This may not interest many of you. As for me it is of intense interest having spent a year near Istanbul on the Sea of Marmara while with the USCG. During the 1967 Israeli/Egyptian "Seven Day War", I might add.
Turkey does have a fierce and resolute army; that is a truism to which I can testify. Hearing the gruesome stories of torture told by Turkish army veterans who were POWs of the North Koreans/Red Chinese in the Korean "War" would convince any opposing enemy that the Turks are not to be taken lightly!
A senior Turkish NCO told me his front line unit would sing, play loud music & party at night under bright lights. A US Marine came over and asked them to hunker down and be quiet so they wouldn't get a night attack from the Reds. The Turk told me and responded, laughing: "The communists are afraid of us, they'll attack YOU!" And that proved to be true. The NKA never attacked a Turkish position, night OR day!
Never for a moment think those armies in the Middle East to be pushovers!
Please read & watch the betrayal of our fellow Navy sailors aboard the USS Liberty by our own Govt as it was deliberately attacked by Israel in that 1967 June War.
Any chances of seeing some form of Turkish regional leadership under
neo-Ottomanism have faded. Turkey’s southern borders have been
transformed into intelligence and logistical hubs for the CIA and the
Mossad in the process, complete with an intelligence “nerve centre” in
the Turkish city of Adana. [1]
Despite Turkey’s denials, reports about Adana are undeniable and
Turkish officers have also been apprehended in covert military
operations against the Syrian Arab Republic. The Turkish Labour Party
has even demanded that the US General Consul in Adana be deported for
“masterminding and leading the activities of Syrian terrorists.” [2] Mehmet Ali Ediboglu and Mevlut Dudu, two Turkish MPs, have also testified that foreign fighters have been renting homes [3] on Turkey’s border with Syria and that Turkish ambulances have been helping smuggle weapons for the insurgents inside Syria.
On Turkey’s eastern flank tensions are building between it and both Iraq and Iran. Baghdad is reviewing its diplomatic ties with the Turkish government, because Ankara is encouraging the Kurdistan Regional Government in Northern Iraq to act independently of Iraq’s federal government. Erdogan’s government has done this partially as a result of Baghdad’s steadfast opposition to regime change in Syria and in part because of Iraq’s strengthening alliance with Iran. Tehran on the other hand has halted the visa-free entry of Turkish citizens into Iran and warned the Turkish government that it is stoking the flames of a regional fire in Syria that will eventually burn Turkey too. Read more>>The Push to ignite a Turkish civil war through a Syrian quagmire
Turkey does have a fierce and resolute army; that is a truism to which I can testify. Hearing the gruesome stories of torture told by Turkish army veterans who were POWs of the North Koreans/Red Chinese in the Korean "War" would convince any opposing enemy that the Turks are not to be taken lightly!
A senior Turkish NCO told me his front line unit would sing, play loud music & party at night under bright lights. A US Marine came over and asked them to hunker down and be quiet so they wouldn't get a night attack from the Reds. The Turk told me and responded, laughing: "The communists are afraid of us, they'll attack YOU!" And that proved to be true. The NKA never attacked a Turkish position, night OR day!
Never for a moment think those armies in the Middle East to be pushovers!
Please read & watch the betrayal of our fellow Navy sailors aboard the USS Liberty by our own Govt as it was deliberately attacked by Israel in that 1967 June War.
The Push to ignite a Turkish civil war through a Syrian quagmire
Through
its much-touted ‘zero problems with neighbors’ doctrine, the Turkish
government had set out with a realistic chance of being everyone’s
friend. It has now made itself everyone’s enemy, including its own, by
embracing policies that have put it on a collision course with disaster.
By being duped into burning its bridges with Syria - Mahdi Darius
Nazemroaya explains - Ankara has laid the foundations for the
destabilization of the Turkish republic at the hands of the very same
powers whose deleterious strategy she is currently serving.
- Turkey is acting as a rear base for the insurgency and a forward command post for US/NATO forces.
Turkey itself is a major target for destabilization,
upheaval, and finally balkanization through its participation in the
US-led siege against Syria. Ankara has burned its bridges in Syria for
the sake of its failing neo-Ottoman regional policy. The Turkish
government has actively pursued regime change, spied on Syria for NATO
and Israel, violated Syrian sovereignty, supported acts of terrorism and
lawlessness, and provided logistical support for the insurgency inside
Syria.
Turkish Regional Isolation
If the Syrian state collapses, neighbouring Turkey will be the biggest loser. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his government are foolishly aligning Turkey for disaster. Aside from Ankara’s historically bad relations with Armenia, Erdogan has managed to singlehandedly alienate Russia and three of Turkey’s most important neighbours. This has damaged the Turkish economy and disrupted the flow of Turkish goods. There have been clamp downs on activists too in connection with Turkey’s policy against Damascus. The freedom of the Turkish media has been affected as well; Erdogan has moved forward with legislation to restrict media freedoms. Prime Minister Erdogan and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu have even both attacked “reporters who quoted President Assad’s statements in Cumhuriyet, accusing them of treason, because they had questioned the official Turkish account of the Turkish jet shot down by in [sic.] Syria [for spying].”On Turkey’s eastern flank tensions are building between it and both Iraq and Iran. Baghdad is reviewing its diplomatic ties with the Turkish government, because Ankara is encouraging the Kurdistan Regional Government in Northern Iraq to act independently of Iraq’s federal government. Erdogan’s government has done this partially as a result of Baghdad’s steadfast opposition to regime change in Syria and in part because of Iraq’s strengthening alliance with Iran. Tehran on the other hand has halted the visa-free entry of Turkish citizens into Iran and warned the Turkish government that it is stoking the flames of a regional fire in Syria that will eventually burn Turkey too. Read more>>The Push to ignite a Turkish civil war through a Syrian quagmire
