Turkish President Reccip Tayyip Erdogan is wasting no time in exercising his new supreme powers, granted to him in a controversial referendum on the 16th of April, 2017.
Both domestically and abroad, people are feeling what can only be described as Erdogan’s wrath.
The Sultan’s Neo-Ottoman Adventure is Opposed by the US.
In Syria, the US is becoming increasingly exacerbated by Turkish troops and the Turkish proxy jihadist force FSA firing on Kurdish led SDF forces.
To prevent such attacks, the US has positioned its troops to act as a buffer between Kurdish and Turkish forces.
A statement from America’s Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve told RT,
“Coalition forces are conducting joint patrols along the northeastern Syria-Turkey border to assess reports from both the (Kurdish) SDF and Turkey regarding skirmishes and cross-border fires between their respective security forces”.
This is a coded duplicitous statement which effectively means that US forces are in the region to effectively intimidate the Turks into ceasing their hostilities against US backed SFD fighters.
The US statement continued,
“The patrols’ purpose is to discourage escalation and violence between two of our most trusted partners in the fight to defeat ISIS and reinforce the Coalition’s commitment to both Turkey and the SDF”.
It is a rather impossible task to change Turkey’s position in the Syrian conflict. Even the US isn’t so naive as to believe that such a thing is possible. The statement reflects an attempt at face saving as the second biggest army in NATO, the Turkish army, is fighting America’s most favoured ally in the region.
As America appears to back-down from Donald Trump’s foray into Syrian regime change, the short honeymoon between the Sultan of Regime Change (Erdogan) and the US seems to be over.
Part of America’s climb down over Syria is evident by the fact that Russia has quietly re-opened communications regarding flight safety between the US and Russia. Moscow suspended the memorandum of agreement after America bombed Syria’s Shayrat Airbase on the 6th of April.
READ MORE: Russia switches back on Syrian deconfliction hotline with US
Recently, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov indicated that Russia is still willing to cooperate with the US in Syria, so long as the US makes its agenda clear and transparent.
Whether such a thing ever happens is still very much in doubt, but the fact that such statements are even being uttered is a further sign that the US may be switching back to its position of aiding Kurdish fighters whilst staying out of the way of Russia, Syrian and Iranian anti-terrorist coalition forces. There is little room for Turkey in such an equation.
Erdogan’s Domestic Tyranny
On the domestic front, Erodgan has been rapidly issuing special Presidential decrees which he can now make with impunity, thanks to his newly enhanced autocratic powers.
In the last 24 hours, Turkey has shut down Wikipedia, the popular on-line encyclopedia.
READ MORE: Wikipedia is shut down in Turkey
Erdogan has also wasted no time in purging figures from Turkey’s public sector who are deemed to be his political opponents.
Erdogan’s emergency decrees have seen the firing of 3,974 state employees from schools and research institutions, the medical services, the Turkish military, the Turkish justice system and law courts, and the Religious Affairs Directorate.
This recent purge constitutes the largest in Turkey since the aftermath of last summer’s failed coup attempt against Erdogan’s regime.
According to Sputnik, the purges have resulted in 35 suicides among individuals left without employment or a foreseeable future in Turkey.
The jailing of journalists, intellectuals and opposition figures in Turkey is set to increase as Erdogan seems to be going power-mad in the aftermath of his controversial referendum victory.
Past Turkish leaders have been removed from power by the military for far less, but with much of the old guard purged by Erdogan, it is difficult to ascertain whether those angry with his tyrannical rule will be powerful enough to attempt domestic regime change.
As usual, the west looks the other direction as all of this happens. Were it happening in Russia, it would be guaranteed to be front page headline news.
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