AMED, US BASES, AND TORTURE

"While scads of bases were being built -- including four huge ones whose geographic placement correlated fairly strikingly with the four mentioned in the Times article -- reports about U.S. bases in Iraq, or any Pentagon planning in relation to them, largely disappeared from the American media."
~ Tom Engelhardt

Here are some comments from Murat Karayılan on the Amed (Diyarbakır) bombing, taken from an interview at Yeni Özgür Politika:

What is the exact relationship between your movement and the explosion that occured in Amed on 3 January against a military vehicle?

There is no relationship between our movement and that incident. Since the incident happened, we are investigating in several ways in order to get correct information. However, we have not gotten clear and concrete information yet. It seems like it is an incident that has been done by a regional unit on its own initiative. However, due to the method, the location, and the timing of this operation, it is an unacceptable attempt. Therefore our movement's headquarters is not claiming responsibility for this attempt.

It is still debatable who perpetrated this incident. We have opened an investigation already. Let me say this: we have not yet ordered our forces to use all possibilities and methods against the Turkish government and army. Had we given such an order, neither Erdogan nor Buyukanit would have gone to Amed so comfortably. We have that power; let no one deceive himself. We, as the movement, have not given such an order yet. We have hundreds of "immortals" company members and forces that are waiting for suicide operations. If this attack policy continues and the Turkish government's full mobilization against the Kurdish freedom movement keeps going as it is, a big war will occur. We adopted a limited defensive war and we are behaving according to the calls for a solution that we made.

For that reason, everyone must know this very well, that currently we are not even using ten percent of our military potential. Had we really pushed the button with all means, had we said, "Everyone must do what he or she can," then very different consequences would have occured. But we have not made such a decision yet.

AKP wanted to use this incident in a very opportunistic way, for preparing the ground to get Amed in the next regional election. We see this underhanded attempt as very atrocious. We are accepting the share of responsibility that belongs to us. We should have better control and inspection from our side. However, the main responsibility of this incident--and similar incidents--lies with Turkey and the AKP government.

There was also something about two US military bases being constructed, one in North Kurdistan and one in South Kurdistan, and the focus of these bases will be Iran. From Firat News (Note: see the link for photos):

Blood Price For The US Support To Turkey’s PKK Operation: A Military Base Against Iran

by Mehmet Yaman (source: ANF Fırat News Agency)
Monday, January 14, 2008

Editor's note: This was translated from Turkish by Cem Ertür from CASMII.

Having given no support to Turkey’s struggle against the PKK for a long time, the US supported the Turkish army’s recent bombing of the Qandil Mountain.

The reason behind this support is becoming clear now: An agreement made between the US, Turkey and the Federal Administration of South Kurdistan for the construction in South and North Kurdistan [i.e. Northern Iraq and Southeastern Turkey respectively] of two strategic US military bases targeting Iran.

According to a military specialist who trained Kurdish Special Security Forces in Salahaddin, a military base has already been established on the strategically important Korek Mountain in the Diyana (Soran) district of South Kurdistan. A specialist team consisting of seven US and Israeli staff members set up the connection of new satellite systems and powerful radar receptors and dealt with technical organisation.

The US dispatched the equipment for this base via Turkish territory. Entry to and exit from the Korek mountain area was banned before the launch of the construction work, with the exception of US and Israeli specialists and the special teams that support them. A US-trained 1,500-strong red beret Peshmerga force was deployed in the area surrounding the high-security base.

Before the US intervention on Iraq, the Turkish intelligence agency MIT was operating in the region to collect intelligence by intercepting communication between guerillas. An Israeli newspaper has previously reported that the US was establishing a military base a few kilometers from the Iraq- Iran border.

The Wall Street Journal came up with a similar news item on September 11, 2007. Images of the base are being published for the first time by the ANF Fırat News Agency. A second team reportedly began its activities for setting up, with Turkey’s approval, a similar military base in the Yüksekova district (province of Hakkari, Turkey) near the Iranian border. Although the technical devices aren’t installed yet, similar work is being carried out there as well. Sepelke region is also being used for the two bases. According to the political analysts in the region, if the ongoing US-Israeli intelligence and reconnaissance work on the PKK will be successful, then this will also be applied to Iran in different ways. For that reason, the phase that began with the provision to Turkey of intelligence on PKK seeks to achieve strategically important results in the medium- and long-term. The first step in that direction was made during a meeting at the Khanzad Hotel which is located between Hewler [Arbil] and Salahaddin. In that meeting, it was agreed that in return for receiving intelligence on the Qandil area, Turkey would refrain from harsh statements and threats against the Kurdish administration and provide support for the construction of the military bases targeting Iran and Syria.

And, in case you missed it:

London (KurdishMedia.com) 15 January 2008: About 60 percent of those who are tortured in the Turkish prisons are of Kurdish ethnicity while the rest of the other ethnicities in the courty, including Turks, are only constitute about 40 percent, reported in Kurdish website sbeiy.com on 13 January 2008.

On 13 January 2008, the Centre of Social and Investigation of Rights (Tuhav) in Turkey reported that 60 percent of the torture cases are carried out in Turkish prisons are detainees of Kurdish ethnicity. A member of the centre Selimoglu stated that "there are 70 to 80 thousand prisoners in Turkey and they are chiefly ill-treated"

No surprise there except for the ignorant.

TIME TO EMAIL

Regarding the welcome we hope is given Büyükanıt in the UK on 20 January, Hevallo has a request for readers to send an email "to the UK Home Secretary responsible for crime."

Here's the generic email from Hevallo which everyone can use:

Dear UK Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith,

The General of the Chief of Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces, General Yasar Buyukanit is to visit London on the 20th Jan 2008.

General Buyukanit has committed serious and grave human rights abuses in Turkey against the Kurdish people during his time as commander of the 7th Turkish Army and during his time as General of the Chief of Staff.

There are so many cases that need further investigation, but there is sufficient evidence in two of the cases to justify an immediate arrest under international human rights law.

The first case is in regards to the large amount of bones and human remains found in a mass grave in the grounds of the military prison facility based in the notorious HQ of the Turkish 7th Army on 21st Sept 2007. General Buyukanit was the commander of 7th Army during the late nineties when many disappearances and killings by ‘unknown persons’ took place. He will certainly know where these human remains have come from.

The second case involves General Buyukanit being accused by a Turkish prosecutor of setting up rouge and secret militias to carry out killings and assassinations of Kurdish targets in the South East of Turkey.

These accusations came to light after a bombing of a Kurdish bookshop in the Kurdish town of Semdinli 9th Nov 2005. One man was killed in the attack. As the bombers made their getaway a crowd gathered around their car and captured them. In the car investigators found a cache of weapons, maps of the area and a list of further names of prominent Kurdish people listed for assassination.

General Buyukanit when responding to this attack, called one of the bombers who were caught red handed a ‘good chap’. The man served under General Buyukanit.

In any other country these serious crimes would have been investigated and the men responsible would be behind bars but these crimes remain unsolved and covered up.

The man who has been leading and directing these acts of ‘state terrorism’ against the Kurdish people, General Yasar Buyukanit is visiting London on 20th Jan 2008.

This is a chance to detain, question and charge him with crimes against humanity.

The UK authorities cannot just ignore and excuse such serious and systematic human rights abuses. By doing so the UK will be condoning and supporting ‘state terror’.

Please take action to arrest General Buyukanit.

Yours sincerely,

I'm sure Hevallo wouldn't mind if readers decided to personalize this. When you're all ready, send your email to the following addresses:

public.enquiries@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

Smithjj@parliament.uk

Please do your part to help insure that Yaşar Büyükanıt gets the welcome he so richly deserves.

AIMING AT A WAR CRIMINAL

"At the heart of the concept of war crimes is the idea that an individual can be held responsible for the actions of a country or that nation's soldiers. Genocide, crimes against humanity, mistreatment of civilians or combatants during war can all fall under the category of war crimes. Genocide is the most severe of these crimes."
~ Tarik Kafala.

Hevallo and the UK Bakûrî are preparing a nice welcome for Yaşar Büyükanıt when he visits the UK on 20 January. They want to make sure that Büyükanıt the War Criminal gets everything that he deserves and plan to make a proper introduction of The Criminal to British polic authorities through a dossier of Büyükanıt's war crimes against the Kurdish people.

Everyone knows that Büyükanıt praised the Şemdinli bombers as "good boys" but not everyone may know that Büyükanıt was the commander of the Turkish 7th Corps, headquartered in Diyarbakır, from 1996 to 1998. Altay Tokat, the retired Turkish general who admitted to ordering bombings of Turkish civil servants in The Region during his time in The Southeast:

Turkey's Chief of General Staff Prosecutor's Office has drawn up its indictment against retired Lieutenant General Altay Tokat for his public revelation that he was responsible for ordering one or two clandestine street bombings when assigned to the Southeast region "to bring judges and civil servants in line".

[ . . . ]

Diyarbakir Bar Association Sezgin Tanrikulu had said Tokat's revelations were a self-confession and that he had directly committed the offences of threatening, influencing the judiciary and praising crime. In its complaint and application, the Bar Association had requested for an investigation to be launched into the general's past activities and other possible clandestine acts in the Southeast.

Human rights associations and the Bar Association not only want the full spectrum of Tokat's activities investigated but for him to be put on trial for human rights violations in the region based on his statements.

[ . . . ]

"In my time," the retired general said, "I also had them throw a few bombs to some critical points. These were empty places! My issue was to give a message".

Tokat said the message given through street bombings targeted civil servants and judges who were assigned to the region and the explosions occurred close to were they lived.

"Civil servants, judges that come from the West [of Turkey] don't understand the seriousness of the situation... when things became calmer, they started to take this business nor seriously... In consequence I had [bombs] thrown at two places close to their houses. After that they understood that they needed to be careful. One [act of] disaster is better than a thousand words of advice. This way I educated them," he said.

"You can't immediately evaluate this by saying throwing bombs is illegal. I might have saved the lives of those people. I did not tell them either. Now if you construe this as assassination, I'll laugh at that" he was quoted as further saying.

When did MHP'er Altay Tokat serve in The Southeast, you ask? From 1995 to 1998, meaning that he served under Büyükanıt. Therefore, Büyükanıt, as the commanding officer, is also responsible for Tokat's bomb-tossing at Turkish civil servants and judges.

Not only did Tokat's bombs go off during Büyükanıt's watch, but a mass grave also found its way to "the courtyard of the Turkish 7th Army Headquarters in the Kurdish capital of Amed (Diyarbakir) in northern Kurdistan (southeastern Turkey.)". Büyükanıt may also be responsible for the deaths of the victims buried in the 7th Army Corps Headquarters mass grave.

Büyükanıt is responsible for everything that happened and failed to happen in The Southeast during his time there, so he is guilty of numerous atrocities. If anyone has any information linking Büyükanıt to any specific incidents, please email me and I will forward your information to Hevallo to be included in the dossier on the War Criminal Büyükanıt.

Wouldn't it be nice to see Büyükanıt running for his life, à la Donald Rumsfeld?

CORRUPTION AND BLOWBACK

"Corruption never has been compulsory."
~ Anthony Eden.

The BBC has discovered something that some of us--like Hîwa and I--have complained about for some time: corruption in South Kurdistan and how difficult it is for the ordinary Kurd to get by.

As I said, from the BBC:

Flying into the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, Irbil and its glitteringly new international airport, it is difficult to believe you are entering Iraq.

[ . . . ]

Irbil looks like a boom town. Cranes and new multi-storey buildings litter the skyline.

There are shopping malls, luxurious gated communities, conference centres and grandiose headquarters for the factions who once fought Saddam and now rule Kurdistan - the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).

[ . . . ]

Meanwhile, ordinary Kurds are struggling to get by. People described rampant inflation, high unemployment and erratic water and electricity supplies.

In Sulaimaniya, Iraqi Kurdistan's second city, people said they got running water for four hours every three days and electricity for three-to-four hours a day.

Contaminated water supplies have led to cholera outbreaks.

"Too many times, we have asked the government to help us,"said one woman who had lost her father-in-law and a baby to cholera said. "But it is in vain. They promise and do nothing."

She described the fear of living through an outbreak last September, knowing her water supply was contaminated, but not having the electricity to boil the water.

"When I think of the budget and the millions and see my situation," she said, "I feel like I am dead."

Kurdistan's budget is large - more than $6bn last year - the region's share of Iraq's oil revenues. But there is a growing gap between ordinary Kurds and the political elite.

"I see some of the officials who, 20 years ago, were with us in the mountains," said Ari Harsin, another former peshmerga, who is now the Irbil bureau editor of the independent Awene newspaper.

"They used to be purists, partisans. Now they are driving land cruisers with dark windows and a lot of body guards. They see how ordinary people are living. They have no shame."

Surprise, surprise, surprise.

There's also a podcast of the BBC's Crossing Continents radio program on which this story aired. It's got a 28-minute run time, and I recommend a listen. Young people from Helebçe who helped destroy the memorial in protest against the PUK are spoken to, as are people in government, Kurdish journalists, and contractors who are building exclusive, gated, residential areas for the elites. You can download the mp3 file here. The program was originally aired on 10 January.

If you had been planning to see the new flick with Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, called Charlie Wilson's War, you'd better read something from Chalmers Johnson before you get propagandized yet again by Hollywood. From TomDispatch:

Which brings us back to the movie and its reception here. (It has been banned in Afghanistan.) One of the severe side effects of imperialism in its advanced stages seems to be that it rots the brains of the imperialists. They start believing that they are the bearers of civilization, the bringers of light to "primitives" and "savages" (largely so identified because of their resistance to being "liberated" by us), the carriers of science and modernity to backward peoples, beacons and guides for citizens of the "underdeveloped world."

[ . . . ]

When imperialist activities produce unmentionable outcomes, such as those well known to anyone paying attention to Afghanistan since about 1990, then ideological thinking kicks in. The horror story is suppressed, or reinterpreted as something benign or ridiculous (a "comedy"), or simply curtailed before the denouement becomes obvious. Thus, for example, Melissa Roddy, a Los Angeles film-maker with inside information from the Charlie Wilson production team, notes that the film's happy ending came about because Tom Hanks, a co-producer as well as the leading actor, "just can't deal with this 9/11 thing."

[ . . . ]

Today there is ample evidence that, when it comes to the freedom of women, education levels, governmental services, relations among different ethnic groups, and quality of life -- all were infinitely better under the Afghan communists than under the Taliban or the present government of President Hamid Karzai, which evidently controls little beyond the country's capital, Kabul. But Americans don't want to know that -- and certainly they get no indication of it from Charlie Wilson's War, either the book or the film.

Read the rest, especially if you're going to see the movie. Actually, read the rest anyway, because Chalmers Johnson knows what he's talking about--and get his Blowback trilogy, if you can--and you might actually learn something about how the CIA works, how American policy works, how the media works, and how Hollywood works.

NO CHANGE IN SIGHT

"We stand for the maintenance of private property... We shall protect free enterprise as the most expedient, or rather the sole possible economic order."
~ Adolf Hitler.

Here's Obama's plan for Kurdistan--thanks to Anonymous, who dropped off the link in comments.

Why am I not surprised? Maybe because of the people behind Obama:

Zbigniew Brzezinski

Anthony Lake, Clinton administration national security adviser

Sarah Sewall, Clinton administration deputy secretary of defense, counter, insurgency czar

Richard Clarke, Clinton and Bush administration counter, terrorism czar

Susan Rice, Clinton administration Africa specialist and NSC member, Brookings

Bruce Riedel, former CIA officer, NSC Near East and Asian affairs, Brookings

To see who's behind the other major candidates, take a look at this. Are you among the deluded who believe having a Demopublican in the White House will change US policy? Remember, they are all the same, so think again:

The “war on terrorism” will not only continue but likely intensify and expand under “new management." The only question is whether the bias will be towards a neoliberal brand, , , the “more nuanced” multinational New World Order, a “bipartisan consensus” in Washington, more orderly economic and political declines, etc. . . . .or a continuation of the open brutality and criminality of Bush-Cheney.

[ . . . ]

The Republican candidates have uniformly and consistently echoed the Bush/Cheney/neocon war agenda and 9/11/“terrorism” lies. Huckabee, the bizarre dark horse of the Republican side, has voiced criticism of some Bush-Cheney policies, but not the “war on terrorism” in general.

The Democratic candidates have each declared themselves the champion “anti-terrorist," or the “real” anti-terrorist that George W. Bush is not.

Obama’s murderous views on war are well documented, and similar to those of Bush-Cheney. In addition to war on Iran, Obama has declared that he would attack Pakistan if his administration possessed “actionable intelligence” that Osama bin Laden was hiding in Pakistan, and the government there did not act.

Don't miss Huckabee's plans for the Kurdish people at Foreign Affairs. Check page 2.

The forecast: No change in sight.

Also, read about the special gift some Turkish high school students sent Büyükanıt:

Have you heard the news? A group of high school kids from Kırşehir, a central Anatolian city, sent a special Turkish flag to the commander in chief of the Turkish military, Gen. Yaşar Büyükanıt. What made the flag special was the stuff it was made of. The red color in the background was not any ordinary paint. It was literally the blood of these students, which they had joyfully spilt to symbolize their devotion "to the homeland."

According to the daily Bugün, which ran the news from its headline yesterday, Gen. Büyükanıt was deeply touched by this present. In a public speech, he mentioned it as symbolic of the fact the whole nation is ready to "spill its blood for the sacred cause of our national unity."

As is pointed out at the TDN link, this special gift gets very close in idea to the "blood flag" of the Nazi Party, and it's an appropriate comparison: the Nazi regime was, and the Ankara regime is, fascist. The Nazis attempted to carry out a genocide against Jews, Gypsies, and others, while the Ankara regime continues to carry out genocide against the Kurdish people. Obviously, the Ankara regime's taste for genocide is a carry-over from the Ottomans. Contrary to the other claims in the TDN article, Turkey did not remain neutral during WW2, but was among those countries that "' . . . played an equally critical rold in sustaining the war effort' by providing Nazi Germany with minerals essential for making weapons."

Don't forget to stop by Hevallo's place to get the link to Sibel Edmonds' Kill the Messenger video, if you haven't seen it yet. And considering that those in the US may have to wait for hell to freeze over until it's aired here, watching it at Google may be your only opportunity to see it.

THE BEST ARGUMENT FOR NOT VOTING

"Maybe, maybe, maybe its not the politicians who suck. Maybe it's something else sucks around here . . . like the public."
~ George Carlin.

The best, and wisest, commentary yet for the American elections of 2008:

With that in mind . . . here's an example of how worthless the democratic process is in the US, check Lukery's recent post about Congressman Waxman (D-CA) and his avoidance of Sibel Edmonds' case:

Congressman Henry Waxman has used every possible trick to deny Sibel hearings in congress.

After years of promising that he would hold hearings when the Dems were in the majority, he caved and has settled on a 'talking point' where he and his staff say "we have no plans to hold hearings at this time."

[ . . . ]

Waxman was then asked about the absurdity of him holding hearings into baseball but not Sibel's case, and he responds by saying that it's important that the kids have good role models. *choke.*

By coincidence, today I found another little report on Waxman, apparently from his own constituents. They, too, are interested in what Sibel has to say:

Waxman’s more than 30-minute speech focussed on health care, corrupt charities, rampant steroid use in major league baseball, and he touched lightly with pride on the fact that Congress had just passed the Whistle Blower Protection Act. He clearly stated with regard to any impeachment bill that his opinion differed from those in the room and that he would not support such hearings nor would he entertain a new 911 investigation because it would look bad for the Democratic Party. When the disagreeing crowd interrupted his speech at that point, Waxman, who was clearly agitated and sounding almost childish said,


"Hey this is not right, the way you are treating me".

OH, BOO-HOO-HOOOOOO!

Later, when the audience was allowed to ask questions they lined the center isle for their turn to speak. From the beginning Waxman was bombarded with question after question about Sibel Edmonds – the gagged FBI Whistleblower, WTC7 and other issues related to the crimes of 911.

[ . . . ]

The questions ranged from why the Congressman refuses to have Sibel Edmonds testify under oath in an open session to when will Congress open a new 911 investigation - while also hitting hard on HR 1955. Waxman was obviously caught off guard and cornered with little to say on those issues.

After hearing George Carlin's commentary, it should be pretty obvious why Waxman refuses to do something about significant national--and global--security and corruption issues, and prefers to push the cause of the vastly overpaid and overrated drug addicts of major league baseball.

Garbage in; garbage out.

FAWNING AT THE FEET OF MAMMON

"The business of the journalist is to destroy the truth, to lie outright, to pervert, to vilify, to fawn at the feet of mammon, and to sell the country for his daily bread."
~ John Swinton, NYTimes editor, 1953.

At the moment we are still waiting for an official statement on the Amed (Diyarbakır) bombing from KCK, reference this article. The official investigation by KCK is not complete yet and the leadership has not yet determined exactly what has happened. They feel that they owe it to the Kurdish people to reveal the truth and they plan to do exactly that when the investigation is completed. Out of deep respect for the leadership and all the fighters of the Kurdish freedom movement, I will wait for their official statement.

At the moment, I am following the situation and am bookmarking the pertinent pages and when the moment is right, I will faithfully report what our freedom movement has to say.

In the meantime, there has been much chatter on the Sibel Edmonds case. On the surface, it may seem strange that I have followed Sibel's case and have tried to bring as much of it as possible to the readers of Rastî, but perhaps Hevallo's comments on Luke Ryland's recent post will help to explain why Sibel's case is important for Northern Kurds:

To get to bottom of this 'dirty' relationship is part of the Kurdish struggle for freedom. I have spoken to officials from the Kurdish parties in Turkey about your campaign and they asked me to send their very best wishes and solidarity. I will continue to do everything within my own modest capacity to help.

Sibel's case goes to the heart of the political battle in North Kurdistan because the actors in this sordid chapter of Deep State crime are all complicit in the genocide of the Kurdish people and they should all be exposed no matter where they are--in the US, Turkey, or Israel. This is why Sibel's information should be dispersed as widely as possible, and here are some links for doing just that:


"'Nükleer köstebek' Marc Grossman mı" (For Turkish-language speakers, thanks to Miguel for that link. Believe it or not, it's a Hürriyet article that is actually true to Sibel's story. It summarizes The Sunday Times article well, and also draws from Sibel bloggers, especially Luke Ryland's work. It's a good, complete summary of Sibel's case in Turkish.)

Luke also has a couple of posts to update The Sunday Times: "Media Coverage" and "Facts & Thanks". He also has a link to something Chris Floyd has written.

Joseph Cannon at Cannonfire has a very detailed post here. Remember the guy who, back in 2005, was arrested in Turkey for building bombs he was going to use against Israeli ships? Cannon mentions him in reference to The Times article last November--the article that prompted Sibel to approach The Times with her story. Here's what Cannon has to say:

Sakka and the spooks: I'm still not sure why news reports about this man triggered Edmonds to go into action. But the following may be of interest.

According to the Turkish newspaper Zaman, 2000 was the year when the Americans "turned" Sakka, who received an unspecified (but large) amount of money from the CIA. More than that: He received protection during his time in Turkey -- while he ran those Al Qaeda training camps.

Then came his mysterious sojourn in Germany in 2000-2001. During this period, he appears to have met Atta -- and then he went "underground.

Germany's BND -- their version of the CIA -- aided Sakka while he was on the run. This, despite the fact that Sakka was considered a wanted man in Germany, due to his role in earlier terror plots.

In late 2005, after Sakra’s arrest in Turkey (see July 30, 2005), the German television news show Panorama will report that the German BKA (Federal Office of Criminal Investigation) suspects the German BND (Federal Intelligence Service) to have helped Sakra escape from Germany in late 2001. Supposedly, German police had learned where he was staying in Germany, but the BND enabled him to escape via France to Syria in order to prevent further investigations about him. Panorama will report that Sakra was secretly still working for Syrian intelligence and was giving them information about al-Qaeda’s leadership. Sakra will go on to mastermind a series of suicide bombings in Istanbul, Turkey, in 2003...

We cannot know what Sakka was up to in Syria, but one thing seems clear: Western intelligence placed greater value on his services than on bringing a 9/11 plotter to justice. His protection continued in the face of the 1999 plots, the 9/11 tragedy, and the 2003 bombings. It ended only when he decided to go after Israeli ships.

At his 2005 trial, his lawyer offered an intriguing observation:

Sakra’s lawyer will claim that if Sakra revealed all that he knew, “a few states would collapse.”

This was the guy referred to in The Sunday Times:

She [Edmonds] approached The Sunday Times last month after reading about an Al-Qaeda terrorist who had revealed his role in training some of the 9/11 hijackers while he was in Turkey.

If the CIA gave the guy money and "turned" him, and if the Ankara regime protected him while he was running al-Qaeda training camps in Turkey, and another American ally, Germany, aided the guy while he was on the lam, does that make him a CIA asset?

Do you find that surprising? You shouldn't. Remember who the real terrorists are.

Lastly, there's a video interview with Brad Friedman of The Brad Blog at INN World Report, discussing Sibel's case. Perhaps the thing that comes across most clearly in the interview is that Friedman notes that the US media has not breathed so much as one syllable of Sibel's case.

I never thought I'd live to say it, but Sibel's case makes me respect Turkish media so much more than American media.

Ax!

HPG STATEMENT ON AMED BOMBING

HPG has issued a Statement about the explosion in Amed (Diyarbakır).

To the people and public opinion:

There is a possibility that the explosion in Amed Yenişehir on 3 January 2008, in which a military vehicle carrying lieutenants, including some pilots, was carried out by one of our units' own initiative. We have not received exact information about this operation yet.

We want you to know that we will share the exact results when the investigation is completed.

Stay tuned.

POISONING SIBEL EDMONDS

"Disinformation is deliberately misleading information announced publicly or leaked by a government, intelligence agency, corporation or other entity for the purpose of influencing opinions or perceptions. Unlike misinformation, which is also a form of wrong information, disinformation is produced by people who intend to deceive their audience."
~ Sourcewatch

Well, the good news is that this morning when I started looking at news, Sibel's bombshell from The Sunday Times was all over the place, including Counterpunch and OpEd News, The Times of India, Pakistan's Daily Times, Iran's PressTV, Israel's Haaretz, and TDN.

The news is also ricocheting around the blogosphere at, among many, The Agonist, Lukery's always excellent diary at Daily Kos, and The Brad Blog. Hevallo has not only one post on Sibel, but two!

The bad news is that there already appears to be a disinformation campaign begun against Sibel, and it's starting to spread through the blogs. Sibel posted a photo gallery of "subjects of interest" on her own website while Lukery put names to faces. However, someone is already tampering with Sibel's gallery:

UPDATE: I have made some changes to the list. I have removed Lantos, despite what I have heard being confirmed by Sibel's gallery of people. I have added Kissinger too.

Alexandrovna gives no explanation for her tampering, and her "adjustments" were made without any knowledge of Turkish and no access to the FBI tapes that Sibel translated.

Why remove Lantos? Just because he's had to resign from the House due to cancer? Sorry, but that's no excuse to let the guy off if he's guilty, and if he's posted in Sibel's rogues' gallery, he's guilty. Let justice hound him to the grave because his criminal involvement with the Deep State has caused severe suffering for countless hundreds of thousands in North Kurdistan alone. Give me twenty years and I'd still be trying to squeeze out a tear for this dirty old bastard of American politics.

Why add Kissinger? We all know that Kissinger is a douchebag and is also guilty of the blood of millions, but if he's not mentioned in the FBI tapes that Sibel translated, then why drag him into Sibel's case?

If we scroll down, we read this:

Henry Kissinger (He is not shown in Sibel's gallery, but I believe him to be on of the MIA photos)

Oh, I see. Despite what she has heard being confirmed by Sibel's own gallery and by Sibel's own facts, this fine, upstanding example of American journalism--and that's not a compliment--believes Kissinger to be part of Sibel's case, then it simply has to be.

That, boys and girls, is what's known as "blowing it out of your ass."

The photo information came from Sibel and is posted at Sibel's site; Alexandrovna didn't come up with any of it on her own. Why, then, is there any need to change names, take out names, or add any other non-factual, irrelevant crap? If Sibel listed those people in her photo gallery, then Sibel did so for reasons that are fully backed by facts. Why would Alexandrovna tamper with the information that Sibel is able to tell? Why attempt to obfuscate and poison the facts that Sibel has been trying to tell for years? I mean, Alexandrovna can claim that she's been trying to publish for years the information that she's learned of Sibel's case but the fact is that, aside from Sibel, Luke Ryland is the expert on the case. I add that, contrary to Alexandrovna's claim, she hasn't put so much as a nanofraction of the work into Sibel's case as Luke Ryland has.

Sibel's information, including the photo gallery, is based on the facts as backed up by Sibel's own, direct evidence, and here we have someone altering it based on what? Partisanship? Ideological allegiances? Or just plain malice?

The evidence against the Deep State in the US, Israel, Pakistan, and Turkey must always be backed up by pristine evidence. So far, Sibel has presented us with nothing but pristine evidence, as far as she can given the Deep State's court-ordered gag against her.

Who is Alexandrovna covering for? Who's she spreading disinformation for? What's in it for her that she's attempting to discredit Sibel Edmonds?

THE MAN WHO GAVE PAKISTAN THE BOMB

"He was aiding foreign operatives against US interests by passing them highly classified information, not only from the State Department but also from the Pentagon, in exchange for money, position and political objectives."
~ Sibel Edmonds.

We have not heard too much from Sibel Edmonds since the end of October, when she let it be known publicly that she was willing to tell the whole story of her work at the FBI and the information she learned from the translations she made--information that would expose and damn the Turkish lobby in the US and that great American work of fiction, The 9/11 Commission Report.

The silence since Sibel's offer to go public has been mainly the result of the chickenshit American media, which continually refuses to show any interest in Truth or in telling a story that requires a bit of mental concentration to understand--no matter how important the story is. So much for the tradition of muckraking.

Until today, anyway.

Britain's The Sunday Times has placed Sibel's story front and center to tell who it was that was involved with selling nuclear secrets to Pakistan:

Among the hours of covert tape recordings, she says she heard evidence that one well-known senior official in the US State Department was being paid by Turkish agents in Washington who were selling the information on to black market buyers, including Pakistan.

The name of the official – who has held a series of top government posts – is known to The Sunday Times. He strongly denies the claims.

However, Edmonds said: “He was aiding foreign operatives against US interests by passing them highly classified information, not only from the State Department but also from the Pentagon, in exchange for money, position and political objectives.”

Oh, let me take three nanoseconds of my time to guess who that "well-known senior official in the US State Department" was: Marc Grossman.

Those familiar with the details of the conflict of interest surrounding the State Department's appointment of Lockheed Martin's Joseph Ralston as "PKK coordinator" for Turkey, will remember that Ralston works as a vice-chairman of The Cohen Group. The other vice-chairman of The Cohen Group is Marc Grossman.

The Cohen Group, founded by former Defense Secretary William Cohen--a Clinton appointee--has been involved in nothing but dirty business since its creation, such as its role in the cover-up of Oil-for-Food kickbacks and the Australian Wheat Board. Then, of course, there was the appointment of Ralston as "special envoy" to Turkey to "coordinate" the PKK, even while he was listed as a lobbyist for The Cohen Group in order to export tactical fighter aircraft--and this while maintaining his position as a member of the Board of Directors of Lockheed Martin.

So it should come as no surprise that The Cohen Group should attract and employ a major rodent like Grossman.

Marc Grossman climbed his way to the number three position at the State Department during his 29 years at the department, during which time he worked in Turkey and Pakistan. As the US ambassador to Turkey, he supervised the procurement of American military hardware for the Turkish military and the guy who was directly in charge of that procurement was none other than US Air Force Major Douglas Dickerson who, with his wife, MİT operative Melek Can Dickerson, figures prominently in Sibel's story.

Note that Grossman and Dickerson worked together to provide Turkey with American weapons and military training at the height of Turkey's genocidal Dirty War against the Kurdish people, during which time the US provided more weapons to Turkey than it had during all the other combined years of the Cold War.

Grossman has also been seriously implicated in tipping off both the Pakistanis and the Turks as to the true nature of Brewster Jennings, earning him the status of "subject of interest" by US intelligence circles:

"When Beyaz Enerji began to encounter 'consultants' with Brewster Jennings, they expressed an interest to their ATC interlocutors in buying the firm along with other energy consulting companies. In the two phone calls intercepted by the FBI, Grossman told the called parties to 'stay away from Brewster Jennings . . . they're the government . . . they're nothing but a cover.' One of the calls was to a Pakistani Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) top agent in Washington. The other call, bearing an almost identical message, was made to a Northrop Grumman official who was a key player with the ATC. The Northrop Grumman official made a phone call to his ATC handler, stating, 'Our guy warned us off Brewster Jennings.' A U.S. intelligence source stated that 'Grossman's name was all over the FBI wiretaps in 2001.'

"Grossman, who now works for the Cohen Group of former Defense Secretary William Cohen, was, according to U.S. intelligence sources, a subject of interest to counter-intelligence agents since his stint as U.S. ambassador in Ankara."

Then there was Grossman's Pakistan connection:

Ahmed [General Mahmoud], the paymaster for the hijackers, was actually in Washington on 9/11, and had a series of pre-9/11 top-level meetings in the White House, the Pentagon, the national security council, and with George Tenet, then head of the CIA, and Marc Grossman, the under-secretary of state for political affairs. When Ahmed was exposed by the Wall Street Journal as having sent the money to the hijackers, he was forced to "retire" by President Pervez Musharraf. Why hasn't the US demanded that he be questioned and tried in court?

A better question: Why hasn't the US demanded that Marc Grossman be questioned and tried in court?

Did claims against our "subject of interest" pan out? If not, then why did Grossman resign from the number 3 position at the State Department under cover of darkness--normal activity for rodents--by the beginning of 2005?

Sibel herself put it best:

The second Vice Chairman of Cohen’s firm is Marc Grossman, who was the U.S. Undersecretary for Political Affairs in the State Department from 2001 until 2005. From November 1994 to June 1997, he served as U.S. Ambassador to Turkey. In January 2005 Grossman resigned from his position and joined the Cohen Group. In late December 2005, Grossman joined Ihlas Holding, a large and alleged shady Turkish company which is also active in several Central Asian countries. Grossman is reported to receive $100,000 per month for his advisory position with Ihlas.’ Most and foremost, Grossman is known for his extraordinarily cozy relationship with Turkey and Israel; followed by Pakistan.

[ . . . ]

Please do not make the grave and naive mistake of assuming that Grossman found and obtained his highly lucrative and questionable positions after his resignation in January 2005. Within two months after his confident resignation, this boy got the vice chairmanship of the Cohen Group. Only six months later, Grossman ended up securing a ‘special advisory’ position for a foreign company that reported his monthly fee at $100,000 a month. The industrious Grossman seems to be juggling so many balls simultaneously: numerous foreign sponsored dinner speeches, the demanding pimping activities of Cohen’s firm, the very ‘special advising’ of a shady foreign company…

As Sibel noted, that "shady foreign company" is Ihlas Holding, a Fethullacı (i.e. Islamist) business. Obviously Marc Grossman was able to make a very comfortable transition to the private business world because he had made a lot of lucrative connections during his time at the State Department. These connections were his retirement plan, you might say. The fact is also that Grossman didn't cultivate any of his connections for high-minded ideological purposes; he did it for the money and the power.

Let's make it clear what I'm saying here, and what Sibel is saying: Marc Grossman sold nuclear secrets to the Turks, who turned around and sold them to Pakistan. Marc Grossman gave Pakistan The Bomb.

The rodent Grossman is in complete denial, again from today's Sunday Times:

The senior official in the State Department no longer works there. Last week he denied all of Edmonds’s allegations: “If you are calling me to say somebody said that I took money, that’s outrageous . . . I do not have anything to say about such stupid ridiculous things as this.”

But American intelligence types corroborate Sibel's version of the story, just as every official investigation into Sibel's accusations have done:

In researching this article, The Sunday Times has talked to two FBI officers (one serving, one former) and two former CIA sources who worked on nuclear proliferation. While none was aware of specific allegations against officials she names, they did provide overlapping corroboration of Edmonds’s story.

And if Grossman is truly innocent, he won't have anything to hide and, therefore, will not mind a public investigation . . . will he?

By the way, check out this little zinger at the beginning of the article:

She approached The Sunday Times last month after reading about an Al-Qaeda terrorist who had revealed his role in training some of the 9/11 hijackers while he was in Turkey.

Let's see now . . . Turkey . . . that would be America's close ally and Model of Democracy for the Middle East, right . . . training 9/11 hijackers in Turkey?

Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. Americans are so stupid.

For more on Sibel and The Sunday Times, see Luke Ryland's latest post at Let Sibel Edmonds Speak. Also, see Grossman backgrounders:

"Marc Grossman, Man of Mystery".

"Doug Feith, Richard Perle and Marc Grossman"

"Lesser Neocons of L'Affaire Plame"


In order to put faces to names, Sibel has a State Secrets Rogues Photo Gallery. The list of rogues reads as follows, from left to right:


Richard Perle
Douglas Feith
Eric Edelman
Marc Grossman

*****

Brent Scowcroft
Larry Franklin

*****

Dennis Hastert
Roy Blount - ( Republican, Missouri)
Dan Burton - (R - IN)
Tom Lantos - (D- CA)
?
Bob Livingston
Stephen Solarz

*****

Graham Fuller- RAND
David Makovsky - WINEP
Alan Makovsky- WINEP
?
?

*****

Yusuf Turani (President, Turkistan)
Professor Sabri Sayari (Georgetown, WINEP)
Mehmet Eymur (Turkish MIT)


UPDATE: Luke has a post with the photos of the guilty. Take a look and read the comments.

NO CONSPIRACIES HERE

"Although the institute calls itself a "non-partisan policy research organization," scholars at Hudson consistently reveal an ideological agenda in their work."
~ Hudson Institute entry at Right Web.

Hevallo brings up a good point to remember about the recent Amed bombing and the development of the situation in North Kurdistan in the last few months:

Remember the Hudson Institute 'Scenarios'?

Where the Turkish military was exposed going through all sorts of different 'scenarios' in the right wing 'think tank' in the US earlier in the year. And the leaked reports about US/Turkish 'special operations' in South Kurdistan.

My guess is that all these 'scenarios' that have so far been carried out, Beytussebap, bombings of Qandil and now this Diyarbakir bomb are all pieces of pre planned campaign, to justify not only the severe repression of the Kurdish Freedom Movement in Turkey, that is at its strongest in history but also to gain support for and justify a military invasion of South Kurdistan.

At the beginning of the year it sounded like a conspiracy theory, Turkey and the US plotting to invade Kurdistan and grab Kurdish oil. But now it seems all too plausible.

Who was sitting with the Paşas and the same Americans who faked all the "intelligence" for the Iraq War and now attempt to bullshit their way to a war in Iran? Qubad Talabanî, whose father lectures Northern Kurds to support the AKP. So you have to ask yourself what kind of deal the Southern Kurdish leadership has cut with both the Americans and the Turks at the expense of the Kurdish people.

Believe me, they ain't doing it out of the goodness of their little black hearts.

If you take the time to actually read the Hudson Institute entry at Right Web, you'll see names that repeat over and over in neocon circles, such as Norman Podhoretz, Meyrav Wurmser, Elliot Abrams, Francis Fukuyama, Richard Perle, the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), Center for Security Policy, Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP), and the RAND Corporation--filth all.

Goran at Zanetî has something new up about the US-Turkey relationship. Among other facts, he mentions that which very few bother to mention:

The complicity of the United States and NATO in the oppressive policies of the Turkish State may come as a surprise to many. The moral support or even the billions of dollars worth of weapons during the Cold War era are not the only things that were provided to Turkey. The U.S. military through the hundreds of their advisors actively trained the same Turkish military, Special Forces and intelligence services that carried out the vast array of human rights abuses that continue to this day. In more recent times, the U.S. continues to extend their support through Joint Combined Exchange Training led by U.S. Special Forces. The human rights abuses including the “numerous violations of the laws of war, including village destruction, indiscriminate fire, and ‘disappearances’" carried out by the Turkish Special Forces - trained by the U.S. forces - have been carefully documented by various groups such as the Human Rights Watch (HRW).(11) The serious war crimes, which could be questionably labeled as acts of genocide, committed by these U.S.-backed Turkish forces have been condemned by the HRW and reports recommend that such forces should not be deployed in Kurdish civilian regions.

Now think about that in light of Hevallo's point about the planning that went on at the Hudson Institute.

Nor is Hevallo alone in wondering if there are "any journalists or editors left in this world that have enquiring minds"; so does Axin Arbili at The Conservative Voice:

Despite all the deceptions and lies spread by Turkish and Western governments, and by so-called independent journalists or political analysts, the truth and reality is quite different: The Turkish army is not fighting terrorism, it is bombing the Kurdish resistance against Turkish tyranny and oppression.

[ . . . ]

The West prefers to believe in a friendly Turkey and supports it financially and militarily. Turkey is, after Egypt and Saudi Arabia, the third-largest recipient of US military aid. US tax monies finance Turkey in its dirty war against a defenceless people.

The Kurdish resistance and liberation leader, Abdullah Öcalan, was captured by the US secret services and handed over to the Turks. How strange that at the same time, the West supports two million Muslims in seceding from Serbia and establishing a second Albania.

Even more outrageous is the West's support of the Arabs, who call themselves Palestinians, in establishing a 23rd Arab state; notwithstanding that it is to be carved out of ancestral and biblical Jewish territory. The injustices done to the Kurds, whose history and legitimate claims to an independent, sovereign state infinitely transcends those of the so-called Palestinian Arabs. But Kurdish aspirations are ignored.

If Kurdish aspirations are ignored, then it's high time for a little in-your-face resistance to spread like wildfire . . . from Turkey, to Europe and beyond.

Serkeftin!

BLACK OPERATIONS IN THE KURDISH CAPITAL

"A good Kurd is a dead Kurd."
~ Türk İntikam Tugayı, 12 September 2006.

The last bombing in Amed (Diyarbakır), carried out on 12 September 2006, was the work of Turkish state forces, in particular Türk Intikam Tugayı (Turkish Revenge Brigade--TİT). At the time, TİT claimed the bombing on their website (quickly pulled from the Internet shortly thereafter):

"To the great Turkish people. In the recent period in many areas of our country, the bloody PKK terrorist organization has martyred our soldiers, police officers and our youth. We, as the Turkish Revenge Brigade, swear on our flag colored red with the blood of our martyrs, that for every Turk that PKK kills in [western Turkey], we will kill 10 Kurds in Diyarbakir. [ . . .] Here are photos taken during the preparation for the operation on September 12, 2006, dedicated to Private Ali Balikci who was martyred during duty by the PKK terrorist organization in the Eruh district of Siirt [ . . . ] A good Kurd is a dead Kurd."

DozaMe captured the photos for posterity from TİT's website and can be viewed at the .pdf link given above.

It looks like TİT has carried out another bombing in Amed today, again detonating the blast with a remote-control device:

A bomb exploded near a shopping mall in the largely Kurdish city of Diyarbakir in southeastern Turkey on Thursday, killing five people and wounding more than 60, in the largest attack on a Turkish city in months, the authorities said.

The bomb was placed in a parked car and detonated by remote control shortly before 5 p.m., just as a shuttle bus carrying military personnel passed, Turkish officials said.

At this point, unfortunately, Turkish soldiers only appear to have been wounded and reports indicate that TİT's blast only managed to kill civilians--school kids.

You should ask yourself who it is that can pack a car full of explosives, park it next to a Turkish military compound in The Southeast, and blow it up? Remember how the attempted assassination of Beytuşşebap's DTP mayor was set up? Does anyone honestly think that PKK sympathizers who set cars on fire with molotov cocktails could possibly drive around in The Southeast with that much explosives and not be stopped?

Or, if someone wants to believe that PKK sneaked so much explosives across the border from Iraq, how could they get it passed the hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the region? How could they drive it through OHAL areas without being stopped?

No. Only the Ankara regime could carry out such an attack in the world's largest Kurdish city.

The Turkish education minister tried to fudge his way around the bombing by saying, "I deeply condemn this blast if it is the result of a terrorist attack," which means that he's not condemning it because, in his view, it was not a terrorist attack. It was an attack by the Turkish Republic, and is, therefore, acceptable to the regime.

Let's note one other piece of trivia, shall we? The date of the Ankara regime's last bombing of Amed was significant as the date of the beginning of the current war against the Kurdish people--12 September 1980. In addition, 12 September 2006 was the day that Lockheed Martin's "PKK coordinator" Joseph Ralston arrived in Ankara on his first official mission as "PKK coordinator":

It is no coincidence that this most recent attack against the Kurdish people happened on the same day that "special envoy" Joseph Ralston arrived in Ankara. The US is backing Turkey in its renewal of the Dirty War, and the bombing in Amed is one more sign that "psychological operations," a special kind of warfare for which the US trained Turkish security forces, are being resurrected.

It's also no coincidence that this recent attack by the racist Ankara regime takes place just days before Abdullah Gül's 6 January visit to the US. I mean, he has to come with a reason to beg and I guess he couldn't find any Saudis to fly commercial jet aircraft into the Dedeman Hotel, so he has to settle for a TİT bomb.

AMED IS BOMBED AGAIN

Vehicles burn after an explosion in Diyarbakir, south eastern Turkey, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2008. A car bomb exploded in the Kurdish-dominated southeastern city of Diyarbakir on Thursday, wounding at least 20 people, including some military personnel, news reports said. (AP Photo/Ibrahim Yakut, Anatolia)

Vehicles are engulfed by flames following an explosion in the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir, January 3, 2008. REUTERS

Turkish police officers inspect the wreckage of a military bus following an explosion in the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir January 3, 2008. At least three people were killed in an explosion on Thursday that wrecked a military vehicle in the southeast Turkish city of Diyarbakir, NTV television quoted police sources as saying. REUTERS/Anatolian

Police inspect the area of an explosion in Diyarbakir. A powerful car bomb exploded Thursday near a military base in Diyarbakir, the main city in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast, killing five people, hospital officials said. (AFP)

TURKEY BURNS

"The very existence of flame-throwers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I'm just not close enough to get the job done."
~ George Carlin.

Does anyone remember back in 2005, how night after night, cars were set on fire in Paris? Does anyone remember how the French car-burnings were all over the news?

Good.

You may not have noticed, because it hasn't been too prominent in the media . . . mainly because the AKP government has forbidden the Turkish media from covering it . . . but cars have been burning all over Turkey for the last few weeks.

TDN has reported that 50 cars have been burned in Istanbul in the last two weeks. Of course, that's an official figure--meaning that it's not likely to be accurate:

Six more cars were torched in Istanbul Thursday while police arrested three people carrying Molotov cocktails.

Unidentified culprits poured gasoline before setting a parked car on fire in the Eminönü district. Firemen arrived at the scene and extinguished the flames but the car incurred serious damage.

Three trucks and one van were also set alight in the Küçükçekmece region.

Two people who had torched a car with Molotov cocktails in the Aksaray district were apprehended but two police officers were injured in the scuffle. Relatives of the two arsonists also got involved, and the police were forced to fire warning shots to end the disturbance. One of the policemen who sustained stab wounds is in critical condition, reports said.

Talk about efficiency! Not only was a car torched but a police got a few well-deserved stab wounds. Not only were trucks and vans torched in Küçükçekmece, but it's possible that a small bomb went off in the same district that wounded three.

Good.

According to Zaman, it appears that luxury cars are particularly targeted.

Excellent!

What could possibly be the reason for so many barbeques-on-wheels? Let's check that Zaman link again:

Gazi University’s Önder Aytaç points out that there might be "political reasons" behind the attacks, noting that it might be the PKK or some provocateurs aiming to create a Turkish-Kurdish rift in society. He also underlines that it is a possibility that if the police cannot catch the perpetrators soon, the attacks may well spread.

It might be "political"? No shit, Sherlock.

I might add that there's no need "to create a Turkish-Kurdish rift in society" when, in fact, the rift already exists and bears more resemblance to a chasm than to a rift. And here's a news flash for the brilliant professor at Gazi University: The attacks have already spread.

There have been car-burnings in Amed (Diyarbakır), Mersin, Adana, Ankara, Sinop, and Wan (Van). İzmir.

In Yüksekova, they say that PKK is behind the car-burning. Fabulous! Then who's behind the car-burning in Amed, Mersin, Adana, Ankara, Sinop, Wan, and İzmir?

Is PKK everywhere? Or is this all just a matter of jealousy against those who buy luxury cars? Then how does one account for soldiers' cars that are burned in The Southeast? What about military or police vehicles that are burned? Can a Turkish conscript afford a BMW? Is the TSK or the Turkish police German, that they drive Mercedes?

These car-burnings are the proper response to a system that closes every avenue that Kurds try to take in the struggle, including all the political avenues. These attacks are just when considering that the victims here are the same ones who bomb Kurdish civilians in their homes, in the middle of the night, and have destroyed at least 4,000 Kurdish villages in The Southeast.

Remember--that 4,000 is only an official figure.

Yes, it's all political. Yes, PKK is everywhere because PKK is the people. Yes, these acts of resistance will continue.

NO INVASION NECESSARY

"Contrary to the received wisdom, global markets are not unregulated. They are regulated to produce inequality."
~ Kevin Watkins

What happens when globalization comes to Kurdistan? Slavery. From the right-wing reactionaries at the NYTimes:

Thousands of foreign workers have come to the Kurdish districts in the last three years, a huge turnaround for a place that had hardly any before, making it one of the fastest-growing Middle Eastern destinations for the world’s impoverished. They come from Ethiopia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Bangladesh and Somalia, supporting an economic boom here that is transforming Kurdish society.

But nearly all foreign workers interviewed over a two-week period here said they had been deceived by unscrupulous agents who arrange the journeys. Unable to communicate, some arrive not knowing what country they are in. Once here, their passports are seized by their employment agencies, and they are unable to go home.

[ . . . ]

Nisha Varia, an investigator with Human Rights Watch, said the combination of unscrupulous brokers in the workers’ home countries and labor practices in Kurdistan left the workers with few options.

“Each side denies that it knows what other is doing,” she said. “In reality, they are much more interconnected than that. They are doing business together, and that leads to these recruiting fees and debts, and puts the workers at risk of forced labor.”

I wonder why the NYTimes didn't contact the KRG's Ministry of Human Rights? Surely the ministry should be investigating this situation and the companies involved with this kind of abuse should be kicked out of the South. Additionally, employers in Kurdistan should be hiring Kurds but to do so, they must pay a just wage. After all, all the talk of the "economic boom" is highly misleading. There's only an "economic boom" for those on the take, for the elites, and not for the average Kurd.

But I think we all know very well why this contemporary slavery is tolerated in South Kurdistan. It's tolerated by both the KDP and PUK.

What else happens when globalization comes to Kurdistan? Your enemies take you over. In his interview after the US and Turkey began their air strikes against South Kurdistan, HPG Headquarters Commander Bahoz Erdal noted that the Southern Kurdish leadership "stepped back" after the Turkish parliament's cross-border operation vote. That stepping back has its answer in the tightly interconnected business interests between Ankara and the Barzanîs and Talabanîs. From the hevals at Firat News:

Turkish corporations in South Kurdistan provide heavy financial support to KDP- and PUK-affiliated press and broadcast organizations in order to divert the people from the real face of current military operations, by broadcasting advertisement and variety programs.

Turkish corporations in South Kurdistan began to support KDP- and PUK-affiliated press and broadcasting organizations. At first, the KRG warned Southern media to cut off broadcasting about PKK. Now it has been revealed that Turkish corporations have given over $1 million as "gifts", for advertisement, and as tax.

Immediately following Turkish military operations in South Kurdistan, Turkish corporations which have marketing shares there, such as Oyak, Arçelik, Ülker, Nursoy, and Gürbağ, started to broadcast variety programs on TV, radio, and other satellite-based broadcast media which are affiliated with the KDP and PUK. It is believed that the goal of these attempts is to distract people from Turkish military operations.

KDP General Secretary Fadil Mirani's broadcast organs, such as Vin TV, are heavily supported by Turkish corporations.

Arçelik-Ülker and OYAK corporations organize street competitions and variety programs through Korek Telecom and AsiaCell telephone service operators, which are affiliated with KDP and PUK. These operators promise to give gifts ranging from $100 to $1,000 USD for text messages sent.

Arçelik had promised to deliver large appliances and electronics through the regional and satellite-based TV. As an example, when Turkish military operations began on 16 December, Arçelik started delivering large appliances, such as refrigerators, televisions, washing machines, ovens, and the like, to the people.

In addition, Arçelik is operating a lottery in South Kurdistan. Using the Bayram and New Year holidays as a pretext, it promised to give a brand new car, money, and such gifts to the people.

In addition to this, OYAK, Ülker, and the other Turkish corporations are arranging competitions on the streets where golden Kurdistan flags, made by Southern Kurdish jewelers, are delivered to people.

The irony here is that even though the Ankara regime does not trust the KRG, as HPG's Bahoz Erdal noted, and the Turkish prime minister opposes Kurdish autonomy "even in Argentina. Another irony is that OYAK is the Turkish military's holding company and the other Turkish corporations mentioned in the Firat article (Arçelik, Ülker, Nursoy, and Gürbağ), along with the AKP, belong to Fethullah Gülen's Islamist empire . . . or should I say "caliphate"?

For more on that, see something from Aland Mizell, and his latest, at KurdishMedia.

No wonder the cehş Talabanî is urging Northern Kurds to support the AKP.

No invasion is necessary. The cehş of the South have capitulated for personal gain and the barbarians are inside the gates.

Gordon Taylor at Progressive Historians has translated something of interest to Kurds from Le Monde, and his own comments are to the point [original emphasis]:

Turkey is not, cannot, will not be a truly viable candidate for membership in the EU as long as its government continues in its present form. And there is no power, domestic or foreign, that can change that government in any substantial way for the foreseeable future. Turkey is what it is: a nation where the politicians pretend to govern and armed bullies pretend to let them, a land where the average liberal has more courage than a thousand Americans. Those like me who cherish their memories of this land need to start speaking out. The years of diplomacy and forbearance, of hope for democratic change, have left us with ruined villages, imprisoned journalists, and good people murdered while their killers are congratulated by the police. With that kind of record we may as well try truth.

Too bad the leaders of South Kurdistan cannot admit the same, but it may be too late for that now anyway. They have become irrelevant.

SER SALA HEWE PÎROZ BÎT

New Year's Eve music by Ciwan Haco. Relax and enjoy.

Oh, yeah . . . Happy New Year.

HPG HEADQUARTERS COMMANDER: AN EMPTY ENDEAVOR

"PKK has 24 years of war experience and all the regional powers came to defeat it; however, they could not. PKK has passed its exam."
~ Bahoz Erdal, HPG Headquarters Commander.

Here's a short interview with HPG Headquarters Commander Bahoz Erdal, on the recent American-Turkish attacks in the Medya Defense Zones:

On the 16th of December, the Turkish army conducted an air strike. The Turkish media claimed that a large number of gerilas were killed. What can you say about this?


For a long time there were preparations for such attacks. Through [Turkish] propaganda and the media, preparations had been made for these attacks. Whenever it gets stuck against our forces in the resistance, as a pretext, the Turkish army targets South Kurdistan and the regions in which we reside. Both Turkish officials and Turkish media showed the people that if there were an attack against South Kurdistan and the Medya Defense Zones, then the PKK would completely perish and the question would be solved. They had great expectations in this attack. They made everyone focus here and motivated people for a possible attack.

This attack was made by more than 50 aircraft. This attack was implemented with the clear support of the US. After this attack, the statements of the Turkish General Staff and Turkish media was showing as if they had come and hit us, as if we had serious casualties, and as if we were in a weak position. They tried to show it as if it were a successful attack, a successful, unique attack that destroyed us remarkably and took us a couple of years back. All these things are lies and very far from the truth. As the statement that we made on the first day, 5 guerrillas were martyred and 3 friends were wounded. Except for this, we had no other losses.


What are the reasons that the Turkish army and media twist the truth?


The goal is as follows: One, the Turkish army could not be successful in North Kurdistan by suffering serious casualties and meeting severe resistance by our guerrillas. For that reason, this demoralized the psychology of the troops, the army, and the state. In order to break down that demoralization, they had to give a response. They wanted to make it happen with this attack; however, they could not succeed in this recent attack as well. For that reason, they want to cover this. They are trying to show a very unsuccessful thing as if it were very successful; they are trying to cover their weakness and failure.

The other goal is the civilian villagers in South Kurdistan who had been targeted and destroyed. It is known that two civilians were killed, that there were numerous wounded, many houses collapsed, hundreds of animals died, and schools destroyed. Hospitals were damaged. The martyrdom of our comrades, who died in this attack, were the targets of the attack. These are the concrete results of the attack. With these, actually the reality of the attack is revealed. Firstly, this attack was not successful. Secondly, the aim of this attack was not PKK, as they claim. The aim is the Kurdish people. This could be either PKK guerrillas or a villager from South Kurdistan. It is clearly revealed in this way. They are insistently trying to hide this reality. For that reason, they desperately need to lie. It is very strange when we listen to the Turkish media; Our friends [guerrillas] who lived through the attack here are laughing at them. However, the people who do not know the reality of our struggle--and Turkey's reality--who look at these incidents from outside, think that the world has collapsed [from this attack].


What can you say about the attitude of the Southern Kurdistan authority for the people and the animals who were killed as a result of the bombing?


The attitude of South Kurdistan's political forces against the cross-border legislation in the TBMM was a correct attitude that served the Kurdish people. This attitude was strengthening them, too, however they stepped back. A different approach occurred and this new approach brought suspicion among all the Kurds against them. As a result, the suspicion creates a reaction in the people. This new attitude is harming the unity of the Kurdish democratic national movement. The strengthening of the Kurdish democratic national movement means their strengthening and empowers their hand. If the South Kurdistan federal government wants to survive--wants to be defended--this is only possible with the creation of a Kurdish national attitude. If the Kurdish federal government does not see the interests of all Kurdistan, but narrows itself down to South Kurdistan's boundaries, it will drown. We say that this fact must be realized. There are some Kurdish politicians, however, who did not even say anything about these attacks. They [the Turks] attacked your territory, destroyed your villages, martyred your people--there is no voice coming from them. They have shut their eyes and ears as if saying, "We did not see or hear anything." The reactions against the operation are not sufficient and they are late. The step back after the cross-border legislation encouraged Turkey. Now Turkey is thinking, "So then, if I blackmail, if I suppress, I will get a result."

But the reality is that the Turkish government does not trust South Kurdistan's political forces as well. Even if KDP and PUK fight with Turkey against us, the Turkish government and army will not trust in them. A national and stable attitude with strengthen them and allow them to breathe. They mustn't be afraid of it. If the Southern Kurdish political forces stay within their own boundaries and cannot see or realize their own responsibilities for Kurdistan in general, they will lose in two ways. The first is that they will lose the Kurdish people, because the Kurdish people will no longer accept neither the fight between brothers nor the interests of only one piece of Kurdistan as superior to the rest. Neither the Kurdish people in general, nor the Southern Kurdish people, will accept this. Our people know the reality now. The second reason is that the international forces can do anything for their own interests. Turkey, Iran, or the US do not have anything to give them at that point. They will lose that side, too. Thus, they will lose both sides. As a result, we say that a proper stance is national and principled, and a stance that seeks the general good of the Kurds in the region would be the correct. Iraqi Kurdistan might be an experiment for this. This is not a weakness for the Kurdistan federal government; on the contrary, it would become strong. This is a reality. For that reason we say that the daily stance and attitudes of hesitation, which lack long-term planning, will only encourage the enemies of the Kurdish people. This will also harm the general freedom struggle of the Kurdish people.


In this war, the attitude of the US becomes important. How do you see the support of the US to Turkey?


This attack has been accomplished with the direct help of the US. During a one month period prior to the attack, US reconnaissance aircraft flew over the region. Opening Iraqi air space, providing intelligence and technical assistance enabled this attack. In that sense, the US is not outside of this attack. The attitude of the US is the attitude of choosing a side in this war. If their attitude continues, we, the Kurdish people, will not accept this. However, it needs to be said that this is not a new thing that the US is helping Turkey. The US has assisted Turkey during 24 years of the war by intelligence, weapons, and politically. Basically it is not new that the US assists Turkey. Yaşar Büyükanıt says, "My happiest day is today; I can sleep comfortably." This is your weakness, you pathetic thing. This shows how weak, how unfortunate you are. The US gave intelligence, opened your way. What did you do? You attacked, then what? What did you gain? The US is not helping you recently; it has helped you for 24 years. All the operations within these 24 years, the US explicitly provided intelligence and political and economic assistance to the Turkish government. Even the international conspiracy [against Öcalan] was orchestrated by the US. Despite all these facts, have you won this war, have you annihilated the PKK guerrilla--the Kurdish guerrilla? Have you implemented the promise that you've always repeated, that is "We will always fight until the last guerrilla?" No. You couldn't. The people who said as you did, couldn't either, but the Kurdish guerrilla remained, the Kurdish movement continued and grew. Today's people will also go, but the guerrillas still will remain and will grow more. Like with these recent attacks, they are trying to convince people with imaginary victories. Otherwise, what else can the US do? Did the US reconnaissance aircraft, satellites, get rid of the problems in Iraq's valleys? Did they bring an end to the losses in Afghanistan, that you are saying you would annihilate PKK with their intelligence? Let's say this: no one can dominate the Kurdish region with their satellites. Thus, let them have their reconnaissance activities. We do not have cities or villages to be cowed. We are guerrillas. Like a snake, we neither have a place to live nor have a house. The Kurdish mountains are rugged. No matter how many reconnaissance aircraft and satellites they have, they will not be able to dominate the guerrilla movement. For that reason, we are saying that they created big hopes, or imaginary victories, for no other reason than to get rid of their psychological weakness.


After the Turkish army's air strike, they wanted to access the Medya Defense Zones by land. What can you say about this?


That's right, that the Turkish army wanted to make attacks on the Geliye Reş region, in Xakurkê. That's all that it was about. It was just an attempt. It was the same as in the Oramar resistance. There, besides defending themselves, our forces also struck them. Thus, from now on, these things are possible. These are not new things in the South. They say that there were 24 operations, but this is not right. Within the period of the struggle, they had more than 100 operations against our Southern Kurdistan forces. They have made all kinds of operations, from the smallest operations to the biggest operations ever in the history of the Turkish Republic. Air strikes and artillery shelling are the kinds of attacks we've seen previously. We also saw their results. They might, from now on, have big or small operations. We are, however, ready to confront all kinds of operations. For all circumstances, we also have various resistance plans. Because we are determined and are technically and educationally prepared, we are completely ready for possible further operations. Even though there might be further air strikes and land operations, there is nothing for them to win. On the contrary, the only excuse they [Turkey] had was "I cannot cope with the North [Kurdistan] because they [the guerrillas] are coming from Southern Kurdistan. My hands are tied. They [the US] don't let me go to Southern Kurdistan. If they had let me, I would finish all of them." Now they have untied your hands and you entered Northern Iraq. Then what, what did you do? Now with what excuses are they going to cover their failure? There is nothing. On the one hand, this operation was good because they don't have that excuse any more. If the US frees their hands, they will come and swallow all of us and take the rest. And now you came, what did you do? Fiasco. For that reason, even if they implement these kinds of operations they will have more losses here than in Northern Kurdistan. Everyone must know this. This will deepen the war and harm everyone. This war will not be limited only to Turkey, but will harm everyone. Everyone must realize this. PKK has 24 years of war experience and all the regional powers came to defeat it; however, they could not. PKK has passed its exam. Once more they are trying to attempt the same thing with their weaker position and under different conditions now. To us, it is an empty endeavor.

[Note: for some ideas about a "national and principled" stance that serves the good of all Kurdistan, see the recent post at Rastbêj, "Cooperate or Die".]