Category: Turkey

Remind Me Again: Why is Turkey Still In NATO? A reflection on what NATO was meant to be – and what Turkey isn’t.

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SEE: https://www.frontpagemag.com/remind-me-again-why-is-turkey-still-in-nato; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes: 

[Order David Horowitz’s new book, America Betrayed, HERE.]

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan continues to jail journalists, threaten Israel’s existence, denounce those Arab states that have dared to normalize ties to the Jewish state, bully Cyprus and Greece over gas deposits in their maritime waters, and destroy the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of Turkish secularists who refused to abandon Kemalism. His latest outrages are reported on here: “Israel, Turkey trade blows in row over NATO involvement in Gaza,” by Gabriel Gavin, Politico, July 13, 2024:

Turkey has doubled down on a pledge to block NATO cooperation with Israel until a “permanent cease-fire” is in place in Gaza, amid an escalating war of words over the humanitarian crisis in the region.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan earlier this week accused Israel of violating the fundamental human rights of Palestinians in its military campaign in the Gaza Strip.

“The brutal murder of innocent people by Israel in hospitals where they go for treatment, in ambulances, in marketplaces, in centers where humanitarian aid is distributed, and in areas defined as safe, is the gravest violation of human rights,” Erdoğan said in an interview with Newsweek.

Apparently Erdogan would like us all to forget the invasions by Turkish troops in Libya, Syria, and Iraq, and the Turkish attacks, aggression, and ethnic cleansing of Kurds. Erdogan wishes us to forget his using Syrian refugees as mercenaries in Libya, his buying of Russian defense technology — the S-400 missile defense system — despite American pleas and warnings not to do so, his urging on Azerbaijan in its ruthless war against Armenia, his publicly praising by name the main Turkish planners of the 1915 Armenian genocide, Enver Pasha and Talat Pasha, and his working with Iran to oppose the US role in Syria. Erdogan’s regime sees alliances building around and against it, while Erdogan has managed to antagonize almost all of Turkey’s neighbors in the Middle East, and even more importantly, its fellow NATO members, including Washington. Erdogan wants to wreck Israel’s relationship with NATO and make the alliance a tool of jihad against the Jewish state.

“Western nations that provide Israel with weaponry,” the Turkish leader argued, “do so at the expense of being complicit in these violations.”

“Until comprehensive, sustainable peace is established in Palestine, attempts at cooperation with Israel within NATO will not be approved by Turkey,” Erdoğan said on Friday at a summit of alliance members in Washington.

NATO was meant to be a military alliance of Western, democratic states. When Turkey was allowed to join in 1952, at a time when it was much more of a democracy, the country continued along the secularist, westernizing path that had been prepared by Kemal Ataturk in in the1920s. But Turkey is now the odd man out in NATO, neither Western — as Erdogan continues to re-Islamize, and de-Kemalize, the country — nor truly democratic. Erdogan has made 74 changes to the Constitution, giving him sweeping new powers, and allowing him to possibly remain in office until 2029. Erdogan sits, the new Padishah, in his 1,500 room White Palace (the “Ak Saray”), entertaining his neo-Ottoman dreams of leading the Muslim world, and brooking no domestic dissent.

Under Erdogan, Turkey is no longer a functioning Western democracy. It still holds elections, but there is no free media, without which a real democracy is impossible. Those journalists who dare to write anything against Erdogan are arrested and jailed: Turkey has more journalists behind bars than any other country in the world, except China and Russia. As for ordinary citizens who are judged to be against the regime, they can expect, at the very least, to lose their jobs, as hundreds of thousands have done, and some are arrested and imprisoned.

Erdogan has not treated his fellow NATO members well. He has accused the Netherlands, Germany, and Austria of being run by “Nazis.” When the Netherlands cancelled – for security reasons — a campaign rally for Turks in that country, that was to have been addressed by Turkey’s foreign minister, Erdogan described the Dutch government as “Nazi remnants and fascists.” When Germany’s former Chancellor Angela Merkel called for an end to discussions about possible Turkish membership in the EU, Erdogan called her also a “Nazi” – a charge he has made a half-dozen times against Germany whenever that country’s policies annoy him. And when Austria shut down some “extremist” mosques and expelled their imams, Erdogan was again quick to describe the Austrians as “Nazis.” Germany and the Netherlands are members of NATO; though not a member, Austria closely collaborates with the organization. Erdogan has no qualms about attacking in such an intolerable fashion two fellow members, and one quasi-member, of NATO.

Turkey was allowed to join NATO both because it was then a democracy and because it had chosen to help the West against the Communist bloc, as it demonstrated in sending troops to join NATO forces in the Korean War. In the nearly 70 years since, Turkey’s major military contribution to NATO has been allowing the American Air Force to use the air base at Incirlik, which is not exactly an overwhelming contribution. When the American forces were invading Iraq in 2003, Turkey did allow the Americans to use its air space, but more importantly, it refused to allow American forces to use Incirlik Air Base, and would not permit the movement of American ground troops through Turkey. That is not what the Americans should have expected from a member of NATO.

Erdogan and those closest to him have not apologized for, nor withdrawn, their pan-Islamic plan for the destruction of Israel. Many, including Erdogan, continue to talk of “liberating” Al-Aqsa, overlooking the fact that Al-Aqsa needs no “liberation” – it is controlled by the Muslim Waqf, which is under Jordanian authority. A new Turkish ambassador to Israel, whom one would have thought would have been chosen for the post because he was well disposed to the Jewish state, once claimed that “Zionism is racism,” that Israel has “displaced millions” and committed many “massacres.” Erdogan has repeatedly echoed such rhetoric since Oct. 7, even as the U.S. has professed support for Israel. So remind me again: why is Turkey in NATO?

Turkey: Man responsible for shaping Erdogan’s Middle East policy says ‘there is no such state called Israel’

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SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2024/02/turkey-man-responsible-for-shaping-erdogans-middle-east-policy-says-there-is-no-such-state-called-israel; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

Erdogan’s Turkey, which wants to destroy Israel, is an ally of the U.S., and Israel itself is an ally of the U.S. One of these alliances is in serious danger, and the worries are not in Istanbul.

“‘Israel must be destroyed,’ said chief Middle East advisor to Turkey’s President Erdogan,” by Abdullah Bozkurt, Nordic Monitor, February 15, 2024:

The person responsible for shaping Turkey’s foreign policy in the Middle East in the office of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been revealed to have called for the destruction of Israel, as uncovered by a Nordic Monitor investigation.

Sefer Turan, a 62-year-old pro-Iranian Islamist and a chief advisor to the Turkish president, has openly denied Israel’s right to exist, stating, “We must consistently and at every opportunity inform the public that there is no such state called Israel.”

Turan’s remarks were made in June 1997 during a panel discussion concerning the closure of the Palestine Solidarity and Friendship Association (Filistin Dayanışma ve Dostluk Derneği, FDD) by Turkish authorities. The FDD was identified as a front organization sponsored by the Iranian mullah regime in Turkey, aimed at channeling funds to armed Palestinian jihadist groups, organizing rallies against Israel and promoting antisemitism in Turkey.

Turan, one of the architects of the FDD, vehemently criticized the government’s decision to shut down the organization. He also condemned the peace initiatives launched in Madrid in 1991 that aimed to foster peace between Israel and Palestine, along with several Arab nations. The Madrid conference, co-sponsored by the US and the Soviet Union, eventually resulted in the signing of the Oslo I Accord in 1993 and the peace treaty between Jordan and Israel in 1994.

“We must openly reveal our identity and, if necessary, endure the risks,” Turan emphasized, further stating, “Nothing ends with the closure of the FDD.”

The driving force behind the creation of the FDD was a propaganda magazine named Yörünge, which received funding from the Iranian regime and was operated by pro-Iranian Turkish Islamists. Some members of this group had undergone training by Iranian intelligence in handling arms and explosives. Turkish authorities took action against the magazine, shutting it down and initiating criminal investigations and indictments against its staff.

The application for the establishment of the FDD was initially approved on July 1, 1995, during a preliminary process and later endorsed by the Interior Ministry in November 1995. However, a month after approval, the ministry requested that the FDD halt its operations until the Cabinet reviewed the application, citing concerns regarding the mention of international operations in the founding charter, which fell under the discretion of the Cabinet. On May 7, 1997 the government officially notified the FDD of its closure.

The FDD board members included Ahmet Varol, Remzi Çayır, Rıdvan Kaya, Nurettin Şirin, Fikret Özdemir and Ahmet Ağırakça, several of whom had longstanding ties with the Iranian Islamist Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force.

In fact, both Turan, working as chief aide to Erdogan at the time, and Şirin were suspects in a confidential investigation into the Quds Force network between 2011 and 2014. During this period their phones were tapped under court order as investigators sought to uncover an Iranian intelligence network in Turkey. The investigation aimed to determine any plots targeting Israeli, Jewish and Western interests in Turkey….

Lockheed Martin to sell $23 billion worth of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey

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SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2024/02/lockheed-martin-to-sell-23-billion-worth-of-f-16-fighter-jets-to-turkey; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

The U.S. State Department has yet to sign off on the multibillion-dollar deal to sell F-16 fighter jets to Turkey and Greece; of those two countries, the latter is not the problem. Turkey is. The deal will amount to another foolish move by the Biden government that would see the U.S. strengthening its enemies. This deal is akin to the Iran nuclear deal that strengthened Iran. Supplying weaponry to Islamic supremacist Turkey, whose president dreams of a revived Ottoman Empire (a global caliphate) is imprudent at best. Providing weaponry to Turkey gives it enormous leverage, while undermining American security and “destabilizing a region that Washington seems unable to ignore.” An article from The Hill provides notable examples of Turkey’s troublesome antics:

Turkey bought the S-400 (a Russian air defense system that threatens Washington’s F-35 program), nearly upended NATO by threatening to invade Greece, almost hit U.S. troops in Syria, became the safe-haven for the Muslim Brotherhood after it was kicked out of Egypt, served as a financing arm for Hamas and Russia, and is engaging in a battle of threats with Israel over Ankara’s support for Hamas.

Last month, Biden urged the US Congress to approve the F-16 sale to Turkey “without delay.” Advancing the interests of Lockheed Martin is advantageous to Biden’s political aspirations, too, since defense companies are major donors to political campaigns. 

The $23 billion deal serves Lockheed Martin and Turkey, but not the United States. American citizens and particularly Israel should be worried. Turkey is a supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood, of which Hamas is an offshoot. In November, the Turkish foreign minister threatened to use military force against Israel to aid Hamas.

“Lockheed Martin Will Sell $23 Billion Worth of F-16 Fighter Jets to Turkey,” by Rich Smith, The Motley Fool, February 12, 2024:

Military contractor Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) is in the business of building fighter jets — and business is booming. In a pair of Earth-shaking announcements last week, the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) informed Congress of a plan to sell a combined $31.6 billion in new weapons sales to Greece and Turkey.

But the biggest of these deals is for Turkey.

Why is Turkey buying 40 new F-16 fighter jets?

As you may already know, DSCA is the Pentagon department responsible for coordinating sensitive weapons sales between U.S. defense contractors and foreign governments. Turkey says it wants these new fighter jets to “expand and modernize” its air force, which currently comprises primarily older F-16C Falcon and F-4E Phantom fighter jets.

Before this sale can go through, though, the U.S. State Department must sign off on the deal as supporting “the foreign policy goals and national security of the United States” and unlikely to “alter the basic military balance in the region” — in this case, southern Europe — and Congress must either approve or reject the sale…..

Turkey: 1,000 boats filled with Leftists head to Gaza to try to disrupt maritime trade coming into Israel

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SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2023/11/turkey-1000-boats-filled-with-leftists-head-to-gaza-to-try-to-disrupt-maritime-trade-coming-into-israel;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

“Among the 1,000 vessels would be 313 boats filled with Russian activists, and 104 filled with Spanish activists…”

Once again, these self-righteous useful idiots have no idea what they’re enabling. Or if they do, it would be even worse.

“1,000 boats said set to leave Turkey for Gaza waters in new ‘Freedom Flotilla,’” by Gianluca Pacchiani, Times of Israel, November 21, 2023:

Approximately 1,000 boats will gather in Turkey on Wednesday before heading toward Gaza in an attempt to break the Israeli blockade and disrupt maritime trade coming into Israel during the war with Hamas, in an apparent repeat of similar attempts from over a decade ago.

In an interview with Turkish news website Haber7, Volkan Okçu, one of the organizers of the protest, indicated the boats will carry 4,500 people from 40 countries, “including anti-Zionist Jews.”

Among the 1,000 vessels would be 313 boats filled with Russian activists, and 104 filled with Spanish activists, he said. Only 12 Turkish vessels will join the flotilla, he told Haber7.

However, Okçu said in a later tweet that he expected the number of Turkish vessels to be much higher, at least 1,000, and insisted that the initiative is not associated with the Turkish government. He did not explain the discrepancy in numbers.

The activist indicated to Haber7 that the flotilla is scheduled to leave Turkish coasts on Thursday. The maritime convoy is set to make a first stop in Cyprus before continuing toward the Israeli port of Ashdod. Some participants in the flotilla will also reportedly take their spouses and children on board.

Okçu said that the main objective of the operation would be to cause disruption in international waters off the Israeli coast to the maritime trade heading for the port of Ashdod, in order to interrupt the supply of goods to Israel for a week or even up to 10 days….

FBI Investigates Potential Turkish Government Ties to Eric Adams Mayoral Campaign

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New York City Mayor Eric Adams (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

OAN’s Stephanie Stahl
3:36 PM – Sunday, November 12, 2023

SEE: https://www.oann.com/newsroom/fbi-investigates-potential-turkish-government-ties-to-eric-adams-mayoral-campaign/;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has spoken out about his role in the new Turkish consulate building project amid reports that he pressured the city to approve the building despite safety concerns.

Following his victory in the 2021 Democratic mayoral primary, Adams (D-N.Y.), who was Brooklyn’s borough president at the time, reportedly contacted Daniel Nigro, the then New York City fire commissioner.

Adams allegedly then urged Nigro to allow Turkish government officials to utilize the unopened building. The structure had faced delays as fire department officials had withheld approval due to safety concerns, according to sources cited by The New York Times.

OAN has not independently verified the Times report.

Adams said in a statement Sunday via campaign spokesperson Evan Thies that part of his role as Brooklyn borough president was to “notify government agencies of issues on behalf of constituents and constituencies.”

“I have not been accused of wrongdoing and I will continue to cooperate with investigators,” he said.

City Hall Chief Counsel Lisa Zornberg echoed that statement on Sunday, saying that Adams and her team are cooperating with investigators.

“We hope that investigators will continue to cooperate with us and reprimand any federal officer who has improperly leaked details about this investigation,” Zornberg said, “as such conduct could prejudice the public and undermines the integrity of our law enforcement process.”

As part of an ongoing inquiry into campaign fundraising, FBI agents seized multiple electronic devices from Mayor Adams earlier this week. The mayor’s team asserted that it had voluntarily informed authorities about an individual involved in the federal investigation who had engaged in improper conduct. 

During a recent news conference, Adams expressed skepticism, stating he would be “shocked” if investigators uncovered any evidence of his campaign coordinating illegal activities.

Text exchanges between Adams, Daniel Nigro, and Turkish Consul General Reyhan Özgür from September 2021 hinted at the possibility that the mayor played a role in expediting the opening of the Turkish government’s new building, according to sources cited by the New York Post. However, these sources also noted that the texts did not appear to reveal any criminal activity.

In the text messages, Özgür reportedly asked Adams if he could help the building receive a “temporary certificate of occupancy” from the city’s fire department, according to the sources’ descriptions of the text messages, and Adams then asked Nigro to look into it, but didn’t instruct him to do anything in particular.

Adams reportedly more than $2 million for his re-election campaign in 2025. Adams, formerly a New York Police Department captain, had campaigned as a tough-on-crime Democrat who would increase the city’s police staffing and funding.

In July, charges were brought against six individuals in connection with an alleged plan to channel tens of thousands of dollars to Adams’ campaign through straw donors, individuals whose names were used to bypass individual donation limits. Two of the individuals pleaded guilty.

These allegations, filed in state court, did not directly implicate Adams, and his representatives have maintained that he was unaware of the purported scheme.

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After Turkish Muslim Assaults Jewish Students, UMass Administrators Defend Anti-Israel Hate

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SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2023/11/after-turkish-muslim-assaults-jewish-students-umass-administrators-defend-anti-israel-hate;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

“Seven charges including assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.”

Not only are we importing terrorists and terror supporters at record rates, but some libertarians have decided to argue that terror supporters can’t be deported because that’s unconstitutional. Washington D.C. came under assault from pro-Hamas mobs and the violence continues to grow.

At an event on the UMass campus calling for Hamas to release the hostages, Efe Ercelik, a Turkish Muslim student from Istanbul, came after a Jewish student.

Police reports allege an angry, slur and stereo-type assault following the event on the campus of UMass Amherst. Efe Ercelik of Amherst was arraigned on seven charges including assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

According to the UMass Amherst Police Department report, just before 4:00 p.m. on Friday Ercelik aggressively approached two students who attended the solidarity event, using expletives and derogatory stereotypes and slurs toward Jewish People. He then allegedly punched and kicked a victim before taking a small Israeli flag out of their hands and destroying it.

Two other people corroborate the person’s account, police said. One of them said Ercelik kicked her hand as she tried to break up the attack.

Ercelik then took a small Israeli flag the person had been holding and destroyed it,” the report said. He allegedly walked into the Student Union building and stabbed “the remains of the flag” with a chef’s knife, the report said.

The administration responded swiftly by defending pro-Hamas protesters and warning about Islamophobia.

“What this student is accused of is reprehensible, illegal, and unacceptable,” the statement from Perdomo-Ahmed and Parham reads, “Let us be clear, these were the actions of an individual who did not speak for nor act on behalf of a group or anyone other than themselves. Peaceful advocacy and protest must and will be protected on our campus.”

“Antisemitism, Islamophobia, or any form of bigotry have no place in our community, and we are committed to ensuring our community’s engagement with opposing viewpoints is maintained in a respectful manner.”

Let us be clear, hatred of Jews has nothing to do with a movement that exists to hate and kill Jews.

Shelly Perdomo-Ahmed, a DEI hack, dedicates a good chunk of her statement to a pro forma condemnation of attacking Jews followed by a defense of the hateful movement behind the violence, and an attempt to give equal time to Islamophobia after a Muslim man attacked Jewish students..

Is it normal to explain that a Klansman’s attack on a black person is not reflective of the KKK? But when it comes to Islamic violence and anti-Israel hate, that’s the norm.

No wonder this happened at UMass.

NYC Mayor Eric Adams’ campaign suspected of conspiring with Turkish government to receive illegal foreign donations

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SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2023/11/nyc-mayor-eric-adams-campaign-suspected-of-conspiring-with-turkish-government-to-receive-illegal-foreign-donations;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

If Adams were acting as an agent to advance the interests of the government of Turkey, what would he be doing? Or more precisely, if Adams were not making decisions while considering what is good for the government of Turkey, what would he be doing differently?

“U.S. Investigating Whether Adams Received Illegal Donations From Turkey,” Dnyuz, November 2, 2023:

Federal prosecutors and the F.B.I. are conducting a broad public corruption investigation into whether Mayor Eric Adams’s 2021 election campaign conspired with the Turkish government to receive illegal foreign donations, according to a search warrant obtained by The New York Times.

The investigation burst into public view on Thursday when federal agents conducted an early-morning raid at the Brooklyn home of the mayor’s chief fund-raiser, Brianna Suggs. Ms. Suggs is a campaign consultant who is deeply entwined with efforts to advance the mayor’s agenda.

Investigators also sought to learn more about the potential involvement of a Brooklyn construction company with ties to Turkey, as well as a small university in Washington, D.C., that also has ties to the country and to Mr. Adams.

According to the search warrant, investigators were also focused on whether the mayor’s campaign kicked back benefits to the construction company’s officials and employees, and to Turkish officials.

The agents seized three iPhones and two laptop computers, along with papers and other evidence, including something agents identified as a “manila folder labeled Eric Adams,” seven “contribution card binders” and other materials, according to the document.

There was no indication that the investigation was targeting the mayor, and he is not accused of wrongdoing. Yet the raid apparently prompted him to abruptly cancel several meetings scheduled for Thursday morning in Washington, D.C., where he planned to speak with White House officials and members of Congress about the migrant crisis.

Instead, he hurriedly returned to New York “to deal with a matter,” a spokesman for the mayor said.

“The mayor heard of an issue related to the campaign and takes these issues seriously, so wanted to get back to New York as quickly as possible,” Fabien Levy, the deputy mayor for communications, said in a statement Thursday evening. “He plans to return to D.C. and reschedule these meetings as soon as he can.”

The warrant suggested that some of the foreign campaign contributions were made as part of a straw donor scheme, where donations are made in the names of people who did not actually give money. Investigators sought evidence to support potential charges that included the theft of federal funds and conspiracy to steal federal funds, wire fraud and wire fraud conspiracy, as well as campaign contributions by foreign nationals and conspiracy to make such contributions.

Mr. Adams has boasted of his ties to Turkey, most recently during a flag-raising he hosted for the country in Lower Manhattan last week. The mayor said that there were probably no other mayors in New York City history who had visited Turkey as frequently as he has.

“I think I’m on my sixth or seventh visit,” he said. At least one of those visits happened while he was Brooklyn borough president when the government of Turkey underwrote the excursion, The Daily News reported….

TURKEY: Erdogan at pro-Hamas rally-‘We can come at any night unexpectedly,’ crowd chants, ‘Turkish military to Gaza’

TURKEY-HAMAS Alliance Shocked Israel! Erdogan's Brutal Decision: "TURKEY IS READY FOR WAR"

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SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2023/10/erdogan-at-pro-hamas-rally-we-can-come-at-any-night-unexpectedly-crowd-chants-turkish-military-to-gaza;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

An empty threat? Probably, but not necessarily. Erdogan has made no secret of his expansionist designs for years. Still, while the Turks may be eager to join the fight, the Arabs might not be so happy to see them. Memories of Turkish rule in the area are not pleasant.