This post is going to be a running account of the latest news surrounding what is going on with Turkey!Before you all start reading I am placing one specific news item at the top of my post!.Must read. Requires your attentionWhen the shit started to hit the fan I saved a bunch of news stories- I always save and read way more then I post here- Thank goodness for the readers..............!I saved this story from Financial Times in it's entirety:Headline: Turkey expands airstrikes against ISIS to include Kurdish separatist bases http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9e3d7194-32af-11e5-bdbb-35e55cbae175.htmlWhat was so very important in that news story for my readers? This very important information, is as follows.............
"The PKK announced three weeks ago that it was ending a three year cease fire complaining of a lack of progress in long-running, stalled peace talks with the Turkish government"
I repeat in large bold print:
"The PKK announced three weeks ago that it was ending a three year cease fire complaining of a lack of progress in long-running, stalled peace talks with the Turkish government"
So, despite the spin in the corporate media, those who are suggesting it was Turkey that declared war on the Kurds. It appears the PKK had announced the end of the ceasefire prior to all the "shit hitting the fan" PKK announces end of cease-fire, mobilizes guerillas
The Kurdish Communities Union (KCK), an umbrella network that includes the PKK, announced on Saturday that the cease-fire which was declared via a message from the PKK's imprisoned leader Abdullah Öcalan in 2013 has ended, dealing a huge blow to the protracted reconciliation process that was expected to speed up with the Peoples' Democratic Party's (HDP) entrance into Parliament.
Ankara and the HDP have been pursuing a reconciliation process to end the decades-long conflict between the state and the PKK since 2013, but the process has seen serious setbacks prior to the June elections with friction emerging between the mediator HDP and Ankara. The party, which built its election campaign on messages that promised to push forward the stalled peace efforts, failed to abide by its vows once it secured its place in Parliament.The HDP passed the election hurdle after receiving 13 percent of the votes in the June elections via the support of democrats and liberals, but it was unable to fulfill its assurance of a settlement between the state and the PKK. The blatant intimidation against the government by the KCK has come at a time while expectant HDP voters are waiting for a disarmament announcement.
Meanwhile, two groups of the PKK, consisting roughly of 50 militants, intercepted the Gürbulak and Iğdır roads on Saturday, opening fire on trucks and throwing Molotov cocktails. During the attacks, three trucks were burned down and one Iranian was injured. On Sunday, PKK militants clashed with gendarmerie forces after they seized a vehicle belonging to the municipality of Göle in the province of Ardahan. One person died and two others were injured after the terrorists opened fire on a bus at the scene of the clashes.Ankara has been pushing the PKK to lay down its arms as part of the reconciliation process but the resistance of the militants to abandon weapons has crippled the process, which is currently on ice.
If that information is accurate as reported by Financial Times, Daily Sabah & Today's Zaman (July 12/2015) that changes the dynamic at work in this situation from what is being presented by the media as Erdogan's government being the aggressor to the PKK being the instigator of hostilities.Just something to think about. Something to consider.On to the narrative as it happened:Some interesting info via NYT's
11:20 a.m.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey is asking NATO to be prepared to help his country as it battles Islamic State militants in Syria and Kurdish rebels in Iraq.
12:35 p.m.Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency says a soldier has been seriously wounded in an armed attack near Turkey's border with Iraq.The agency says the soldier was fired on by a man wearing a mask on Tuesday in the mainly-Kurdish town of Semdinli.The attack comes amid increased violence between Turkey and Kurdish rebels and Turkish airstrikes against the militants' bases in neighboring Iraq.A day earlier, a military police major was killed in an ambush of his car in the southeastern province of Mus. Ten people were detained for questioning.Earlier, an explosion at a natural gas pipeline between Iran and Turkey
12:40 p.m.Turkey's NATO partners say they stand "in strong solidarity" with the nation, and that the security of the U.S.-led alliance is "indivisible."
Indivisible, eh? Well I guess that depends on who wants the division?
1:50 p.m.The leader of Syria's main political opposition group is urging NATO partners meeting in Brussels to support the establishment of a "safe zone" in northern Syria.
2:40 p.m.Turkey's military says a soldier who was seriously wounded in an armed attack near Turkey's border with Iraq has died.A military statement said the infantry sergeant died in a hospital Tuesday after being shot in the head by Kurdish militant in the town of Semdinli.
There is much shooting in the head going on- Victims: Turkish military. Turkish police.
3:20 p.m.A spokesman for the main Syrian Kurdish force fighting the Islamic State group says he does not view a U.S.-Turkish agreement to establish a safe zone in northern Syria as a threat.
When you’re the one in control of the borders would this, could this, plan really threaten you.I have mentioned to readers here previously KurdIShIS controls nearly the entirety of the Syrian northern border- as you will also read below!
Redur Khalil of the People's Protection Units, or YPG, says it is still not clear how Turkey will fight IS and adds Turkey has no interest in sending ground troops to Syria.The U.S.-backed YPG controls most of the 910-kilometer Syrian (565-mile) border with Turkey. It has warned Ankara against military intervention in northern Syria.
3:35 p.m.A senior Turkish ruling party official says Turkey's peace process with the Kurds is not over but has been placed on hold.Turkey launched peace talks with the Kurdish rebels' imprisoned leader in 2012 with the aim of ending the 30-year conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people.
4:05 p.m.A NATO official says that alliance members have used the closed-door meeting in Brussels to call on Turkey not to use excessive force.Although public statements from the NATO meeting stressed unity, the official said members also urged Turkey to continue peace efforts with representatives of the Kurdish minority.
Although NATO’s lying lips are talking unity it is abundantly clear there is NO unity-
4:30 p.m.Saudi Arabia's King Salman has affirmed his country's support for Turkey's military actions against the Islamic State group and its right to defend itself against terror acts.
Does Saudi Arabia see the writing on the wall?
4:40 p.m.The spokesman of one of the main factions fighting the Islamic State group and Syrian government forces says a U.S.-Turkish agreement to establish a zone free of extremists in northern Syria is in their interest.
5:25 p.m.Turkey's military says it used fighter jets to target Kurdish rebels after its soldiers were attacked near the country's border with Iraq.
6:30 p.m.A U.N. panel says the threat of foreign jihadi fighters traveling to countries such as Iraq and Syria is a fluid and rapidly-changing problem and the response of governments must be stepped up.
8:25 p.m.Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi says his council of ministers views Turkish airstrikes in his country as "a dangerous escalation and a violation of Iraq's sovereignty."
The US moving the mouth of their sock puppet government in Iraq- After they over threw Maliki.
In a three-part message posted on his official Twitter account Tuesday, al-Abadi said that the council is committed "not to allow any attack on Turkey from Iraqi territory and called on Turkey to respect good relations."
9:50 p.m.The U.N. humanitarian chief, Stephen O'Brien, has warned against calling a proposed buffer along the Turkey-Syrian border a "safe zone," saying it could risk attracting vulnerable people to an area without "sufficient protection."
The US and Israel pull the strings at the UN also. One would think the UN would want a safe zone for refugees.. In fact you would think they would encourage it so all the displaced Syrians can exercise their right of return... After Angelina Jolie cried rivers of crocodile tears- oh the pity she had for the refugees and their plight- Barf!From earlier today: