#incirlik airbase

[head-post]

Palestinians protest outside Turkish airbase housing US troops

On Sunday, hundreds of people at a pro-Palestinian rally attempted to storm the airbase where US troops were stationed.

This came hours before US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Ankara for talks on the Gaza Strip.

Protests erupted across Turkey since the outbreak of the military conflict between Israel and Hamas. As the humanitarian crisis in Gaza worsened, the country intensified its condemnation of Israel, supporting the two-state solution.

Earlier this week, the IHH Humanitarian Aid Foundation, an Islamist Turkish aid agency, organised a convoy to travel to Incirlik airbase in southern Turkey to protest Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip and US support for Israel. The foundation called for the closure of Incirlik, which also housed US troops.

Learn more HERE

[goldiers1]

Biden-Harris Report on Earthquakes Impact on Turkey and Syria

  In the aftermath of the earthquakes on February 6, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. authorized an immediate U.S. response and directed the heads of federal agencies to rapidly mobilize to assist the Government of Türkiye and humanitarian partners in Syria. Across the U.S. government, officials expressed their condolences to the people of Türkiye and Syria as well as their desire to support the humanitarian response. In the hours following the earthquakes, President Biden called President Erdogan to convey the readiness of the U.S. government to provide any and all needed assistance to our NATO Ally Türkiye. Secretary Tony Blinken, Secretary Lloyd Austin, and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan engaged their Turkish counterparts, and USAID Administrator Samantha Power spoke with the head of the Syrian Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets. First Lady Jill Biden sent a personal note of condolence to First Lady Emine Erdogan, and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan visited the Turkish Embassy to express condolences to the Turkish Ambassador and sign the official condolences book. U.S. officials have remained in regular coordination with their Turkish counterparts, with UN agencies, and with partners in Syria on how we can best support their efforts. Finally, the U.S. government affirmed to the Syrian mission to the UN that our humanitarian assistance is available to all Syrians, no matter where they live and that we are ready to provide additional support.  

Life-saving efforts by the U.S. in the impacted region:

- Yesterday, the U.S. announced it will provide $85 million in life-saving assistance to provide shelter to the displaced, as well as food, medicine, and other desperately needed aid. - USAID deployed a Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) to the earthquake region, which includes experienced emergency managers, construction riggers, hazardous materials technicians, licensed engineers and emergency medicine physicians, logisticians, paramedics, planners, search-and-rescue specialists, and search-and-rescue dogs with handlers. - With transportation support from the Department of Defense, two USAID urban search and rescue teams, composed of 159 members and 12 rescue dogs, quickly deployed from the U.S. to support Turkish search and rescue efforts. - To date, the U.S. has deployed approximately 170,000 pounds of specialized tools and equipment—including hydraulic concrete breaking equipment, saws, torches, and drills, along with advanced medical equipment to assist with search and rescue operations in Türkiye. - The Commander of U.S. European Command has directed the Commander of U.S. Naval Forces Europe to coordinate U.S. military assistance efforts. - U.S. Black Hawk helicopters are supporting airlift operations from Incirlik Airbase in Türkiye, transporting rescue personnel to sites that are most needed for rescue operations and difficult to access given the extent of the destruction. - U.S.-funded humanitarian partners are providing assistance throughout all areas of Syria, including health services, shelter support, food assistance, and access to water, sanitation, and hygiene. Those partners include the White Helmets, who have pulled more than 1,000 survivors from the rubble, and U.S.-supported Syrian medics who have been treating survivors across Idlib, Aleppo, and other affected areas. - U.S. officials have worked with Turkish authorities to ensure operations can resume at Bab al-Hawa crossing, a critical lifeline for UN-provided cross-border assistance into northwestern Syria. - Yesterday, to underscore that U.S. sanctions will not prevent or inhibit providing humanitarian assistance in Syria, the Department of the Treasury issued a broad General License to provide additional authorizations for disaster relief assistance to the Syrian people. This license will be in effect for six months. U.S. humanitarian assistance is delivered directly to the Syrian people, no matter where they live.

Support available to U.S. Citizens in Türkiye:

- U.S. Consular Affairs staff in Türkiye and the United States are working tirelessly to provide consular assistance to American victims their families, and any U.S. citizens in the affected areas. - Individuals in need of immediate, local emergency assistance in Türkiye should call Turkish authorities using the phone number 112. U.S. citizens impacted by the earthquake should contact the U.S. Embassy in Ankara. - Information is available to U.S. citizens in the area through alerts, the U.S. embassy and consulate websites, and travel.state.gov. The Biden-Harris Administration commends the outpouring of support from around the world. USAID’s Center for International Disaster Information (CIDI) has a list of vetted organizations responding to this crisis.   Sources: THX News & The White House. Read the full article

[ritchiepage2001newaccount]

#CorpMedia #Idiocracy #Oligarchs #MegaBanks vs #Union #Occupy #NoDAPL #BLM #SDF #DACA #MeToo #Humanity #DemExit #FeelTheBern

U.S. military keeps 50 nuclear weapons on Turkish airbase, and now they’re ‘Erdogan’s hostages’ [UPDATES]

https://dailysoundandfury.com/u-s-military-keeps-50-nuclear-weapons-on-turkish-airbase-and-now-theyre-erdogans-hostages/

The chaos resulting from Donald Trump’s seemingly out-of-the-blue decision to withdraw U.S. troops from their positions in Kurdish-held Syria, greenlighting an all-out Turkish invasion, continues to grow. Trump’s move was so precipitous that U.S. forces in the region were caught completely unaware. That includes U.S. nuclear forces...

RELATED UPDATE: Rumor circulates that Turkey will push US from Incirlik air base after sanctions

https://news.am/eng/news/619097.html

RELATED UPDATE: ‘Erdogan Should Be Very, Very Worried’: What the Biden Presidency Means for Turkey

https://mirrorspectator.com/2021/01/21/erdogan-should-be-very-very-worried-what-the-biden-presidency-means-for-turkey/

[libertariantaoist]

News Roundup 12/16/19

By Kyle Anzalone

US News

The US is withholding crucial evidence in the Assange case from his defense team. [Link]

Peter Thiel’s Palantir gets a $111 million contract to provide software to the Army. [Link]

The 2020 NDAA includes a requirement of Trump to sanction the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. The bill also gives $300 million in military assistance to Ukraine in 2020. $100 million will be lethal aid. This will include Javalin anti-tank missiles and possibly anti-ship missiles. [Link]

Twenty million dollars of the $20 million in military aid allotted to Ukraine in the 2019 budget has not yet been spent. [Link]

Five sources say Erik Prince traveled to Venezuela to meet with officials close to Maduro. [Link]

OPCW

Wikileaks publishes more evidence that that OPCW lied in their report on Douma in an attempt to blame Assad for a gas attack. [Link]

Russia

The Senate confirms John Sullivan as ambassador to Russia. [Link]

The EU extends sanctions on Russia for another six months. [Link]

North Korea

North Korea says it carried out another test at its satellite site. [Link]* The US Envoy to North Korea makes it clear that the US is not taking Kim Jong-un’s end of year deadline seriously. The envoy also said Kim needs to reach out to restart talks. [Link]

Afghanistan

The US says it is taking a brief pause in talks with the Taliban because of the Taliban’s attack on the Bagram base. [Link]

During the attack on the Bagram base, the Taliban entered a nearby hospital. The US bombed the hospital, saying they had no other choice. [Link]

Trump is expected to announce a 4,000 troop level reduction in Afghanistan. [Link]

A Taliban insider attack kills 25 Afghan government soldiers. [Link]

Turkey

The Senate passes a resolution recognizing the Armenia genocide. [Link]

Turkey threatens to close the Incirlik Airbase over US threats of sanctions and position on the Armenian genocide. The airbase houses US nukes. [Link]

Turkey and Libya more forward with a military agreement for Turkey to provide support for the UN-backed government in Libya. The Turkish parliament must approve the agreement that could include sending Turkish troops to Libya. [Link]

Read More

[fursasaida]

forgive me bc I am REALLY ignorant and unprincipled when it comes to thinking about syria, but what do you think about the claim that the u.s. is betraying the kurds again (re: the report that ergodan wants u.s. out of the way so he can move on the kurds) does it seem plausible? like what should i think about it? any input on how and what to think about this would be so greatly appreciated. thank you!

Hi Anon! I’m sorry I took so long to answer this. To keep things short and not overcomplicated:

The US withdrawing is absolutely hanging the Kurds out to dry. This is not really in any kind of plausible dispute. The YPG are extremely competent, but they need weapons, ammunition, materiel, and replacement parts for weapons to come from somewhere, and fighting an irregular force like ISIS is not the same as dealing with a national army whose greatest area of experience and expertise is making life untenable for Kurds. The Kurds themselves have known this would be the case whenever a withdrawal might come, which is why they tried to reach an agreement with Asad back in July. Since that didn’t work out, they are in a really tight spot. They will get no help from their Iraqi counterparts in any official capacity. (The short version of why is that the authorities in Iraqi Kurdistan are allied with Turkey and against the PKK, and have done precisely dick for their compatriots in Syria since 2011. At one point they literally dug a ten-mile trench along the border.)

Their only real choice is to go back to Asad, who will now have more leverage to extract concessions on autonomy from them; maybe they could try to work out some kind of direct relationship with Iran or even Russia, but this is a) a long shot, b) likely to be an unstable relationship, and c) would still affect their autonomy, though in different ways harder to predict. Right now Bolton and Pompeo and the rest of the clowncar are insisting that it is somehow possible to extract guarantees that the Kurds will be left alone in the US’s absence, which is an absolute castle in the air. Leave the Kurds alone or what, exactly? All anybody has to do is either insist that the PKK, which the US has already designated as a terrorist group for years, is present or claim that whatever violence is done against the Kurds was the work of ISIS or other extremist groups. Given the way things have gone since 2011, no amount of fact-checking this sort of claim will actually matter. US diplomats can extract whatever promises they like; it will make no difference.

Unfortunately, this was more or less inevitable, because the US has been making irresponsible choices focused on the short term. One of the ways in which US policy on Syria has always been incoherent has centered on the problem of trying to be allies with the Syrian Kurds and Turkey at the same time. The Turks do not consider an independent Kurdish enclave just across their Syrian border a tolerable situation, at least not as long as the YPG is in charge and maintains its ideological commitments and ties to the PKK. (They are fine with the existence of Iraqi Kurdistan due to the alliances I mentioned above.) Turkey is also a major American ally and a member of NATO. The US has been stringing both along by insisting that ISIS be everyone’s joint priority and kicking the can of these incommensurable alliances down the road. Sooner or later the contradiction was going to have to be resolved, and it was almost certainly always going to be resolved in Turkey’s favor. The Kurds only had leverage inasmuch as ISIS was seen as an immediate threat. Turkey has been diligently demonstrating over the past several years that it could perfectly well ally with Russia instead, if it wanted to, without quite pushing it so far that it’d get in trouble with NATO. The odds that Turkey would actually make this massive diplomatic break are still very low, but it has made certain gestures to remind the US not to take alliance with Turkey for granted. Especially not if the US wants to keep that very useful airbase in Incirlik.

Meanwhile, since Trump’s announcement, Turkey seems to have let certain parties off the leash in the northwest area it controls (Idlib). The theory going around seems to be that this is meant to give Asad an excuse to reconquer that part of the country, in exchange for which he will agree to let Turkey go after the Kurdish areas. It’s unclear how this agreement, if it exists, may or may not interact with the US troops that are still there now; it’s not known for certain that this is the cause of these events in Idlib. But it would make sense.

All that said, I have been skeptical about this withdrawal from the day it was announced. Key figures who work for Trump in this area don’t want it--i.e., Bolton, the revered and departed Mattis, etc. (Even those who are for it but think it needs to be “handled correctly” are susceptible to mission creep and procrastination. What does “correct handling” look like and how long does it take? Unclear.) They all have greater commitment and longer attention spans than he does. On the other hand, those at the Pentagon who are trying to follow orders have a) no clear guidance at all, and b) a lack of resources due to the shutdown. This is an environment ripe for foot-dragging and organizational paralysis. My bet is they are going to do the equivalent of shifting their food around on their plate to make it look like they’re eating their dinner until he decides to care about something else; already he’s backed down on the timeline he originally announced.

But anything could still happen. At the end of the day, for now, he is the Commander in Chief, and none of these military brass, policy wonks, diplomats, or functionaries have the actual authority to go against policy he sets in this arena. If and when he decides to reassert his authority because he’s not being listened to, the nature and pace of the withdrawal could get a lot clearer. The question really is whether he will actually decide this is where he wants to make a big show of asserting that he’s in charge, or if he’s more invested in the Wall or something else--and whether ISIS does something major to announce its not-dead-ness before he gets around to putting his foot down.

I bet you don’t believe this is a less-complicated version, but I PROMISE IT IS. Let me know if anything was confusing.

[antoine-roquentin]

Incirlik, a giant air base located right on the outskirts of the Turkish city of Adana used to just be the perfect place. Incirlik has been, for many years,the most important and lethal air force base in the Middle East, from which the West has been intimidating and directly attacking various targets in the region, and where, as many Turkish experts believe, numerous extremist jihadi cadres operating in Syria and elsewhere, have been receiving their training.

Anything the West wants to bomb, be it in Syria, Iraq, or potentially Iran, Lebanon, Yemen or even Afghanistan, Incirlik is there, with perfect infrastructure and a ‘fantastic’ geographical location.For NATO, a dream-come-true place, really! But only until recently; until Mr. Erdogan’s era, until the 2016 failed coup, and the consequent,incomprehensible, but real ‘Turkish rebellion’.

Suddenly, Turkey is ‘not trusted anymore’; at least not in the Western capitals.

That is perhaps very good for Turkey and its future, but definitely not for NATO.

So where to move Incirlik, really?

The Kingdom of Jordan seems to be the best candidate. Conveniently, it is greatly impoverished, and it has been historically submissive to its Western handlers. It is essentially dependent on foreign, mainly Western, aid and would do just about anything to please the rulers in Washington, London or Berlin.

Most importantly for the West, Amman is sufficiently oppressive, lacking any substantial opposition. If dissent gets too vocal, its members get kidnapped and tortured.

Therefore, it is natural that both Europeans and North Americans feel safe and at home here. In 2017, the German Wermacht moved its soldiers, pilots and Tornados, more than 200 people and dozens of airplanes in total, to Al-Azraq base, which is located only some 30 kilometers from the border with Saudi Arabia, and a similar distance from Syria. Iraq is just 200 kilometers away.

It is obvious that Angela Merkel and Recep Erdogan feel a certain (some would say ‘great’) distaste for each other. It is also a well-known fact that NATO countries like to work closely with oppressive, market-oriented and obedient countries.

But Jordan?

Even the official German television network, Deutsche Welle (DW), displayed clear cynicism towards the move, although it expressed, simultaneously, true understanding of the situation:

“King Abdullah II is a leader very much to the West’s liking. In contrast to the princes in the Arabian Peninsula, he is usually dressed in a dark suit. He received a military education in Britain and studied in Oxford and Washington. Under his leadership, Jordan has reliably positioned itself in line with Western politics in all major Middle East conflicts.

And this won’t change, according to Udo Steinbach, who was in charge of the Hamburg-based German Orient Institute for many years.

“He was a man of the West, he is a man of the West, and he has no alternative whatsoever to being a man of the West,” Steinbach said. “Jordan is a poor country, and without Western aid, it wouldn’t be able to survive at all.””

NATO has been already using Muwaffaq Salti airbase near Al-Azraq, for years, mainly to illegally bomb numerous targets located on the Syrian soil.In Brussels, Al-Azraq is truly a ‘household name’, as it has been used by both NATO and the EU air forces, concretely by the Belgians (2014-2015), and now both Dutch and Germans. The US air forces were operating from here already for several years.The base is situated in yet another gloomy part of the Middle East; economically depressed, with countless small businesses and factories that have been closing down and now rusting and rotting, and with the almost totally drained-out Azraq Wetlands Reserve – an oasis once renowned as a ‘migratory birds’ sanctuary’.

The oasis used to extend almost all the way to the border with Saudi Arabia. Now most of the territory of the ‘reserve’ is dry. Not many birds would fly here, anyway, as they’d be confronted with the deafening roar of airplane engines and the engine-testing facilities, not unlike those that I witnessed in Okinawa.The people who come to this corner of Jordan are mostly ‘adventurous’ Western tourists, ready to ‘explore’ the nearby castle which was once used as a base by the glorified sinister British intelligence agent, Thomas Edward Lawrence, otherwise known as “Lawrence of Arabia”. They also come to visit ‘wildlife reserves’ and several smaller archaeological sites.

Ms. Alia, who works at the artisan center of Al-Azraq Lodge, confessed: 

“Sometimes we are very scared here… It is because our place is sitting right next to perimeter of the air force base, while it is also serving as a hotel for foreign tourists. There are many reasons why someone could consider attacking this place…” 

But is this really a ‘tourist’ inn, I ask, after observing numerous hangars and military planes from the parking lot, at the back of the structure. She hesitates for a few moments, but then replies: 

“Originally this used to be an eco-lodge, but now the bookings are mainly from the base. Both Americans and Germans are staying here; while couple of years ago it was Belgians. Officers sometimes live here for one entire month – you know: training, meetings… They work inside the base, but sleep at our place.” 

There is a “US Aid” sign screwed into the wall near the entrance to the inn. And there are countless black and white historical photos of the area, decorating the walls, as well as a figurine of a soldier wearing an old British colonial uniform.

[opedguy]

Erdogan Rejects Biden’s Genocide Label

LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com), April 26, 2021.--Reacting to 78-year-old President Joe Biden’s April 24 declaration that 1.5 million Armenians killed by the Ottoman Turks [1915-1917] was genocide, 67-year-old Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he was “highly saddened” by Biden’s remarks.  Biden made good on a campaign promise to recognize the 2015-2017 Ottoman Turk’s death marches on some 1.5 million Armenians in the first genocide of the 20th century.  Erdogan called Biden’s remarks “baseless and unjust” but can’t offer any other explanation for the historical record.  At the time Armenians were slaughtered by the Turks, the 600-year reign of the Ottoman Empire was starting to crumble.  Ottoman’s last Sultan Mehmed VI commissioned Interior Minister Alaat Pasha to dispose of Turkey’s Armenian population, thought to conspire with Russian Bolsheviks to topple the Sultan’s regime        

     While Ottoman Turks rounded up Armenians, World War I was well underway when the Arch Duke Ferdinand was killed in Sarajevo June 28, 2014 pitting the Atro-Hungarian Empire against allied powers led by the U.S., U.K and European powers. While Tzar Nicholas II, that last of the Romanov’s, was under siege in the Bolshevik Revolution, it was just a matter of time before allied powers turned their attention to Ottoman Empire.  By the time WW I ended Nov. 11, 1918, the Astro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires were defeated, divvying up the spoils at the June 28, 2019 Treaty of Versailles where allied powers decided which countries would receive Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian real estate.  It’s ironic that the Kurds—Erdogan’s mortal enemy—were left out of the Treaty of Versailles, leaving the ethnic group without a homeland or sovereign state after WW I.        

     Erdogan can’t deny that modern day Turks were descendents of the Ottomans, who, in 1915-1917, marched 1.5 million Armenians to their deaths in the Syrian desert.  WW I and Russia’s Bolshevick Revolution contributed to the political atmosphere that resulted in the Armenian genocide.  “We believe the expression in the statement were included with the pressure of radical Armenians and anti-Turkish groups but this situation does not resolve the destructive effects it has on bilateral relations,” Erdogan said, warning of consequences.  Erdogan talks about Armenians killing many innocent Turkish civilians but doesn’t take any ownership for what the Ottomans did to Armenians.  Erdogan rejected the title genocide because the word didn’t occur until until after WW II.  Actually, a Polish Jewish Lawyer Raphael Lemkin coined the term genocide in 1943 to refer to ethnic cleansing, targeted one group or another.   

          Unlike the Turks who are Salafist Sunni Muslims, Armenians are Eastern Orthodox Christians all originating July 16, 1064, when the Patriarch of Constantinople Michael Cerularius was excommunicated from Rome.  While Islam was barely religion formed in the 7th century, Armenians practiced their Christian faith dating back to the early days of the Eastern Orthodox Church.  Churches in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan have Armenian churches dating to the 12th century.  But whatever the reason the Sultan decided to rid Turkey of Armenians, Biden recognized an historic fact that they were purged from Turkey in 1915-1917.  “If you call it genocide, go ahead and look in the mirror,” Erdogan said, suggesting the millions lost their lives due the Europeans and the United states over the last few centuries.  No question about genocide in the Nazi’s Third Reich, killing some 6 million Jews.     

        Erdogan has a problem with the term genocide because of circumstances faced by Mehmed VI in the last days of the Ottoman Empire.  “Genocide is a lie, It’s an American plan,” read a placard from protesters at the U.S. embassy in Istanbul.  Demonstrators demanded that the U.S. vacate its airbase in Incirlik, Turkey, shouting “American soldiers, get out of Turkey!”  Biden knew that recognizing the Armenian genocide would open up a can of worms for U.S.-Turkey relations.  As a member of NATO’s southern line, Turkey has been a dependable ally to the U.S., once staging ICBM’s aimed Russia in the early 1960s.  Blaming the Ottoman Turks was bound to stir up a hornet’s nest for U.S. foreign relations, causing many problems since Biden took office.  Relations with Russia and China have hit rock bottom, with Biden accusing China of committing genocide on Muslim Uyghurs in Xinjiang province.  China has rebuked the U.S. to mind its own business.      

       Recognizing the Ottoman Turk’s genocide against Armenians was bound to cause a big stir in U.S.-Turkey relations.  Unlike the past, Turkey has not threatened to cut off diplomatic relations with the U.S., but has instead complained about Biden’s designation.  China went a step further accusing the U.S. of centuries of racism and discrimination against African Americans, telling Blinken that he shouldn’t cast aspersions on other countries.  Erdogan essentially said the same thing, reminding Europeans and U.S. about their histories of genocide, including Nazi Germany and the long U.S. history of slavery since Colonial Times.  Erdogan said Turkey has “a clear conscience and assured heart,” knowing that they’ve treated Armenians and other ethnic minorities well in modern times.  Whatever happened in 1915-1917, Erdogan wants historians to look carefully at the context during that time period.

 About the Author

 John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging the Bullet and Operation Charisma.

[canadianabroadvery]

" ...  steadfast US allies since the times of the Cold War, or rather, to put it bluntly, the political establishments of these countries have acted as virtual proxies of Washington in the region and had played an important role in the collapse of the former Soviet Union in 1991.

In order to understand the significance of relationship between Washington and Ankara, which is a NATO member, bear in mind that the United States has been conducting air strikes against targets in Syria from the Incirlik airbase and around fifty American B-61 hydrogen bombs have also been deployed there, whose safety became a matter of real concern during the failed July 2016 coup plot against the Erdogan administration; when the commander of the Incirlik airbase, General Bekir Ercan Van, along with nine other officers were arrested for supporting the coup; movement in and out of the base was denied, power supply was cut off and the security threat level was raised to the highest state of alert, according to a report by Eric Schlosser for the New Yorker. ...”

[thenewsedge]

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper has said he needs to speak with his Turkish counterpart to understand how serious President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was when he threatened to shut down the Incirlik airbase, which stores American nuclear warheads. Erdogan's warning on Sunday that he could close the strategic base - also used to attack the armed group…

[nowpakistan]

US seeks clarification on Erdogan’s military base closure threat US Defense Secretary Mark Esper has said he needs to speak with his Turkish counterpart to understand how serious President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was when he threatened to shut down the Incirlik airbase, which stores American nuclear warheads.

[bigyack-com]

US Wants Turkey To Explain Threats To Close Down Military Bases

Mark Esper noted he was disappointed by the direction Ankara seems to be taking.Washington, United States: US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Monday he wants an explanation from Ankara over threats to close two strategic military bases used by the United States in Turkey.Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday threatened to close the Incirlik and Kurecik bases while speaking to a pro-government television channel. The two bases sit on Turkey's southwest coast, near the border with Syria.The US air force uses the airbase at Incirlik for raids on positions held by the Islamic State (ISIS) group in Syria. The Kurecik base houses a major NATO radar station.Mark Esper told reporters he would need to speak to his counterpart, defense minister Hulusi Akar, "to understand what they really mean and how serious they are.""If the Turks are serious about this, I mean, they are a sovereign nation, to begin with... they have the inherent right to house or not to house NATO bases or foreign troops," Mark Esper said on a plane as he flew back from Belgium, where he had attended the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge."I think this becomes an Alliance's matter, their commitment to the Alliance, if indeed they are serious about what they are saying," he added.Mark Esper also noted he was disappointed by the direction Ankara seems to be taking, moving away from NATO and getting closer to Russia.Turkey faces US sanctions over its decision to buy the Russian S-400 missile defense system, despite warnings from Washington.Tensions also rose when Turkey launched a military incursion into northeastern Syria in October against the Kurds, who were US allies in the fight against ISIS.The Senate Foreign Affairs Committee last Wednesday adopted a bipartisan bill that sets tough sanctions against Turkey and its leaders over its offensive in Syria and the purchase of the Russian missile system.(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.) Read the full article

[xtruss]

US-Turkey relations at critical crossroads: what’s behind Erdogan’s threat to shutter Incirlik Air Base?

"If they are threatening us with the implementation of these sanctions, of course, we will be retaliating," President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

December 16, 2019

US C-17A Globemaster III aircraft flies over a minaret after taking off from Incirlik air base, 2015

When Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to close a vital airbase used by American forces, he wasn’t bluffing, and Washington should take his threats at face value, or risk losing a NATO ally, analysts say.

The Turkish leader announced on Sunday that Incirlik Air Base - a vital hub for US and NATO forces stationed in the Middle East - could close its doors if US lawmakers press ahead with sanctioning Turkey for its acquisition of the Russian-made S-400 air defense system.

Incirlik is not a backwater airstrip, the kind the United States utilizes for its drone missions in Africa, for example. Instead it’s a massive base in Adana, a city of 1.7 million people. Here, just 250km from the Syrian border, nearly 5,000 US airmen are stationed, as well as several hundred Turkish airmen. More than 50 hardened aircraft shelters hide American jets, while the base also hosts an estimated 50 American nukes.

Erdogan has also threatened to close the Kurecik Radar Station, an isolated facility on a scorched hill in southeastern Turkey that performs a vital function as an early warning against ballistic missile attacks.

His threats are serious ones, but not unexpected. Rather they’re the latest round in an ongoing match of diplomatic swordplay between Washington and Ankara. For the US, the stakes in this game are high. If Congress pushes ahead with its vendetta against Ankara, the US risks burning its bridges with its NATO ally, and pushing Erdogan closer to regional players like Russia and Iran.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan addresses lawmakers

Don’t test Erdogan

Whatever course Washington ultimately decides upon, it would be unwise to assume that the Turkish strongman is simply bluffing, Yusuf Erim, a political analyst at TRT World, told RT.

Erdogan always follows through on what he says and we need to take him verbatim. If the US imposes sanctions on Turkey, it will have a boomerang effect and judging from the Turkish President's rhetoric, Congress' actions could cost the US two key bases in Turkey

He stressed that such an extreme measure would only be seriously considered as a reaction to new policies or legislation imposed by Washington. However, if sanctions are imposed, it could trigger a “snowball” effect, sending US-Turkey relations into a nosedive.

Erdogan's previous decisions have shown he can be taken at his word. The Turkish president earned the scorn of his NATO allies for pressing ahead with the S-400 deal and defied Washington’s threats to take delivery of the Russian missiles in July. That delivery saw Turkey booted out of the F-35 fighter jet program, but not even expulsion from the F-35 project, nor a face-to-face meeting with President Donald Trump last month, could convince Erdogan to reverse course.

US-Turkey relations at critical crossroads: what’s behind Erdogan’s threat to shutter Incirlik Air Base?

US A-10 Thunderbolt II fighter jets (foreground) are pictured at Incirlik airbase

Clashing policies in Washington

As well as clashing with Erdogan over Russian missiles and far-flung airbases, Washington is at odds with itself over how to handle the wily Turkish leader.

Apart from considering sanctions targeting Ankara’s purchase of S-400 systems, the US Senate passed a resolution on Thursday recognizing the Armenian Genocide, ethnic cleansing purportedly carried out in the early 20th century by Ottoman Turkey which killed roughly 1.5 million people. Ankara’s official position is that the genocide never took place, and any deaths took place as part of the first world war. The move has further enraged Erdogan, who has hinted at a resolution of his own – which would recognize the genocide of indigenous people in the United States.

These measures were passed without the input of President Trump, who has adopted a more convivial attitude toward Ankara. “I like Turkey,” he said at a NATO summit earlier this month. “And I get along very well with the president. He is a very good member of NATO, or will be.”

Hüseyin Bağci, Professor and Chair of the International Relations department at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, noted that Turkey has received mixed signals from Washington, exacerbating already-strained bilateral relations.

“We have to differentiate between American institutions and the American president. [Trump] is very close to [Erdogan]. But the American institutions follow different policies – Congress, as well as the Pentagon and the State Department.”

While the tone coming from Washington could be described as mixed, all parties involved clearly understand that “losing” Turkey would not be in America’s best interests, Bağci said. Yet even Trump’s allies in the Republican party signed on to both the genocide resolution and the sanctions bill. Unless Washington can get its story straight, and Congress take a new line, losing Turkey may become a reality.

Donald Trump greets Tayyip Erdogan after a joint news conference at the White House.

Ankara’s delicate balancing act

The game of chicken between Washington and Ankara highlights the wildly fluctuating relationship between the two countries, according to Valeria Giannotta, an Italian academic at the University of Turkish Aeronautical Association in Ankara.

“The arm wrestling with Washington is not something new, we have been witnessing this up and down in the bilateral relations for quite a long time,” Giannotta told RT, citing US support for the Syrian Kurds, as well as the Obama administration’s refusal to hand over Erdogan’s arch-enemy, Fetullah Gülen.

Even if US troops remain in Incirlik, the two countries seem to be drifting apart on key foreign policy issues. Ankara shares a special relationship with Iran, for example, and views the Islamic Republic as an economic partner – a position which flies in the face of Washington’s unilateral sanctions and calls for regime change.

After inking the S-400 deal with Moscow, Turkey now sees that pursuing its own interests – while trying to appease Washington – may no longer be possible. If the United States isn’t careful, its showdown with Erdogan could end up fracturing a decades-old alliance.

—RT

[tdshay]

Turkey may expel US forces from Incrilik Airbase over sanctions: Erdogan Turkey may close the Incirlik air base for the United States if Washington imposes sanctions on Ankara, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told A Source: Turkey may expel US forces from Incrilik Airbase over sanctions: Erdogan

[lollipoplollipopoh]

AJENews (December 16, 2019 at 08:50AM)

Turkey may close Incirlik airbase in face of US threats: Erdogan https://t.co/m4NY5mo0Ne https://t.co/16PaEDrkYJ - From Twitter

[andrewtheprophet]

Babylon the Great’s Messed Up Nuclear Policy

Babylon the Great’s Messed Up Nuclear Policy

AP Photo/Emrah Gurel

The US is rethinking the 50-plus nuclear weapons it keeps in Turkey

Tim FernholzOctober 13, 2019

A US Navy aircraft flies over Incirlik airbase in Turkey.

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