First the US government gives Turkey the green light for a mini invasion of Syria, but now the White house expresses its horror over what is unfolding.
Supposedly Iran would profit from the developements, Russia, Assad and ISIS. But let’s not forget that Turkey has the second largest NATO army and is sitting on 50 American nuclear weapons. It’s not necessarily as bad for NATO as the press is crying theatrically.
What takes place in the region is precisely planned in advance by strategists in the Pentagon. It is not dependent, as we are led to believe, on the whims of Donald Trump. It is precisely due to Trump’s apparent unpredictability that the Pentagon can conceal its strategies and give the impression that geopolitics is as spontaneous and unpredictable as day-to-day politics or Trump’s whims.
The mass media, referring to sources in Trump’s government, tells us that the president has once again messed up a telephone call with a foreign head of state and has not warned Erdogan strongly enough of the consequences of an invasion in Syria. The reporters post this depiction as if it were carved in stone and do not question whether it is strategic disinformation. If Trump withdraws from politics in the next few months, Mike Pence or the next winner of the presidential election can pretend he (or she) inherited the conflict because of Trump’s mistake.
The once again deceived Kurds now switched to the side of Assad and about 1000 remaining US troops are now cut off and have to be evacuated by airplanes. In the Incirlik air force base 50 American nuclear bombs are stored. It’s supposed to look like a serious rupture between the USA and Turkey. But instead, Turkey and the US can now act more freely, each claiming they have no control over what the other is doing.
Statement from President Donald J. Trump Regarding Turkey’s Actions in Northeast Syria pic.twitter.com/ZCQC7nzmME
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 14, 2019
Long cooperation
Traditionally, the Turkish military maintained best relations with the Americans and in the past had repeatedly sought American assistance for the seizure of power and the dissolution of parliament.
In March 1947, the United States assumed the traditional British role of protector of Greece and Turkey, who also received loans to counteract the expansion of power in the wake of Soviet territorial claims in Turkey. Because of these clashes, Turkey finally gave up its neutrality and joined NATO, founded three years earlier, together with Greece on 18 February 1952. On 31 October 1959, Ankara agreed to the deployment of US medium-range missiles. Already on 9 January 1948 the USA had begun to supply military goods. On 14 July 1948, 14 Communists were sentenced in a show trial. At the end of the year Turkey joined UNESCO.
The Turkish military, for example, putsched on 12 September 1980. The trigger was the very unstable phase in the 1970s, which was characterized by changing political coalitions, political and economic instability and acts of terrorism by the extreme right and left political spectrum. The military under General Kenan Evren imposed martial law on the country and banned all political parties. The junta took violent action against the Kurdish separatists and left-wing oppositionists. On November 7, 1982, the constitution of the Republic of Turkey presented by the military and still valid today was adopted by referendum and came into force on November 9, 1982.
Evren was the commander of the Turkish branch of the NATO program Gladio, the so-called Counter-Guerrilla. He became part of the new ruling triumvirate after a 1980 coup. Parliament was dissolved. The head of the CIA office in Ankara, Paul B. Henze, received a call from the Situation Room of the White House:
“Paul, your boys did it.”
The CIA also maintains a number of spies in the Turkish secret service. In 1977 the former secret service vice president and CIA collaborator Sabahattin Savasman admitted this.
The USA stabilized Erdogan’s economy in the early days and turned him into Mr. Economic Miracle, who enjoyed high poll ratings among the population. Later, however, there were strong tensions, economic support was stopped and efforts to sabotage the Turkish economy were seen in the hope of bringing about a change of government. At the same time, there was an intensification of popular protests, possibly encouraged by foreign secret services.
