Bulent Orakoglu
The common understanding between the National Security Strategy (NSS) document announced by then-US President Donald Trump in December 2017 and the report titled “Risk Analysis for Post-Superiority Period” published in June 2017 by the US Army’s Strategic Research Center had drawn a great deal of attention. In both reports, it was ascertained that the main metric of the approach is that the US is starting to lose global superiority. According to the 23 different scenarios in question, it is clear that the US considers China, Russia, North Korea and Iran as an open threat. Though Turkey is not frequently mentioned in the strategy document, does the fact that Turkey is not presented among US ally countries in the said report signal that the US is covertly targeting Turkey?
In the video message Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent to the program organized upon the launch of the Turkish-American National Steering Committee television channel, he stated that there is a strong, comprehensive, strategic alliance relationship between Turkey and the US based on common interests and added:
‘We did not get the support and solidarity we wanted from our NATO ally’: “Though we sometimes have differences of opinion in our relations, out partnership has managed to overcome all sorts of difficulties so far. Recently, we have all experienced a process in which the Turkish-American alliance underwent a serious test. We failed to get the support and solidarity we wanted from our NATO ally, especially with respect to fighting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorist organization and its extensions. Similarly, the fact that no step has been taken for the last four years regarding the extradition of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ)’s ringleader despite the slew of evidence we sent to US authorities, has deeply hurt our nation and the families of 251 Turkish martyrs. It is a great contradiction for a country that is assertive regarding democracy and freedoms to open its arms to coup plotters who attacked democracy.”
Underlining that past experiences painfully showed how wrong it is to try and eliminate one terrorist organization by the hand of another, Erdogan said, “Hence, those who led the abominable demonstration targeting the American Congress were revealed to be affiliated with the separatist organization’s Syrian wing, the People’s Protection Units (YPG)/Democratic Union Party (PYD). It was understood once more through this attack that terrorism is against both humanity and democracy.”
‘There is no room in the future of our country and region for murderers’: Erdogan, pointing to the criticality of all countries striving to achieve global peace and stability to meet on a common ground regarding anti-terrorism, to act with principle and consistency against terrorism, said, “Especially after last week’s treacherous terrorist attack, which led to the martyrdom of 13 [Turkish] citizens, we are expecting a clear stance from all our allies.”
Emphasizing that Turkey will carry on with its fight against terrorism both at home and abroad with determination, Erdogan said, “There is no room in the future of our country or region for any murderer, ranging from Daesh to the PKK, from FETÖ to the YPG.” He also added that Turkey and the US have more common interests than they do differences of opinion.
Surely Turkey’s delay to report the Gara military operation to the US is the right strategy. In fact, there are strong claims that NASA was monitoring the PKK and the hostages. Local sources, who reported that the US has two intelligence points in the region, with one in Zaho, and the other on the Syria-Turkey border line, stated that activity at these intelligence points intensified after the US found out about the Gara operation, and contacted the PKK. They pointed out that activity at the contact points continued incessantly until the military operation ended, adding that the Americans in Erbil were constantly on alarm throughout the operation. In this case, the Americans’ inability to receive early news of the Gara military operation despite both NASA and the two intelligence points being active, is a clear indication of their shortcomings in intelligence and that Turkey conducted a reliable operation. That is, of course, if the Americans are telling the truth! The most important subject is whether the claim that the final duty of the terrorist code-named “Sofi Nurettin” was to organize the transfer of the hostages to the Syrian border line was said with respect to the 13 Turkish hostages or other hostages. Because an important claim made by local sources is that the Gara base remaining open for the PKK, and the Iraq-Syria line being open for the US “has gained great importance.” If the Gara base is significant because it is a transfer center for the PKK along the Qandil-Sinjar-Syria line, what makes the Iraq and Syria line remaining open so important for the US? Or is the transfer of the 13 Turkish hostages from Qandil to Gara, and then their execution a covert operation of the Pentagon? Because the initial insolent and scandalous statement saying, “If reports of the death of Turkish civilians at the hands of the PKK, a designated terrorist organization, are confirmed, we condemn this action in the strongest possible terms,” which the US made after the operation in Gara, rather than directly condemning the PKK terrorist organization that executed our 13 martyrs, is nothing but hostile. Let us wait and see.
