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Australian ‘terror bomb package mailed from Turkey’ “No surprise”

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Australian ‘terror bomb, from turkeyAn Australian man sent his unsuspecting brother to Sydney airport to catch an Etihad Airways flight carrying a homemade bomb disguised as a meat-mincer built at the direction of a senior Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) commander, police said on Aug. 4.

Detailing one of Australia’s “most sophisticated” militant plots, police said high-grade military explosives used to build the bomb were sent by air cargo from Turkey as part of a plot “inspired and directed” by ISIL, police Deputy Commissioner National Security Michael Phelan said.

The plot targeted an Etihad Airways flight on July 15 but the bomb never made it past airport security, he said.

“This is one of the most sophisticated plots that has ever been attempted on Australian soil,” Phelan said.
Police allege that one of the two men charged late on Aug. 3 had been introduced to ISIL by his brother, who they said was a senior member of the group in Syria.

Communication between the accused man and ISIL began around April, police said. Under the instruction of the unidentified ISIL commander, the men built a “fully functioning IED” [improvised explosive device].

One of the brothers was unaware that he was carrying a bomb, disguised as a commercial meat mincer, in his luggage, and tried to check it in at the airport, police said.

“We’ll be alleging that the person who was to carry the IED on the plane had no idea they were going to be carrying an IED,” Phelan said.

Such a device would work like a large grenade, exploding with enough force to blow a hole in an airplane, even if it went off in the cargo hold, said Professor Greg Barton, a security expert at Deakin University in Melbourne.

“I think the logic would be that you pack your explosives in and seal it up, and if someone does a quick physical inspection it just looks like what it is, a meat grinder, because it’s not electrical or electronic, it’s less likely to be suspicious.”

Police said there was “a little bit of conjecture” about what happened next, but it appeared one of the accused then left the airport, taking the luggage with him. The man’s brother boarded the plane and has not since returned to Australia.

“I want to make it quite clear – it never got near screening. I don’t want anyone to suggest that it … penetrated airport security layers … because it did not. It didn’t go anywhere near it,” Phelan said.

Etihad said in a statement on Aug. 4 it had been working closely with the Australian investigation.

August/04/2017

Turkey Uncensored: Jews in Turkey Under Attack Over Temple Mount Crisis

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Turkey UncensoredBy Wednesday, August 2, 2017

Dozens of Turkish nationalist-Islamists affiliated with the organization “Alperen Hearths” (Alperen Ocakları) recently attacked Istanbul’s Neve Şalom Synagogue, where Jews were exposed to three terrorist attacks at the hands of Islamic groups – in 1986 (by Abu Nidal Organization), in 1992 (by Turkish Hizballah) and in 2003 (by Al-Qaeda).

On July 20, the demonstrators threw rocks at the synagogue, whose Hebrew name means “the Oasis of Peace,” kicked its doors and tried to break in.

Kürşat Mican, the head of the Istanbul branch of the Alperen movement linked to the religious nationalist Great Union Party (BBP), delivered a speech, saying in part:

“For long years up until today, Israel has banned Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Not only has it banned them, it has placed X-rays at the entrance of our temple, thereby harassing our Palestinian brothers. Our brothers are unable to worship at the Al-Aqsa Mosque.”

Mican then threatened the worshippers at the synagogue: “Just as we are here today, we could come tomorrow too and then you will not be able to enter the synagogue. Is that what you want?”

Mican went on to threaten Israel with “a sudden siege:” “The Zionist, terrorist state of Israel must know that the grandchildren of Abdülhamid Han are alive. One night we could siege all of your places of worship and no one will be able to worship there.”

Demonstrators chanted the slogans “Allahu Akbar” and “One night, all of a sudden, we could come to you.”

See the speech here.

The recent conflicts surrounding the Temple Mount started with the murder of two Israeli Druze police officers by three Muslim terrorists. As a measure of security, just like many other religious centers around the world do, Israel placed metal detectors at the entrance of the place of worship. Bassam Tawil wrote for Gatestone Institute, exposing the real agenda of those provoking attacks against Jews in Israel or elsewhere:

First, the security measures – including the placement of the metal detectors – was not an Israeli initiative, but came as a direct and necessary response to a specific terror attack. The Israeli government did not convene and take a decision to install the metal detectors in order to alter the status quo or stop Muslims from praying.

Second, it was the Palestinians who took the decision not to enter into the Temple Mount unless the metal detectors are removed. The Palestinians and the Waqf are lying to the world by telling it that Israel is denying Muslims access to their holy sites.

Source: https://philosproject.org/turkey-uncensored-jews-in-turkey-under-attack/

Armenian monastery in Turkey is privatized

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Armenian monastery in Turkey is privatizedThe Armenian monastery of Holy Trdat in Tortan village of Turkey’s Erzincan (Yerznka) Province was privatized in name of 16 Muslim residents of this village, News.am reports.

Aziz Dagcı, the head of one of the Armenian associations in Turkey, stated that it is impermissible for the church to be handed over to residents, according to the Turkish news website Aktif Haber.

“It turns out that if the Armenian community wants to perform a Divine Liturgy or other ceremony, it must get permission from these 16 residents of the village,” Dagcı said.

He stressed that by this the Treaty of Lausanne’s provisions on religion and the rights of national minorities are violated.

To note, the remnants of nine saints were kept in the churches located in the area of the Holy Trdat monastic complex.

Turkey, US accuse each other of terror sponsorship in Syria

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Turkey and the United States have been accusing each other of supporting various terrorist groups in Syria.

Brett H. McGurk, the US special envoy to the international coalition against the Daesh terrorist group, has suggested that Turkey facilitates al-Qaeda terrorists in Syria’s Idlib Province.

He said in a speech delivered at a Washington-based think tank on July 29 that Idlib has turned into a “safe zone for al-Qaeda terrorists on the Turkish border,” asking “why and how” a deputy to al-Qaeda’s leader had allegedly managed to travel to the Syrian province.

He said it might not be the best approach for some partners of the US “to send tens of thousands of weapons and turn their faces to the other side as foreign fighters enter this area,” according to reports.

The US, McGurk reportedly said, intended to work with Turkey to have the border closed to recruited militants.

Ankara has strongly denounced McGurk’s “provocative” remarks, accusing Washington of terror sponsorship in Syria by supporting the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara views as the Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a militant group that has been fighting the central Turkish government since 1984.

“Our reaction to the statements of Brett McGurk, in which he associated Turkey with the presence of terrorist organizations in Idlib, was brought to Mr. McGurk’s attention at a high-level démarche, and his statements, which could be characterized as provocative, were protested,” Turkish media on Monday quoted Foreign Ministry spokesperson Huseyin Muftuoglu as saying.

Muftuoglu also said that the US had to end its support for the Kurdish Democratic Party, aka PYD.

A Turkish Foreign Ministry official, who asked not to be named, also told Hurriyet Daily News that Foreign Ministry Deputy Undersecretary Sedat Onal had urged the US envoy to “correct” his statements.

The official added that Onal warned that such remarks could harm mutual cooperation between Turkey and the US, which is seeking cooperation with Ankara for the post-Daesh period in Syria.

Syria has been gripped by militancy since March 2011, when a section of the opposition in the country took up arms against President Bashar al-Assad. A vast mix of foreign terrorists soon blended with the armed opposition, joining the fight against the Syrian government.

Source: presstv.com

Turkey says detains over 1,000 in latest anti-terror “Gulen” raids

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Turkey says detains over 1,000 in latest anti-terror raidsTurkish authorities detained 1,098 people over the last week for suspected links to militant groups or last year’s failed coup attempt, Reuters reports, citing the Interior Ministry.

In a statement, the ministry said 831 of those were detained for suspected ties to the US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara blames for orchestrating an attempted coup in July. Gulen denies any involvement.

It said another 213 of those were suspected of links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has carried out a three-decade insurgency against the government and is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, Turkey and Europe.

Forty-six people were detained over alleged links to Islamic State, while 8 more were held for suspected ties to “leftist terrorist groups”, the ministry said.

 

Following the July 15 coup, Turkey has arrested some 50,000 people and sacked or suspended more than 150,000 in the military, civil service and private sector as part of a sweeping crackdown that has worried rights groups and some Western nations.

The Turkish government, however, has said the purges were justified by the gravity of the threats it was facing.

Turkey makes decision to demolish Nişanyan House

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Turkey makes decision to demolish Nişanyan HouseThe Turkish authorities have made a decision to demolish the Nişanyan House hotel complex owned by Turkish-Armenian intellectual, travel writer, entrepreneur, and researcher Sevan Nişanyan, Ermenihaber told Panorama.am.

Citing Gazetevatan Turkish newspaper, the source informs that the decision prescribes demolition of 22 buildings, including the Nişanyan House, that were ‘illegally constructed in the environmental zone’ in Şirince village of Turkey’s Izmir province.

In addition to this, two other buildings belonging to the Nesin Fund established by Nişanyan and his friend Ali Nesin, are also set to be demolished.

The source notes that the decision to demolish the mentioned constructions was taken still in 2011, however it was postponed due to the resistance of the local residents.

To remind, Sevan Nişanyan was jailed on Dec. 2, 2014 for “construction infractions”, being sentenced to a total of 17 years in prison in Turkey. He escaped prison and fled Turkey on July 14, 2017.

According to some reports, Nişanyan was allowed to leave prison for one day every three months and simply did not return after his latest sanctioned leave.

“The bird has flown. Wish the same for 80 million left behind,” Nişanyan said in a Tweet on July 14, shortly after his escape.

According to the latest reports, he applied for political asylum in Greece.

Dam Turkey, Again

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Dam TurkeyBY GAREN YEGPARIAN

Turkey’s on a dam binge, again. Building that is. It seems 22 more are slated to be built.

So, why write about this? Many of the rivers being stopped up rise in the Armenian Highlands, hence they are of interest and concern to all Armenians. But, this damming operation has more sinister objectives.

While the developed world has come to its senses, realizing that dams are problems, too, not always solutions, and started to tear down many of them, Turkey is going in the opposite direction, despite its significant economic advancement. Why?

Dam building has been a big deal for Turkey, and may even have been reasonable at one point in time, but only up to a point. Everyone was on a damming binge in the 1950s when Turkey initiated its dam building programs. Irrigation and hydropower were and are legitimate concerns. For the Turks, those were not the exclusive drivers of what included some huge water projects.

Ankara had a misguided notion about building dams in what is really Armenia or neighboring Kurdistan. The Turkish government, steeped in its racist Kemalist ideology, thought that Kurds could be Turkified through “modernization” of what is referred to as southeastern Turkey. The idea was to provide irrigation to boost agriculture as a means of economic development which would lead to more satisfied citizens and their ultimate Turkification. Of course the drowning, destruction, and dislocation of Kurdish villages and settlements with lakes created by dams was (at least) a fringe benefit in pan-Turkist eyes.

There is also an international component to this whole dam scheme. The sentiment in Turkey was perhaps best captured by then-President Turgut Ozal’s remark: “We don’t tell Arabs what to do with their oil, so we don’t accept any suggestion from them about what to do with our water.” But what, you might wonder, do Arabs have to do with dams in Turkey? And who said it was exclusively “there” water? Just think of the complex water sharing arrangement for the Colorado River among seven U.S. states and Mexico!

The quickest of glances at a map makes things painfully obvious. A lot of the water in the streams and rivers that flow from the heights of our homeland ends up routed to Syria and Iraq, much of it through the Tigris and Euphrates. The once-fertile crescent of ancient times, the cradle of civilization, is no longer so verdant. Not only have mis- and over-use of water, human-induced climate change, and slower climatic shifts taken their toll, but Turkey’s hoarding of the Armenian Plateau’s water and using it for political leverage have wrought havoc.

War has almost erupted a few times when Turkey was filling up the reservoirs behind its dams or trying to pry concessions from its southerly neighbors. The Syrians even shot down a Turkish plane that was supposedly being used for surveying. The Turks used their water-leverage over Syria most extensively to coerce the latter to lessen or stop its support for (or turning a blind eye to) PKK activities based in the northern part of the country.

But nature is not something to be toyed with. Periodic extreme (artificial) drought downriver causes more than just temporary aberrations and disruption. People in agriculture lose their livelihoods. They move to cities or are otherwise displaced and become increasingly aggrieved. This leads to societal disruption and sometimes even worse.

Turkey is at least partially guilty, though its dam/water policies for the three Ds: desertification, destabilization, and Daeshification in Iraq and Syria. You have no doubt read by now that a major contributing factor to Syria’s destabilization was the drought and its impact on agriculture that the country experienced in the years prior to the “Arab Spring” uprising.

But this latest round of planned dam building isn’t even intended for nominally societally “beneficial” purposes. Many of these dams are planned in a “line” along Turkey’s southern border, from where much of the population has moved out precisely because of Turkey’s depopulation and anti-PKK actions. So these new reservoirs of water won’t be irrigating anyone’s gardens or fields. Rather, they are intended as barriers, making PKK infiltration from Iraq and Syria more difficult.

Of course these newly created bodies of water will exacerbate all the ill effects their predecessors had on the lands to their south: disruption of natural flows, diplomatically or politically motivated disruption of water supplies, evaporative losses that lead to net less available water, potential seismic impacts (especially since large reservoirs have already been created by other dams) in a part of the planet with much earthquake activity, impact on fish (an important local food source) because of increased salinity, and to the extent that any of the water is used in agriculture – the same salination of the soil experienced in other parts of Turkey.

And, as if all this wasn’t enough, the further desertification of Iraq, especially in the southern part of the country is worsening the dust storms experienced in the area. And, here’s the kicker, those dust storms are blowing all the way into Iran’s Khuzestan province, thereby dragging in one more country as in interested/impacted party to Turkey’s dirty water wars.

The only hint of good news is that some European countries have stopped funding Turkey’s dam projects precisely because Ankara has avoided committing to multilateral, binding, water use/sharing agreements with its neighbors.

Water being so fundamental a need could motivate these three countries to support Armenian claims against Turkey, so let’s use our Diasporan and state diplomatic resources to cultivate these governments interest in a water solution.

Turkey gendarmerie officer: Dink’s assassin opened flag at police station at prosecutor’s directive

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Hrant dink killer turkish flagGendarmerie officer Birol Ustaoğlu, who is a defendant in the Hrant Dink murder case, gave testimony at the ongoing trial into this case, in Istanbul.

Ustaoğlu, who is detained by court decision, said after arresting Dink’s murderer Ogün Samast, they had taken him to the gendarmerie, and then to a police precinct, according to Cumhuriyet (Republic) daily of Turkey.

The gendarmerie officer stressed that the infamous photo of Samast and the police officers with a Turkish flag was taken at the police station, and on the day of his arrest.

“It was apparent that they had instructed him [Samast] to say nothing,” noted Birol Ustaoğlu. “Subsequently, a camera came to the room, Samast asked whether he could take out a [Turkish national] flag, [and] the prosecutor instructed to allow raising the flag and to definitely take a picture of this instant.”

According to the gendarmerie officer, a national intelligence officer also was in the room during the interrogation of Dink’s assassin.

Hrant Dink, the founder and chief editor of Agos Armenian weekly of Istanbul, was gunned down on January 19, 2007, outside the then office of this newspaper.

In 2011, the perpetrator, Ogün Samast, was sentenced by a juvenile court to 22 years and ten months for the murder.

After long court proceedings and appeals, however, a new probe was ultimately launched in this murder case, and regarding numerous former and serving senior Turkish officials’ complicity in this assassination.

Turkey might have to do its own dirty work at Idlib Syria

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Members from a coalition of rebel groups called Jaish al-Fatah (Army of Conquest) man a checkpoint in Idlib, Syria, July 18, 2017. (photo by REUTERS/Ammar Abdullah)

By Fehim Tastekin,

Ankara faces a major quandary now that al-Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) has seized Syria’s Idlib area abutting Turkey’s Hatay province.

HTS captured more than 30 locations in the clashes of July 18-24, decimating Turkish-backed Ahrar al-Sham and its allies, who were forced to retreat from Idlib south to rural Hama. HTS gained control of areas with border crossings to Turkey. Only the Bab al-Hawa border crossing opposite Turkey’s Cilvegozu was handed over to a neutral civilian administration after the adversaries reached an agreement July 21.

What course will Turkey take now that the field situation at Idlib has shifted in al-Qaeda’s favor? What problems might Turkey have to deal with?

So as not to disrupt the humanitarian and military assistance coming through the Turkish border, Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra), the key force of the HTS coalition, had stayed away from the border crossings since Idlib was captured in March, although Bab al-Hawa and the unofficial crossing of Khirbet al-Jouz were the main sources of revenue for Ahrar al-Sham. Ahrar al-Sham lost control of Bab al-Hawa and Khirbet al-Jouz when clashes resumed after the July 21 cease-fire. HTS, aware of the vital importance of keeping the border crossings open, agreed to allow Bab al-Hawa to be managed by a neutral civilian administration.

Turkey can’t stop humanitarian relief from crossing into Syria, but it might decide to use the border crossings as leverage to force HTS to cooperate with Ahrar al-Sham. Turkey might also provoke civil society bodies of the Syrian National Coalition that are not comfortable with the presence of HTS. Some civil society groups already have demonstrated against HTS.

But HTS, which is determined to block Turkey’s moves to extend Operation Euphrates Shield to Idlib, probably won’t agree to coexist with Ahrar al-Sham.

These changes in the field’s power configuration are likely to alter Turkey’s plans for Idlib and Afrin. Until July 27, Ankara’s plan for the border was to mobilize its local Euphrates Shield forces based in the Azaz/al-Bab pocket to expel the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) from Tel Rifaat and Menagh and then open a corridor between Azaz and Idlib. Next would have been to push away the HTS forces north of Idlib and put that area under the control of opposition forces sponsored by Turkey. Finally, Idlib would be declared a deconfliction zone as per the accord reached with Russia at Astana, Kazakhstan.

What Turkey really wanted was to lay a tight siege on Kurdish-controlled Afrin, which today is mostly surrounded from the northeast by Turkish-backed forces. Nevertheless, the people of Afrin can still reach Aleppo and Manbij via Tel Rifaat. These were all plans Ankara wanted to implement with its ally Ahrar al-Sham and related groups. But now Ankara has realized that Ahrar al-Sham can’t be the linchpin of a strategy against HTS.

The Ahrar al-Sham collapse at Idlib left Turkey with two difficult choices for the future of the area. Either Turkey will enter into a direct confrontation with HTS or will agree to have Russia and Syria carry out operations in the same area. The first option means those living in Idlib would flee to areas under regime control; the second option means they would have to escape to Turkey — and Ankara doesn’t want even one more single refugee.

Turkey’s military intervention at Idlib could well lead to reactions different than the ones it dealt with when its adversary was on the Jarablus/al-Bab front. Turkey, through coalition intelligence operations rooms at Antakya and Gaziantep, has for a long time supported both Jabhat Fatah al-Sham and Ahrar al-Sham. To declare HTS, Jabhat Fatah al-Sham’s umbrella group, an enemy could turn the guns on Turkey. Many opposition groups, despite their internal squabbling, might declare Turkey an occupation force.

Kurdish and Turkish news media talk of scenarios without having adequate background information. According to theories in Kurdish media, Turkey has realized the Syrian Democratic Forces, affiliated with the YPG, will turn toward Idlib after liberating Raqqa. So, the theory goes, Turkey has decided to eliminate its own ally, Ahrar al-Sham, as a power on the ground so that Turkey itself can occupy the Idlib region. Turkey could enter the area with the pretext of cleansing it of al-Qaeda.

Interestingly, this theory gets support from the Turkmen front. Turkmen National Movement Party Vice President Tarik Sulo Cevizci thinks Turkey will not allow al-Qaeda to dominate the Idlib region and will intervene with its own army. “Turkey wants to enter and stay in that area. Ongoing clashes in Idlib may provide Turkey with circumstances that could justify intervention,” he said.

Turkey sees itself as a game maker at Astana. But it was Ahrar al-Sham’s initial field superiority that provided Turkey with strong cards to play. Ahrar al-Sham relinquished most of his field leverage when it lost control of the area and some of its allied groups. Although the Nureddin Zengi Brigade, which the United States supplied with TOW anti-tank missiles, has declared it is splitting from HTS and will remain neutral, 19 other groups (some of them miniscule) joined HTS July 18-24.

Local security sources say the Qatar crisis has also weakened Ahrar al-Sham and its allies. These sources claim it was Ahrar al-Sham joining the Astana cease-fire process and its affiliation with Turkey’s Operation Euphrates Shield that actually empowered HTS and allowed it to impose its control over the area. On May 12, HTS had arranged sermons in mosques denouncing Turkey. Soon after that, it began attacking Ahrar al-Sham.

Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, which recently was forced to agree to a cease-fire in its clashes with Hezbollah and the Lebanese army in Lebanon’s Arsal border area, is now expected to transfer those 1,500 fighters to Idlib. That means an experienced combat detachment will reinforce HTS.

Idlib has emerged as the place where Syria’s war is likely to be decided. Fighters evacuated from different parts of Syria have been relocated to Idlib. But that war is not imminent, not yet. The Syrian army is still focusing on Raqqa and the energy-rich areas of Homs, Deir ez-Zor and Palmyra. Such a widespread front makes a concentrated operation at Idlib beyond reach for the time being. With Idlib as the last act in the approaching conflagration, the worst burn victim of those flames could well be Turkey.

Fehim Tastekin is a Turkish journalist and a columnist for Turkey Pulse who previously wrote for Radikal and Hurriyet. He has also been the host of the weekly program “SINIRSIZ,” on IMC TV. As an analyst, Tastekin specializes in Turkish foreign policy and Caucasus, Middle East and EU affairs. He is the author of “Suriye: Yikil Git, Diren Kal,” “Rojava: Kurtlerin Zamani” and “Karanlık Coktugunde – ISID.” Tastekin is founding editor of the Agency Caucasus. On Twitter: @fehimtastekin

GagruleLive: Russia Fueling Armenia’s Enemy Turkey, time to abandon Russia “Video”

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It’s true that Moscow has taken advantage of Armenians, as if they were pawns, for many centuries in the larger chess game between powers they play, even today:
1. They fooled Armenians during WWI by telling them that Mother Russia was here to save them from the Turks and then completely withdrew because of the 1917 Russian Revolution leaving Armenians helpless (they could have left a few troops if they were genuine);
2. Stalin gave gold and arms to the Turks in 1918 to allow Ataturk to take Masis and invade Eastern Armenia;
3. Stalin then invaded Armenia in 1918 as well, to subjucate Armenians for 7 decades and try and destroy the Armenian Church with Communism;
4. Stalin also amended the Armenian SSR boundary in 1922 to give Artsakh to the Azeris (and Nakhchivan) – but this was just a provincial boundary and when the Soviet Union fell it had no legal meaning as the collapse of Soviet law gave the right to self-determination and independence to Armenia, Azerbaijan… and Artsakh (Artsakhpress.am);
5. Russia then stopped the Armenia in the 90s when the Armenians had beaten the Azeris and could have gone all the way to Baku to force a peace treaty which would have saved countless lives lost in the past 25 years; and
6. Russia today arms the Azeris and the Turks, while ‘defending’ Armenia and influencing the Armenian people with pervasive propoganda against the West – as if Russia is Armenia’s only option as a ‘friend’.

US sanctions against Russia ‘in Armenia’s interests’ – analyst  Levon Shirinyan

The United States’ move to enforce fresh sanctions against Russia gives absolutely no ground for concern, especially to Armenia, according a Yerevan-based political analyst.
Speaking to Tert.am, Levon Shirinyan described the Trump administration’s recent decision as an attempt to ‘constrain Russia’s appetite’.
“Russia’s expansionist appetite is really big, as they want to seize Donbass, Ukraine and Armenia,” he said, blaming the country also for provoking repeated hostilities between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

“With those sanctions now, the United States are making attempts to moderate that appetite,” Shirinyan added.

The expert said he also sees Russian attempts to establish dominance over Armenia through soft power. “While they now propose giving Russian a state language status, sometime in the future, they may urge us to change also our religion. That’s a Russian style of acting, a way of seizing [Armenia],” he noted.