Tag: Afrin

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Netanyahu: “Erdogan is a butcher.”

Turkey’s President Erdogan called Israel a terrorist state and Bibi Netanyahu a terrorist after the incident along the Gaza-Israel border that saw Israeli snipers kill a number of violent Palestinian protestors as well as injuring over a 1000 more.  The protests, a creation of Hamas, were meant to crash through the security fence between Gaza and Israel.  The deaths of some of the more violent protestors has  caused an uproar across the Arab world.

“I strongly condemn the Israeli government over its inhumane attack,” Erdogan said of Friday’s incidents along the Gaza border. “Have you heard any noteworthy objections to the massacre by Israel that happened yesterday in Gaza from those who criticize the Afrin operation? This is the biggest proof of insincerity of those who fixate on us but say nothing about Israel using heavy weapons to attack people who are protesting on their own lands.”

Bibi Netanyahu responded:

“Erdogan is not used to people responding to him, but he should start getting used to it. Anyone who occupies northern Cyprus, invades the Kurdish strip and slaughters citizens in Afrin, should not lecture us about values and ethics.”

This war of words holds significance.  With Turkey’s claim that Israel is a terrorist state, Erdogan is seemingly using the same rhetoric to justify his invasion of Afrin.  Afterall, for Erdogan, all Kurds are terrorists. Now Israel too has become a terrorist state, worthy of invasion.  Of course, Turkey is not invading Israel tomorrow, but it is attemtping to undermine it every chance it gets.

Bibi’s statement about Cyprus and Afrin is not just some empty phrase, but rather a statement of great magnitude.  Netanyahu has now become the first leader to point out in clear terms what Erdogan’s actions in Afrin really are…genocide.

The continuing realignment in the Middle East has begun to create chaos with a number of actors scrambling to pick sides. Donald Trump has clearly decided to pull the USA out of the mess, but that has only created more of a mess. Bibi’s statement about the Kurds and Cyprus is a hint of the role that Israel appears ready and willing to take on. This of course pits the Jewish state on a collision course with Turkey who has delusions of returning to the golden age of the Ottoman Empire.

True leadership is far more about standing up for the truth than conquering distant lands.  Turkey has for far too long gotten away with brutally suppressing indigenous minorities under the guise of anti-terror operations. Erdogan may believe he can bring Turkey back to its former glory, but Israel is not the same Israel and the Jews who were both poor and unorganized when living under Turkish rule have now in the most miraculous ways returned to their ancient homeland to create one of the most successful nations in the world.

The future of the Middle East is dependent on Israel reestablishing itself as the compass and leader of the region. Bibi’s reaction to Erdogan is a hopeful first step to making this happen.

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Israel Refrains from Turning anti-Russia

In stark contrast to the US and the rest of NATO the Netanyahu government has continued to refrain from attacking Putin and Russia.  There are a few reasons for this.

While the US and NATO have used the poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter in England as a pretext for expelling Russian diplomats and making Putin enemy number one, there has been no actual proof it was Russia. The anti-Russian narrative of the West, while not completely without basis has served a culturally and economically challenged NATO to help find an enemy in a new multi-polar world.

Israel has consistently maintained good relations with Russia’s leaders.  It has held back from expelling Russian diplomats unlike its Western counterparts. This is part of Netanyahu’s personal belief in a neutral foreign policy.  This is not to say that neutrality means a lack of alliances. Israel has clear strategic alliances with the US and India, but an alliance does not mean going to the proverbial mat with your allies when you don’t have to.

With Russia, Israel’s situation is far more complicated, which prevents the Netanyahu government from getting on board with Trump’s new anti-Russian moves.  Putin directly or indirectly pulls the strings of Iran and Hezbollah, which are situated to Israel’s north.  With these two combatants aiming more than hundred thousand missiles at Israel, Netanyahu cannot afford to go full negative against Russia.

Israel also has a sizable Russian population, which has remained less integrated  than other immigrant groups. This creates a different sort of connection to Russian maneuvers in the region.

Another aspect, is in connection to Afrin and the general abandonment of the Kurds by the USA. The Kurds had been offered a security pact by Russia to protect their enclaves, but the Kurds spurned the offer in hopes th USA would back them against the Turks.  With Afrin now occupied by the Turkish army and the militant FSA, Kurdish leadership has been forthcoming in their need to find common ground with the Syrian regime.

Israel has been placed in an eerily similar situation.  Prime Minister Netanyahu has decided to remain neutral when it comes to picking sides at this point.  With the US undecided about its future in the area,  Israel cannot afford to make a clear decision that could imperil the entire country.

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Turkey is the Enemy to Watch Out For

As the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) have now unofficially invaded, occupied, and essentially stolen Afrin City from its indigenous inhabitants, the Syrian Kurds, it is important to understand the implications of this for the Middle East and specifically Israel.  The Israeli government has spent more than a decade convincing the world and most importantly the United States that Iran is the most dangerous threat to Israel. In fact, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came back from his meetings with Trump explaining that their meeting centered on Iran.

While it is true Iran poses an existential threat to Israel by way of its ballistic missile program and sponsorship of Hezbollah, its armed forces are still considered very inadequate as compared to Israel’s. Once again, this is not to say Iran should be ignored, especially since they are run by the Ayatollahs.

With all of Iran’s nastiness and genocidal aspirations, they have yet to accomplish what Erdogan has done in Afrin.  Not only has he destroyed ethnically cleansed its Kurdish occupants, but Erdogan seems to actually revel in the complete destruction of the Kurdish city.  This is why Turkey is dangerous.  Erdogan wants and desires to restore the Ottoman Empire to its full glory and will stop at nothing to do so, including mass ethnic cleansing and genocide.

Unlike Iran, Turkey is a NATO member and hosts the US airforce that is needed in the region to finish off ISIS and face off against Russian and Iranian expansion.  Erdogan knows the US won’t be able to move it’s airbase in the short run and so has a free hand to murder civilians and occupy the territory of others.

Erdogan has made it clear. Afrin is only the beginning.  After he has finished killing as many Kurds as he can he will move on and wipe out more and then head south to conquer Damascus and then the ultimate prize, Jerusalem.

Last summer the Turkish Foreign Ministry invoked the Ottoman Empire in connection to Jerusalem: “At the Ottoman era, communities belonging to different religions and sects lived in peaceful coexistence and enjoyed freedom of worship for centuries. In this context, Jews would be expected to know best and appreciate the unique tolerance during the Ottoman era.”

Of course Turkey failed to mention the oppressive policies against Jews in Jerusalem by the Turkish authorities as well as the purposeful flooding of the Land of Israel of hundreds of thousands of non-indigenous peoples by the Ottomans to offset the growing Jewish population.  In fact, one can say that the British learned from the Turks on effective measures on one hand to utiize the Jewish influx of economic know-how and on the other how to rile up the Arab street against the Jewish population.

If the world does not stop Erdogan, what is going on in Afrin will only the beginning.  This is why it is important to take a stand.  Israel needs to lead the way on this.  First, the Kurds have always been pro-Israel and friendly to the Jews.  Furthermore, the Kurds are an open society that makes a point of cherishing personal freedom.  What Erdogan is doing is wiping out an entire culture and if that is allowed nothing will stop him coming after Israel when he is done.

Israel can pressure the US to finally pick a side in this fight and stop back stabbing the Kurds.  It is true Iran is dangerous and may even be true that switching gears at this moment may muddy the ater, but the alternative is far worse.

 

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BREAKING: Turkish Forces Begin Assault on Afrin City

Sources on the ground in northern Syria report that the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) and their terrorist allies the FSA Turkish division have commenced their assault on Afrin City itself.  Afrin City is a Kurdish majority city in the heart of the isolated Kurdish enclave of Afrin.

The TAF reportedly already cut off water to the city last week and has prepared for the assault by surrounding the city.  Turkish President Erdogan has claimed that the Kurds are terrorists that need to be wiped out.  Afrin City has been playing host to hundreds of thousands of refugees whose homes were taken by the TAF during the current operation Olive Branch.  Reports that the TAF and its jihadist allies have been handing out captured Kurdish homes to fighters.

The TAF has been reportedly firing on unarmed civilians and killing defenseless Kurds .

Despite the USA’s military backing the Kurds in their fight against ISIS, as far as Turkey is concerned the Trump administration has surprisingly remained silent.

The Kurdish Regional Council in Iraq has continued to back their bretheren in Syria with the assistant to President Masoud Barzani saying releasing this Tweet:

In the coming days the USA can still step in and save what’s left of Afrin, but that would require Trump to stand up to a fellow NATO ally.

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AFRIN UPDATE: Turkish Planes Bomb City Center, TAF Continues to Shell Civilians

As Turkey shuts down Afrin’s water and begins the seige of the predominately Kurdish city, civilian wounded and dead have been piling up. With Afrin’s Kurdish resistance now decimated one must ask, what the reason is for Turkey to continue to essentially wipe out Kurdish civilians.  Of course a deeper question arises and that is where is the rest of the world and why is it not doing anything about this?

Take a look at the following tweets and videos as Turkey continues to commit ethnic cleansing with a near intent on genocide. Of course Turkey is no stranger to genocide, they wiped out their Armenian minority population of 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1917.

The TAF under Erdogan continues to pound innocent civilians.  The question is: Does anyone care?