Erdogan takes his anti-terrorism charade international

Janissaries Abroad: Turkey to Beef Up Military Presence in Qatar, Somalia

… from Sputnik News,  Moscow

[ Editor’s Note: Erdogan is scrambling to divert attention from his democracy crackdown in Turkey, with his military moves to assist other countries with anti-terrorism military training. With as big an army as Turkey has, he might as well do something for them, as he sure as hell isn’t using them to fight ISIL.

He has converted the Army and the Intelligence services into one of the biggest “palace guards” in modern times. Although his long time crackdown and jailings of media people has brought little UN or NATO condemnation, the current crackdown on academics could be the tipping point, as in it triggering a general strike.

At some point the remaining institutions who have kept their heads down will realize that the Erdogan mafia will eventually subdue them all one by one, so it would be better to oppose him in a coalition while there are still organizations that could join.

The NATO countries will also look weak in not being able to influence Erdogan from the embarrassing path he has chosen. Even the EU who has made a big show at bringing Poland and Hungary to heel or limiting the press is playing the dunce hypocrite role for looking the other way on Turkey. Poland and Hungary have not been jailing journalists on vague trumped up charges solely for being in the opposition.

The EU needs a Putin, and not a Merkel, and by that I do not mean a sex change operation for her. They need someone who is not a graduate of Fantasyland University, and who can deal with real geopolitics and be straight with their constituency, rather than acting like an occupational force mandarin, totally disconnected from the people… Jim W. Dean ]

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– First published  …  January 15, 2016 –

Ankara is determined to beef up Turkey’s military presence in the Middle East and Africa; after concluding an agreement with Doha to build Turkey’s first Middle Eastern military base in Qatar, Ankara has unveiled its plans to create a new military installation in Somalia.

The initiative has followed the agreement signed between Doha and Ankara to kick off Turkey’s first military base in the Middle East.

Remarkably, Qatar is already home to the American Al Udeid military base, which has around 10,000 US troops. According to diplomats, the new Turkish installation in Qatar is expected to accommodate 3,000 soldiers.

“Turkey diversifies allies with first Mideast military base in Qatar; is it possible also in Djibouti and in Mogadishu, Somalia, Soon?” Geeska Afrika Online reported on December 26, 2015, as if they had seen it in a crystal ball.

“Though this will be Turkey’s first permanent military base in Somalia, the Turks are hardly newcomers. During the years of the Ottoman Empire, Turks frequently made their way to Somalia as both warriors and merchants,” Knodell continues.

By strengthening military ties with its Sunni Islamic allies, the Turkish leadership is behaving like a bull in a china shop toward its neighbors, Syria and Iraq.

On December 4, Turkey unilaterally deployed 150 troops and 25 tanks in northern Iraq near Mosul without permission from Baghdad. The de-facto “invasion” was carried out under the pretext of war against Daesh (Islamic State/ISIL) and the necessity to ensure the security of Turkish operatives in the region.

The Iraqi government expressed its vocal dissatisfaction with Ankara’s move; however, the Erdogan government turned a deaf ear to Baghdad’s displeasure. At the same time, it is no secret that Ankara has long been allowing foreign jihadists to penetrate into Syria through the Turkish border.

Recep Erdogan’s request to establish a US-Turkish ‘no-fly’ zone over Syria was aimed at splitting up the country, Bangkok-based geopolitical analyst Tony Cartalucci wrote in his article for New Eastern Outlook in October 2015.

“Long sought after ‘buffer zones’ also sometimes referred to as ‘free zones’ or ‘safe zones’ still stand as the primary strategy of choice by the US and its regional allies for the deconstruction of Syria’s sovereignty and the intentional creation of a weak, failed state,” the analyst emphasized.

Furthermore, while conducting its illegal oil trade with Daesh (thus facilitating the group’s prosperity), the Erdogan regime cracked down on the Kurdish Peshmerga, by bombing PKK and YPG fighters — the US-led coalition’s allies in fighting Daesh.

Ankara’s aggressive military policy has led to the ruining of the longstanding relationship between Russia and Turkey, which nearly ground to a halt after a Turkish F-16 jet shot down a Russian Su-24 bomber in Syrian airspace.

In this light, Erdogan’s decision to project Turkey’s military power outside of the country’s borders should come as no surprise.

“In 2016, don’t be surprised to see Turkish troops and advisers pop up in surprising places,” Knodell concludes.

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Jim W. Dean

Jim W. Dean is VT Editor Emeritus.  He was an active editor on VT from 2010-2022.  He was involved in operations, development, and writing, plus an active schedule of TV and radio interviews.  He now writes and posts periodically for VT.

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