

After all, money, influence, and power speak a helluva lot louder than Kerdoğan.

TURKEY: GUARANTEEING HUMAN RIGHTS GLOBALLY

"When the government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny."
~ Thomas Jefferson.

From the No Shit Department:

Kenneth Roth, administrator of the Human Rights Watch (HRW), described Cemil Çiçek, minister in charge of the issues related to human rights, with whom he met about their reports about the police violence in Turkey and not punishing those responsible for it, as sarcastic and too defensive.

[ . . . ]

According to Roth, Çiçek denies even the existence of the problem and when reminded of the police violence cases, describes this as an outcome of the psychology of the police officer up against terrorism.

Emphasizing that Çiçek offered excuses about every matter they brought up in regards to the human rights violations, Roth said, "When we mentioned the Constitutional Reform, the freedom of expression and the police violence he brought up the constitutional process in the European Union (EU), the EU’s attitude towards Turkey and the violence used by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), respectively."

"It is ironic that Çiçek is the minister in charge of the human rights. It made me think that if Çiçek was a minister for improving the human rights or one for violating them. Let alone the implementation of the recommendations in the report, he did not even want to discuss the matter."

Welcome to our world, Mr. Roth! Have a glass of tea and stay a while.

Everyone can read the bloviations--or should I say "flatulations"?--that this worthless little human turd, Çiçek, has to say about Turkey's efforts for "human rights" at Hürriyet (English version, since I refuse to waste my precious time translating the turd's lies). Oh, I'm certain that Turkey will be the vanguard of securing human rights throughout the entire world--especially the Muslim world--because of it's temporary position on the UN security council. Yes, boys and girls, that would be the same UN that has never, in its entire history, so much as passed gas in Turkey's direction for the Ankara regime's genocide against the Kurdish people. After all, image is everything!

Yes, Turkey will be the ultimate vanguard of human rights everywhere, everywhere but right in its own internal colony of Turkish-occupied Kurdistan.

Let's see . . . we had the events of Newroz, with the AKP government beating Kurdish women with nightsticks and dislocating the arms of Kurdish youths in front of the news media, and the AKP police did that in front of the news media because they knew without any doubt that they would not be prosecuted for it. And they haven't been. That, boys and girls, is what is known as a culture of impunity and it is deeply entrenched within the Ankara regime.

Almost two years have passed since the Ankara regime murdered Hrant Dink and they are still screwing around with their bullshit prosecutions. From today's Bianet English page alone, there's an article about alleged charges against the Trabzon jandarma officials who arranged Dink's murder. Another article discusses the fact the fact that one of the so-called "witnesses" has changed his statement, probably for the umpteenth time. In addition to arranging and carrying out the murder of the most prominent Armenian journalist in Turkey, police officials are also under investigation for harassing a journalist from the daily Birgün.

I mean, sometimes I have to check to see if I'm actually reading Bianet or if I've mistakenly accessed the homepage of some human rights organization because it's constantly something involving serious abuses of human rights or violations of free expression that I see there.

Even Europe, the continent with the most hopelessly population, has begun to wonder what has happened with their wonder boy, Katil Erdoğan. From Der Spiegel:

Amid corruption scandals and stagnating reform, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, praised in Europe as a modernizer, is seeking refuge in nationalist rhetoric, adopting a tougher stance on the Kurds and moving closer to the country's military leaders.

The public prosecutor in Adana, a city in southern Turkey, has clear ideas on how the state ought to treat teenagers who protest by throwing stones. In his view, they should be arrested and locked away, preferably for life.

Last week the prosecutor demanded up to 58 years in prison for six young Kurds between the ages of 13 and 16. During a demonstration in October, the students threw stones at police officers, shouted illegal slogans and unfurled posters touting the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

[ . . . ]

Long praised in the West as a peacemaker and reformer, a man who has made great strides in bringing his country closer to Europe, Erdogan is now revealing reactionary tendencies.

He has recently stopped calling for "cultural rights" for minorities, and is ignoring the human rights abuses being committed by Turkish police. Instead, he now prefers the language of the generals and nationalists. Turkey, Erdogan said excitedly in a recent speech to a Kurdish audience, is "one nation, one flag, one country." He added: "whoever doesn't like it can leave."

When Dengir Mir Mehmet Firat, the Kurdish-born deputy chairman of Erdogan's conservative Islamic party, the AKP, resigned from his position, the premier replaced him with a hardliner who prefers military force over dialogue when it comes to the Kurdish question.

Oh, surprise, surprise, surprise.

None of this counts the bombing of Kurdish civilians, and the destruction of their property and livelihoods, in South Kurdistan--a part of the sovereign state of Iraq--by TSK, which has been ongoing for one year now. If it were the Israelis targeting Palestinian civilians like that, no one would hear the end of it.

But no. . . it's only Turkey, this year's global vanguard of human rights, and it's only the Kurds getting bombed. Move along, folks, there's nothing to see here. Move along.

But we all know why the Ankara regime maintains its internal colony Kurdistan and fears the local administration of resources, labeling such a suggestion--as made by Diyarbakır's wildly popular mayor, Osman Baydemir--as "separatism". Resources. High quality oil reserves, the curse of the region, for one. Water and coal, to name two others. For these reasons, resource-rich Kurdistan will continue bereft of liberty, a victim of Turkey's internal imperialism.

How about those Greeks, eh? From the very people who invented democracy--real democracy, not the crap peddled by the Western world, whose "democracy" is merely a euphemism for "unbridled, free-market capitalism", otherwise known as greed. Those Greeks are proving Thomas Jefferson's words: "When the government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny."

This is exactly what needs to happen in Turkey every time a Kurdish boy has his arm dislocated or broken by the fascist police, every time a Kurd is shot dead in Istanbul because some pig decided he just felt like murdering a Kurd, and every time some brain-dead Turkish nationalist decides to take a shotgun to supporters of the DTP, simply because the murderer he elected as prime minister told him it was just ducky to shoot supporters of the only opposition party in Turkey.

Every time these kinds of things happen, there should be riots throughout the country, without stop, until the regime and it's culture of racism and impunity fears the people more than it fears anything its worst nightmares can conjure.

Then, and only then, will you have liberty.

Happy Freakin' International Human Rights Day!