Stephen Lendman

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan: Imperial tool, killing for Israel & the US

In 1999, Nobel laureate/outspoken anti-war critic Harold Pinter minced no words denouncing NATO's Yugoslavia war. "Let us face the truth," he said. "The truth is that neither Clinton nor Blair gives a damn about the Kosovar Albanians. This action has been another blatant and brutal assertion of US power using NATO as its missile." "It set out to consolidate one thing - American domination Europe. This must be fully recognized and it must be resisted."

Obama's using Turkey as its missile against Syria. Both countries share a common border. CIA elements infest the region. They're very much involved in Turkey. They're recruiting, arming, training and directing insurgent fighters. They're likely doing it on both sides of the border.

In June 2012, The New York Times headlined "CIA Said to Aid in Steering Arms to Syrian Opposition," saying: Operating covertly from southern Turkey, CIA operatives are "decid(ing) which Syrian opposition fighters across the border will receive arms to fight the Syrian government, according to American officials and Arab intelligence officers." Weapons supplied include "automatic rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, ammunition, (and) antitank weapons..." They're smuggled across Turkey's border through "a shadowy network of intermediaries..."

Turkey's a NATO country. It's a reliable imperial partner. It has its own regional ambitions. It's Washington's lead attack dog against Syria. The aftermath of Saturday's Reyhanli's bombings bears watching. Turkey blamed Syria. It did so straightaway. No evidence whatever proves it. Accusations don't wash.

Thomas Gaist

The twin bombings that struck the town of Reyhanli, Turkey, near the border with Syria, this weekend are being used to push for direct, US-led military intervention against Syria. The Turkish government is blaming Syrian intelligence agencies and pushing for “international” action against regime of Bashir al-Assad, despite reports implicating US-backed “rebels” in the bombings.

Mehmet Ali Ediboğlu, a member in the Turkish parliament for Kemalist opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), told Die Presse that the Turkey had allowed Syrian opposition groups to operate in the border region. He said that the cars that were used had been smuggled into the country from areas controlled by the Al Nusra Front, the Islamist organization affiliated to Al Qaeda that has played a leading role in the campaign against Assad.

The attack, Ediboğlu said, was “very professional” and had the hallmarks of an Al Nusra operation. “It looks like an Al Qaeda-style attack,” Ediboğlu said. “They want to get Turkey into the war.”

He added, “Syrians knew something and left the town in the morning before the attack.”