Turkey could cut off Islamic State’s supply lines. So why doesn’t it?
by David Graeber, The Guardian UK
In the wake of the murderous attacks in Paris, we can expect western heads of state to do what they always do in such circumstances: declare total and unremitting war on those who brought it about. They dont actually mean it. Theyve had the means to uproot and destroy Islamic State within their hands for over a year now. Theyve simply refused to make use of it. In fact, as the world watched leaders making statements of implacable resolve at the G20 summit in Antalaya, these same leaders are hobnobbing with Turkeys president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, a man whose tacit political, economic, and even military support contributed to Isiss ability to perpetrate the atrocities in Paris, not to mention an endless stream of atrocities inside the Middle East.
How could Isis be eliminated? In the region, everyone knows. All it would really take would be to unleash the largely Kurdish forces of the YPG (Democratic Union party) in Syria, and PKK (Kurdistan Workers party) guerillas in Iraq and Turkey. These are, currently, the main forces actually fighting Isis on the ground. They have proved extraordinarily militarily effective and oppose every aspect of Isiss reactionary ideology.
But instead, YPG-controlled territory in Syria finds itself placed under a total embargo by Turkey, and PKK forces are under continual bombardment by the Turkish air force. Not only has Erdoğan done almost everything he can to cripple the forces actually fighting Isis; there is considerable evidence that his government has been at least tacitly aiding Isis itself.
It might seem outrageous to suggest that a Nato member like Turkey would in any way support an organisation that murders western civilians in cold blood. That would be like a Nato member supporting al-Qaida. But in fact there is reason to believe that Erdoğans government does support the Syrian branch of al-Qaida (Jabhat al-Nusra) too, along with any number of other rebel groups that share its conservative Islamist ideology. The Institute for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University has compiled a long list of evidence of Turkish support for Isis in Syria.
And then there are Erdoğans actual, stated positions. Back in August, the YPG, fresh from their victories in Kobani and Gire Spi, were poised to seize Jarablus, the last Isis-held town on the Turkish border that the terror organisation had been using to resupply its capital in Raqqa with weapons, materials, and recruits Isis supply lines pass directly through Turkey.
Commentators predicted that with Jarablus gone, Raqqa would soon follow. Erdoğan reacted by declaring Jarablus a red line: if the Kurds attacked, his forces would intervene militarily against the YPG. So Jarablus remains in terrorist hands to this day, under de facto Turkish military protection.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/18/turkey-cut-islamic-state-supply-lines-erdogan-isis
6chars
(3,967 posts)Islamist dictatorship, sometime tactical buddy of ISIS, decimator of the Kurds. Our NATO ally.
2naSalit
(86,508 posts)and I'm sure he can supply "cheap" oil to his country and some others this way. Notice that the oil supply line also goes directly to Turkey.
We need to make oil a noneconmic thing, a noncommodity... with renewables.
eppur_se_muova
(36,257 posts)No cheap oil for Turkey, until Russia is satisfied ?
2naSalit
(86,508 posts)Russia was starting to do that, or at least targeting the transport vehicles last week after the Paris events. Perhaps that's the back story nobody wants to talk about in light of the recent Turkey/Russia fighter jet event? The big, slimy, crude elephant in the room.
I've been really ill the past few days so I missed a lot of news, tried to catch up last night when I was starting to feel better.
icymist
(15,888 posts)At least, that's my take on it.
A court in Istanbul accused Can Dündar (pictured above) and Erdem Gül, two journalists with the opposition daily "Cumhuriyet," of "divulging state secrets" and "spying in aid of terrorist organizations."
In May 2015, the two journalists had published a video on the newspaper's website dating back to January 2014 that allegedly showed Turkish police open Syria-bound crates of weapons and ammunition on trucks belonging to Turkey's intelligence agency, MIT.
<snip>
Erdogan has previously attacked news publications, including titles published abroad, saying that the UK-based "Guardian" should "know its limits" and attacking the US daily "The New York Times" , saying there was "Jewish capital behind it, unfortunately."
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, meanwhile, made comments defending the truck shipment, saying that they were carrying aid for Turkmen fighters without further specifying their content.
"It is nobody's business what was inside the trucks. Yes, there were serious clashes in Syria and we helped the Turkmens," Davutoglu said in a television interview with the Turkish news channel Haberturk.
http://www.dw.com/en/turkey-jails-two-journalists-over-claims-ankara-supplied-arms-to-syrian-jihadis/a-18878867