18 February, 2008

Turkey Gladio NATO staybehind False Flag Terror

Gladio . Death Plan For Democracy

by Peter Chamberlin


In late January 2008, a secret paramilitary group (formerly?) allied with America was busted in Turkey. Thirteen members of a shadowy right-wing group in Turkey were charged with "forming an armed terrorist group in order to provoke members of the public into armed revolt against the government."

http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2373933

"The detention in Istanbul last week of alleged members of a shadowy Turkish ultranationalist group has revived charges that elements within the Turkish security apparatus have long tried to destabilize the country through a campaign of bombings and assassinations. These allegedly include false flag operations that have been attributed to Kurdish separatists and violent Islamists... The Turkish media have claimed that the latest arrests follow intelligence reports that the gang was planning to carry out a series of high level assassinations...what Turks call... deep state has its origins in what are commonly called Gladio operations " - Mass Arrests Expose Operations of Turkey's "Deep State" - By Gareth Jenkins

The use of proxy mercenary forces to terrorize nations into submitting to US political demands has been the cornerstone of American foreign policy since at least the era of the Berlin Wall, and it still is.

"Terrorism - the use of violence and threats to intimidate or to coerce, esp. for political purposes."

According to this definition from Dictionary.com, the government of the United States of America is the primary source of state terrorism in the world.

In Europe, the American government actively sought to eliminate political opposition to its fascist world plans through the use of open violent repression and covert terroristic "false flag" attacks upon popular patriotic resistance movements and their leaders. Using ultra right-wing homegrown fascists, in both Europe and America, secret paramilitary militias were created, called "Stay Behind" forces at the end of World War II. Since then, the CIA activated these groups to successfully quash anti-American liberal and social democratic popular resistance movements. The agency denies this, but the series of exposes of their network in Europe since 1990 have proven the professed denials to be false.

The secret American plans to turn dissent into a weapon for destroying democracy were applied equally, yet differently, in America and Europe. Here, the procedure called for using more subtlety, as opposed to Europe, where everything would happen outside of the controlled environment of the corporate US media. In Europe, so-called "pro-communist" forces could be fought more aggressively, using secretive groups like Gladio to physically attack the antiwar, Labor-oriented and liberal protest movements. Behind the scenes, terror attacks were carried-out by anonymous sources to be blamed on the opposition party. Using the extreme right-wing Gladio forces in this manner, as well as infiltrating and sabotaging leftist groups from within, proved devastating at the polls. People ran away from the resistance in droves, seeking security in the waiting arms of the fascists and the all-powerful state. But many people did also see through the BS of the "official story" of events like the bombing of a train stations in Bologna, Italy.

The secret plans for Europe entailed large covert paramilitary units in every NATO nation, that were trained and ready to suppress all anti-American protests by liberals and social democrats. The official name of the covert programs was "Gladio." The official cover story (and its original purpose) was that these right-wing paramilitary units were "Stay Behind" forces, which were created as copies of the French "underground" resistance, to be activated upon a Soviet conquest and occupation of Europe. The Stay Behind/Gladio forces saw a change of mission in the sixties, when the European socialist/liberal alliance began to awaken strong nationalist movements in every NATO country.1

The Timewatch investigation documents the secret formation of these neo-fascist units throughout Europe, highlighting individual local leaders and their personal testimony about participating in armed attacks upon government armories and supermarkets, as well as terror bombings, like the bomb that was detonated at Bologna's train station, killing 85 and wounded over 200. Other revelations from the video about the operation include a damning investigation of Gladio by the European Union, interviews with key Gladio players like neocon Michael Ledeen, shadowy Iran/Contra figures Gen. John Singlaub, CIA spokesmen like former Director William Colby and Ray Cline, as well as pivotal controversial documentation on secret Army participation.

In contradiction of CIA denials about the true purpose of Gladio and the scope of its operations and neoconservative lies that there was no Gladio, the following excerpt, from joint resolution (EP 22.11.90) of the European Parliament condemns actions of US and allied intelligence agencies involved.

http://users.westnet.gr/~cgian/gladio.htm

"Whereas in certain Member States military secret services (or uncontrolled branches thereof) were involved in serious cases of terrorism and crime as evidenced by, various judicial inquiries... these organizations operated and continue to operate completely outside the law... whereas the various `GLADIO' organizations have at their disposal independent arsenals and military resources which give them an unknown strike potential, thereby jeopardizing the democratic structures of the countries in which they are operating or have been operating..."

This officially condemns the lame official excuses, like that given by former CIA Director William Colby (claiming on the video that these were small contingency plans for providing covert intelligence sources only, in case of Soviet occupation), while exposing the duplicity of stooges like neoconservative Michael Ledeen (who was implicated in the Gladio political action while working for a right-wing Italian news service), who falsely argues that Gladio was merely a Soviet disinformation program that was based:

"on an old forgery, designed to show that there's some kind of... accusing the United States basically of what the Soviet union was doing in Italy, which was creating a secret underground paramilitary organization capable of organizing to subvert Italian democracy."

This, "there is no spoon" explanation echoes the equally lame counter-story given by alleged Gladio participant, Licio Gelli, Grand Master of super-secretive P2 Masonic lodge, that the dreadful Bologna train station bombing was a "transportation accident," taking place in an open marketplace, where explosives were commonly sold, when "someone threw a cigarette away."

The "old forgery" that Ledeen referred to was a document known as "US Defense Training Manual 30-31B. The State Dept. claims that the CIA "debunked" this document as a Soviet forgery, even though it is somehow listed within the classified sections of manual libraries .

http://usinfo.state.gov/media/Archive/2006/Jan/20-127177.html

The allegedly forged document, signed by Army Chief of Staff Gen. W.C. WESTMORELAND, contained the following admission:

"There may be times when host country governments show passivity or indecision in the face of Communist subversion...US Army Intelligence must have the means of launching special operations which will convince host country governments and public opinion of the reality of the insurgent danger... To this end, U.S. Army intelligence should seek to penetrate the insurgency by means of agents on special assignment, with the task of forming special action groups among the more radical elements of the insurgency. When the kind of situation envisaged above arises, these groups, acting under U.S. Army intelligence control, should be used to launch violent or non-violent actions according to the nature of the case."

Since this is a very precise description of the known activities of Gladio given by participants in it, we must assume that history has confirmed that 30-31B is real. In Gladio operations, like those attributed to the "Deep State" group in Turkey, the plans for covert acts of terrorism (which were theoretically intended to implicate the Communists or other enemies of the US, thus turning the population against them) were supposed to be activated at that moment in the national struggle where the Communist/liberal forces turn away from armed struggle, to embrace non-violent democratic elections, according to the (CIA-alleged) disinformation known as "Army Field Manual 30-31B." But, as described so vividly in the BBC documentary, the right-wing terror attacks upon leftist leaders preceded the use of those tactics by the "pro-communist" forces. In addition to staging false flag attacks meant to be blamed upon the leftists, an intensive effort was made to infiltrate those movements, in order to incite radicals within them into carrying-out their own copycat attacks.

While Ledeen and the CIA try to claim that Gladio is a "legend," fabricated by the Soviets in an attempt to blame the US for their actions, the revelation of historical evidence is indicting America and the agency for introducing political terrorism to Western electoral politics. Gladio is an ongoing operation by our government to savagely kill and wound thousands of our own allies, in order to blackmail them into supporting America's fascist plans for the world. "Political action" took on a whole new meaning at the hands of the CIA and its hidden allies.

Terrorism, as political action, became the driving force in American foreign policy, and any nation that sought our aid, or to become allied with us, had to accept this reality and the necessity to keep blaming others for our own commissioned attacks. The historical record of "terrorist" bombings throughout the world is, for the most part, a record of our actions, done under the cover of layers of "plausible deniability," created by the compartmentalization of terrorist strike forces into different secret levels.

If the mercenary Gladio paramilitary forces could not provide a sufficient level of violence to satisfy the Company's needs, then the agency could rely on its own paramilitary units, or on special troops from Defense Intelligence under the 30-31B provision. If the work required an extra layer of "plausible deniability" then there were always criminal organizations for hire and the super-secret network of "rogue operators" like Ed Wilson, who were officially alleged to be "former CIA." In the book, Charlie Wilson's War, former agent Wilson told President Anastasio Somoza of Nicaragua that he could raise an army of 1000 "ex" agents to defeat anti-government rebels, for the right price.

In America we have seen that same commitment to the use of political violence play-out within the CIA/corporate/Republican alliance, especially during the Nixon Administration as seen in bloody incidents like the Kent State massacre, where right-wing Republican Ohio Governor James Rhodes strove to impress his Republican masters by having young unsuspecting National Guardsmen fire live ammunition into a crowd of young unsuspecting college students. Behind the scenes government provocateurs led radical movements like the SDS, the Weathermen and the Black Panthers into violent actions, intended to discredit and slander the antiwar movement. With the empowerment of Reagan, Bush and agency director Casey, CIA involvement in American politics was out in the open.

Co-opting the highly patriotic party Republican Party and the American right-wing in a subversive program to eliminate democracy by turning it into a weapon in this country was not a simple task. It took a great deal of foresight, intricate planning and an enormous amount of cash. In order to gain control over America's right-wing as it had in Europe, the Company had to formulate a program of intricate deception, in order to gain their trust, as a first step to dominating their efforts.

Since grassroots conservatism in this country is based on a conspiracy theory-based belief system, the agency had to promote the far-reaching conspiracy theories that were common to the movement. This meant that the CIA had to promote evidence of all-encompassing theories, such as those concerning Jews, the "Illuminati" and international bankers, to win the trust of suspicious Republican bigots. Undercover agents had to pose as movement leaders and researchers, who were committed to exposing the plots of our would-be "masters." The agency chose to play both the race card and the religion card, by making the "Zionist" plot to colonize Palestine (a real conspiracy) the cornerstone of the CIA/corporate plot against the world. The agency promoted joint CIA/MOSSAD actions for the dual purpose of forwarding both US corporate plans for the world and Israeli designs to reclaim the land of "Greater Israel," which were critical to conspiracy plans for the Middle East and creating a state of permanent war there.

The master manipulators at the agency underwrote secret efforts by Zionist agents, who also served US interests, to undermine American democracy and simultaneously cuddling-up to the American extreme right-wing. The Gladio-styled plan was to take over the ultra-nationalist right and to infiltrate and corrupt the anti-government left. They helped to create secretive anti-Semitic organizations, as well as Zionist groups. The two-pronged attack focused on exposing Zionist subversives, while working to build a popular wave of anti-Semitism as a national counter-reaction to Zionist crimes which they had helped to expose.

The key to convincing the masses of conservative Republican voters of this vast covert conspiracy was found in the "big lie," where the government agents chose to expose choice tidbits of its own massive brainwashing and social control campaigns, attributing them to agents of "Zion." The brainwashing science possessed by the government and applied through its foundations and institutes (such as Rand, Ford, Carnegie, Stanford and Tavistock Institute) dwarfs the alleged manipulative powers of any imagined conspiracy. This proved to be extremely successful, especially when combined with spectacular fear producing terror attacks.

In truth, mind control science, developed and implemented since World War II (largely by Jewish scientists and psychologists), is all CIA. With the rise of former CIA director George Bush to the position of "vice president elect," (and their "October surprise" obtained with a purloined speech prep book for the great debate) the agency began to apply those behavioral control techniques of Gladio to the political process.

The political product of that behavioral research, which became known as "neoconservatism,"

http://rense.com/general77/neneo.htm

was a deliberate attempt to duplicate the psychology of pre-WWII Europe (especially that of Nazi Germany) here in America, based on the scientific research of the Jewish intellectuals, who had fled from there for their lives. The recreation of a radical anti-Semitic political belief system here would be enhanced by popular resistance and reaction to the fascist neoconservative policies of Zionist dual-citizenship neocons. Leaders were found who could inspire armies of individuals to believe that there is a powerful dark conspiracy afoot that can mobilize secret armies of millions, to control every aspect of every life, or nearly so. The success of the brainwashing program can be measured directly by the number and intensity of individuals who believe in theories of "racial superiority," whether they be believers in ideas of either "Jewish superiority" or in counter-theories of white or "Aryan" superiority.

Today's resistance movement of counter-reaction to neoconservative/Zionist fascism is under assault by dueling forces, who either want to silence the movement, or to misdirect and co-opt it. If the movement is silenced by Zionists or divided by anti-Zionists, it will not be able to disrupt the neoconservative plans to launch nuclear war against Iran and thereby usher in a state of permanent war.

The over-eager Zionist zealots who willingly became part of this conspiracy have unknowingly sealed Israel's fate, as the intended target for the coming wave of anti-Semitism. Little did they know that their Republican friends planned to drag-up Zionism's historical record of utilizing anti-Semites in their secret plans to force the Jewish "Diaspora" out of Europe to forcefully colonize Palestine, as proof of a global "Jewish conspiracy." The intensive campaign of lies and subterfuge that have been used to hide fascist Israeli intentions to "ethnically cleanse" Palestine and the surrounding area of its Arab inhabitants, confirm all the negative stereotyping of the "Jewish state," especially in light of "Israel lobby" plans to force America to fight Israel's wars, even the ones started by Israel.

The Gladio-centered US foreign policy, which was so successfully played-out in Europe, effectively countered the Soviet expansion at a high cost to European democracy. The application of that policy to Islamic countries facing a Soviet threat, such as Afghanistan, helped to roll-back the Soviets, but at a terrible cost. The training of Islamic paramilitary forces to carry-out terror attacks for political reasons, evolved into the unfolding nightmare known as the war on terror.

In Afghanistan, the CIA armed, trained and supported Islamic "Gladios" who carried-out Brzezenski's plans for staging terrorist attacks upon popular local Afghan tribal leaders, as a means to instigate the widespread tribal warfare which eventually lured the Soviets to intervene in December 1979. (July 3, 1979, President Carter signed the first directive for secret aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul.) Reagan whole-heartedly supported the new terror politics as a weapon for attacking the Soviet empire, even expanding the Islamic militant form of Gladio to all member states of the Soviet Union and their allies, when he signed National Security Decision Directive 166 in March 1985. In Central America, his Gladio-like duplication trained paramilitary armies and death squads. This policy became known as the "El Salvador option," when George W. Bush embraced it in Iraq, making it the centerpiece of his strategy for the "war on terrorism."

Note

1. The following three-part investigation from the BBC, entitled "Timewatch . Operation Gladio" can be seen at either YouTube (part 1 of 15 is embedded below),

http://youtube.com/watch?v=l2MOpkriXb4

or at Google Video (in three parts). You can download the Google videos here.

http://www.takeoverworld.info/vid.html#gladio

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8001

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posted by u2r2h at Monday, February 18, 2008

1 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

http://www.campaigniran.org/casmii/index.php?q=node/4153


Will Turkey be complicit in another war against another neighbour?


Despite the the latest positive report of the IAEA on Iran' nuclear programme [1], efforts to launch a war against Iran are gathering pace [2]. Given the unpopularity of such a war, the big powers are keeping very quiet about it whilst using highly sophisticated methods to psychologically prepare their citizens. At the same time, all we hear about Turkey in the Western European and North American mainstream media is the accession talks with the European Union, the conflict between the religious AKP government and the country’s secular establishment (including the military) and the cross-border operations into Northern Iraq. Is there no connection between Turkey and this new threat of war? How does psychological preparation work in the case of Turkey? What pressure are the leading NATO countries putting on the Turkish Government? How is the extra-parliamentary opposition reacting to the prospective next stage of the ‘Global War on Terror’?

THE ‘TRIPLE ALLIANCE’

In 2006, researcher Michel Chossudovsky commented on an alliance that was described earlier by the Middle East Report as ‘probably the greatest strategic move in the Clinton post-Cold War years’:

“Already during the Clinton Administration, a triangular military alliance between the US, Israel and Turkey had unfolded. This ‘triple alliance’ is … coupled with a strong bilateral military relationship between Tel Aviv and Ankara. Amply documented, Israel and Turkey are partners in the planned US aerial attacks on Iran, which have been in an advanced state of readiness since mid-2005.” [3]

The recent state visits by the Israeli President Shimon Peres and the Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak to Turkey were the clearest indication yet of this alliance against Iran.

STATE VISITS BY ISRAELI DEFENCE MINISTER BARAK AND PRESIDENT PERES

On board his plane on the way to Ankara on February 11, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said that he would present Turkey's top leadership with Israeli intelligence reports on Iran’s nuclear plans:

“It is important to … try to convince [Turkey] of the facts.” [4]

In the wake of this visit, the Israeli defence officials have given the following statements:

“Turkey was interested in acquiring a missile defense system in the face of Iran's continued race toward nuclear power.” [5]

“All of the countries in the region understand that the Iranian threat is not just against Israel. Iran's long-range missiles can reach well beyond Israel.” [6]

However, Barak had a different attitude towards Syria:

“Turkey has a natural role in certain mediation and has found a proper way to dialogue with Syria. There is respect for Turkey in both Syria and Lebanon. This respect should be used for blocking the flow of weapons from Iran to Hezbollah through Syria. We respect Syria but we also expect Syria to have respect for Israel's identity as well. You cannot impose peace. … It takes two willing parties.” [7]

This statement should be seen as part of the divide-and-rule strategy of isolating Iran. As the leading NATO allies will not be able to attack Iran and Syria simultaneously, they need to break the strategic alliance between these two countries and go one step at a time.

Barak’s statements echoed those by the Israeli President Shimon Peres during his visit to Ankara in November last year.
Writer Kemal Camurcu analyses Peres’ speech at the Turkish Parliament to a committee with majority from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) parliamentarians:

“Peres was applauded by the AKP parliamentarians for saying ‘You don't realize and you don't understand, your real enemy is your next-door neighbour Iran!’. The purpose of his visit was to declare to the whole region that ‘There are the two trends in the region: Iran as a sponsor of terrorism and pro-peace Turkey’. He declared it and received applause! Given his interviews, his speech in the Turkish Parliament and the news items on ‘intelligence-sharing’, it is plausible to argue that the sole purpose of Peres' visit was to explain to Ankara the ‘Iranian threat’.” [8]

These statements were all the more significant considering that they were made at a time when the US, Israel and their European allies were desperate to get support for the Annapolis Conference in the face of widespread opposition to this initiative across the Arab World. However, this went largely unreported in the mainstream Turkish media. The Deputy Head of the Felicity Party (Saadet Partisi) Mr Sevket Kazan explains the real agenda behind this conference:

“This war against Iran will be launched by the US and Israel with the support of Turkey. Once the power of these two has proved insufficient, the UK, France and finally NATO forces –including Turkey- will also get involved.” [9]

US AND ISRAELI SUPPORT AGAINST THE KURDISH SEPARATIST PKK

At a joint press conference with his visiting Israeli counterpart Ehud Barak, Defence Minister Vecdi Gonul said:

“We thank Israel for its support to Turkey in the defense industry. We thank Mr. Barak for sending equipment and devices that Turkey uses in the south-east and in cross border operations [against the PKK].” [10]

In the run-up to this visit, alternative website Fikritakip made the following remark:

“For some time it has been striking that every evening Show TV has introduced at great length the ‘high-tech’ arms and defence systems provided by Israel to Turkey in the latter’s struggle with the PKK... This shows that the nationalist circles, which are thought to be anti-Israel, are in reality grateful to this country for its support against the PKK.” [11]

The Turkish media reporting on the US support against the PKK was along the same lines and proved to be instrumental in dissipating the anti-American feelings across the Turkish population. In fact, until the US support began late last year, they were being accused by the Turkish mainstream media and politicians of not only turning a blind eye to the PKK’s use of violence, but also of providing covert support to it.

In a newspaper article, former parliamentarian Mehmet Bekaroglu asks the following question:

“Isn’t it strange that the US declares the PKK ‘a common enemy of Turkey, the United States and Iraq’, while also encouraging, or even arming, training and providing intelligence support to the same PKK under the name of PJAK, against another country in the region, namely Iran?” [12]

Actually, this is not all that strange considering the divide-and-rule strategy of the US, the EU and Israel across the Muslim world based on the exploitation of all the existing hostilities and divisions. Until recently, they were simultaneously supporting the Turkish Armed Forces, the PKK and its sister organisation PJAK as well as the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq. According to the Firat News Agency, the reason behind the US support is:

“An agreement made between the US, Turkey and the Federal Administration of South Kurdistan for the construction in South and North Kurdistan [i.e. Northern Iraq and South-eastern Turkey respectively] of two strategic US military bases targeting Iran.” [13]

The base in Turkey is reportedly located in the Yuksekova district at the Iranian border. Needless to say, in the event of a war on Iran, the US and its leading NATO allies will be using all the bases on the Turkish territory at their disposal, including the secrets ones. It is important to bear in mind that the notorious US military base in Incirlik (Southern Turkey), which has played a crucial role in all the Anglo-American invasions in the Middle East in the post-cold war period, contains 90 nuclear warheads.

In retrospect, the rejection of the March 2003 parliamentary motion to allow US troops to use Turkish soil as a staging ground for an invasion of Iraq didn’t seem to have much of an impact as the US army clandestinely went ahead with its plans anyway.

THE MISSILE DEFENCE SYSTEM

“Turkey is playing a regional leadership role in the Middle East. Turkey's common borders with Iraq, Iran, and Syria provide an opportunity to advance peace and stability, fight proliferation of nuclear weapons, and defeat terrorists in a region that is now the epicenter of U.S. foreign policy.” [14]

(US Under Secretary for Political Affairs Richard Burns, in the wake of his visit to Turkey in September 2007)

The Head of the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency General Henry Obering recently said:

“The United States hopes to put a third major antimissile component in Europe along with those under negotiation with Poland and the Czech Republic to counter Iran… The previously unannounced third leg in Europe … would be placed closer to Iran, which is speeding efforts to build ballistic missiles capable of delivering deadly weapons beyond the Middle East… The powerful, ‘forward based’ radar system would go in south-eastern Europe, possibly in Turkey, the Caucasus or the Caspian Sea region.” [15]

Actually, ‘the previously unannounced third leg in Europe’ was announced back in March 2007 by the US Ambassador to NATO, Victoria Nuland:

“The defence system against long-range missiles of Iran and other countries … will cover most of the territories of the NATO members and there will be no need for a second system within NATO. But the threat of Iran’s short- and medium-range missiles is still present for countries like Turkey. In order to counter that, as USA and Turkey, we are working bilaterally as well as within the NATO framework.” [16]

PRESSURE TO CUT ECONOMIC TIES WITH IRAN

Like Iran’s main trading partners in the EU, Turkey has been under heavy and ongoing US pressure to cut its economic ties with Iran:

“Turkey's recent conclusion of a memorandum on energy co-operation with Iran is troubling. Now is not the time for business as usual with Iran. We urge all of our friends and allies, including Turkey, to not reward Iran by investing in its oil and gas sector, while Iran continues to defy the United Nations Security Council by continuing its nuclear research for a weapons capability.” [14]

In January this year, Stuart Levey, US Treasury's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, urged Turkey to be vigilant in its financial dealings with Iran:

“It is essential to share information to discuss risks ... and vigilance that is required in order to make sure that Turkey's financial institutions are not abused by Iranian financial institutions and Iranian state-owned banks.” [17]

THE EUROPEAN UNION’S ‘SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP’ WITH TURKEY

The former German Foreign Affairs Minister Joschka Fischer made the following statement in October 2006:

“Turkey should be a security pillar for the European community, and the efforts to derail that relationship are impossibly short-sighted.” [18]

Researcher Darius Mahdi Nazemroaya argues that:

”[The German] Chancellor Angela Merkel intensified her calls for the inclusion of Turkey within the framework of the E.U. through a ‘special relationship,’ but not as part of the actual European bloc. This also foreshadowed what Nicolas Sarkozy would later propose to the Turks.” [18]

Columnist Umur Talu explains what this ‘special relationship’ entails:

“French Prime Minister Sarkozy, who ‘doesn't want Turkey in the EU’, but clings to the USA and Israel and ‘wants an attack on Iran’ will adopt a ‘carrots and sticks policy’ towards Turkey. In other words, he will use the EU as bait for our territory, airspace and bases.” [19]

In fact, that Turkey became a NATO member in 1952, yet has been denied E.U. membership since the creation of the European Union is quite telling. The US and the leading EU countries have a common policy towards Turkey: They are using the PKK, accession to the EU, resolutions on the 1915 Armenian Genocide as trump cards to bring Turkish public opinion into line with the US and EU foreign policy goals.

The following statement by US Democrat Brad Sherman is rather odd given the joint US-Turkish complicity in the ongoing Afghan and Iraq genocides as well as the prospect of another genocide in Iran:

“For if we hope to stop future genocides we need to admit to those horrific acts of the past.” [20]

After all, the world’s leading powers are quite adept at using past genocides/mass murders as an excuse to carry out their own genocides. [21]

‘TURKISH GLADIO’ STILL AT WORK

Daniele Ganser, the author of ‘NATO's Secret Armies: Operation GLADIO and Terrorism in Western Europe’ (I) , explains an ongoing pattern across the NATO member countries:

“During the last 50 years the United States have organized bombings in Western Europe, [Greece and Turkey] that they have falsely been attributed to the left and the extreme left with the purpose of discrediting them in the eyes of their voters. This strategy is still present today, inspiring fear of Islam and justifying wars over oil.” [22]

Since the beginning of 2007, bombings, assassinations, murders, foiled plots, ultimatums to the government by the armed forces, constant speculation of an imminent coup, inland and cross-border warfare with the PKK, ‘colour revolutions’ (II) style staged democracy demonstrations, high-profile police operations, new anti-terror legislation have dominated Turkish public opinion.

“The detention in Istanbul [in late January] of alleged members of a shadowy Turkish ultranationalist group has revived charges that elements within the Turkish security apparatus have long tried to destabilize the country through a campaign of bombings and assassinations. These allegedly include false flag operations [III] that have been attributed to Kurdish separatists and violent Islamists [sic] .” [23]

The assassination of the leftist investigative journalist and columnist Ugur Mumcu in 1993 was seen by Turkey's secular establishment, media and armed forces as an opportunity to galvanize anti-Islamic feelings in general and anti-Iranian feelings in particular. The assassination was blamed on Iran, who allegedly used the (Turkish) Hezbollah as a pawn.

In reality, the (Turkish) Sunni Hezbollah has very little in common with its namesake in Lebanon and it is an established fact that this group was created and used by Turkey's paramilitary establishment against the PKK during the 1990s. In fact, on the 15th anniversary of the assassination last month, Mumcu’s solicitor brother Ceyhan Mumcu made the following call to the public:

“Let's be careful from now on and do not claim that Ugur Mumcu was murdered by Iran. Although I've been reiterating this point frequently, unfortunately some people are still giving statements to the contrary to the press. According to my research, US took the decision to murder him in May 1992.” [24]

Recently, news items on (Turkish) Hezbollah have once again started appearing in the Turkish media. There are grounds to interpret this as part of a subtle psychological operation to set Turkish public opinion against Iran.

AL QAEDA-MONGERING

In the last two months there has also been an increase in Al Qaeda related news reports:

“The security establishment has received specific intelligence information according to which al-Qaeda cells that have infiltrated Turkey and are planning to carry out terror attacks on Israeli targets and sites affiliated with the United States… Fresh security guidelines have been relayed to Israeli government agencies and businesses operating throughout Turkey in light of the threat.” [25]

These were followed by anti-terror operations throughout the country. [26] The threat was echoed by US Attorney General Michael Mukasey in the wake of his visit to Ankara this month:

“We are watching Al Qaeda closely. And we have seen in the recent period that they have increased their activities in Turkey… It appeared as though Al Qaeda may have chosen Turkey as a base.” [27]

Back in November 2003, researcher Michel Chossudovsky wrote that the bomb attacks on the British consulate and the HSBC bank headquarters in Istanbul coincided with President George Bush’s visit to London, which took place the day following the completion of the annual Turkish-US Joint Defense Group meeting in Williamsburg, US :

”The attacks have created conditions for a more active role of Turkey in the Iraqi war theatre… The Istanbul bombings also serve to uphold the shaky legitimacy of Prime Minister Tony Blair in the face of mounting political opposition to Britain's' participation in the US led war.” [28]

It looks like a similar strategy is at work in the face of another threat of war. As in the case of (Turkish) Hezbollah, it doesn’t really matter whether Al Qaeda has any connection whatsoever with Iran. This is all conflated Islamophobia and racism stoking the fire for war.

IRANOPHOBIA OF THE TURKISH MEDIA

Titled PKK’s tank or Iran’s atomic bomb?’, Kadri Gursel’s article gives a perfect example of the anti-Iranian propaganda of the Turkish media:

“Iran provided the PKK with shelter and logistical support in the 1990's, which was a period when Turkey had a close regional cooperation with the US; it fomented terrorism by using a wing of Hezbollah and openly supported Islamic movements through its diplomatic representatives. Murderers trained by Iran killed our intellectuals. Iran did all that to destabilize Turkey, whom it sees as a natural opponent.

Once Iran conducts its first nuclear test, it will become a super-power on the scale of the range of its missiles. Then it is expected to behave even more recklessly as it will have the ability to back its aggressive foreign policy with a shield of nuclear deterrence.” [29]

It is worth bearing in mind that there has been no war between the two countries since the signing of the Qasr-e-Shirin Peace Treaty in 1639.

In a recent newspaper interview, former Turkish President Suleyman Demirel mentions another typical argument against Iran:

“They keep asking me: What is happening to us? Are we becoming like Iran? Where are we heading towards? Will these individual changes eventually turn us into an Iran? That’s the concern. The nation is anxious and frightened of the prospect of a counter-revolution.” [30]

In her open letter published in the Turkish daily Milliyet, Handan Haktanir, wife of Turkey’s ambassador to Tehran in 1991-94, gives a dire warning to Turkish women:

“against certain regulations adopted in the name of freedom in an extremely innocent manner, but then pave the way for a much more repressive regime. According to my Iranian female friends, starting with the introduction of a compulsory wearing of hijab in schools, it took three years for this insidious and gradual process to be completed and then it was too late.” [31]

The ad-nauseam debate on the wearing of head-scarves in public and the secular nature of the Turkish state seem to have an underlying motive of stoking hostility against Iran. In fact, barring some exceptions, even the religious extra-parliamentary opposition and media are at best ignoring the threat against Iran and at worst raising concern about Iran’s increasing sphere of influence in Iraq/the Middle East and its threat against Turkey’s national interests. Sunni prejudices against the predominantly Shia Iran certainly play a role too. As for the various shades of the left-wing extra-parliamentary opposition and media, exceptions apart, they don’t do much other than paying lip service to Iraq, Palestine and Guantanamo Bay.

So, what is the impact of all these manipulations of Turkish citizens? The whole society is extremely polarised along ethnic, sectarian and class identities, showing excessive intolerance and mistrust to each other, in a state of fear and confusion, largely desensitised to the ongoing wars in the Middle East and Afghanistan (let alone anywhere else) and oblivious to the approaching threat against its two other neighbours, namely Iran and Syria. In short, Operation Gladio’s age-old ‘strategy of tension’ (IV) has proved to be quite effective.

NEXT BIG STEP TOWARDS THE WAR: CHENEY’S VISIT IN MARCH

The Turkish daily Hurriyet reported Dick Cheney’s forthcoming visit with the title ‘Cheney will come for the Mullahs’:

“Iran’s ‘nuclear’ threat is the reason behind the US Vice President Dick Cheney’s plans to visit Turkey … During his visit in March, Dick Cheney will be giving ‘serious’ messages on Iran… He will say: ‘Iran is a very serious threat. Help us and support us’.” [32]

The Turkish daily Aksam’s columnist Nagehan Alci expresses concern about this visit:

“Cheney’s last visit was in 2002 in the run up to the Iraq war to ask support from Turkish Prime Minister Ecevit for the war. He was on a big tour in the Middle East to test the mood about the war… If this visit materialises, then Cheney will be discussing the support provided by Turkish troops in Afghanistan and the situation in Iraq.

But the main issue will be Iran. Cheney might give the signal that the option of a military intervention in Iran is on the table, but will not be talking openly about these plans. Instead, he will mention the sanctions that they want to pass at the UN Security Council. He will emphasize the need to isolate Iran and warn that Iran’s nuclear power threatens Turkey as well. (He gave a similar warning [against Iraq] in 2002).” [33]

In the run up to the Iraq war, there was overwhelming unity in Turkey against the war, estimated to encompass 90-95 % of Turkish citizens. A war against Iran will probably be very unpopular as well, but this time it appears that the Turkish citizens appear to be too distracted and divided to take the threat seriously until the last minute, while the parliament indulges in a conspiracy of silence. Hence this paper is an attempt to redress the information deficit and highlight especially the psychological operations being directed at Turkey to pave the way for conflict with Iran, so that the Turkish and world public perceive the danger and act in time to avert it. Circulation to all interested and concerned parties is encouraged.

GLOSSARY

(I) Operation Gladio: Originally set up as a network of clandestine cells to be activated behind the lines in the event of a Soviet invasion of Western Europe, Gladio quickly expanded into a tool for political repression and manipulation, directed by NATO and Washington. Using right-wing militias, underworld figures, government provocateurs and secret military units, Gladio not only carried out widespread terrorism, assassinations and electoral subversion in democratic states such as Italy, France and West Germany, but also bolstered fascist tyrannies in Spain and Portugal, abetted the military coup in Greece and aided Turkey's repression of the Kurds.

(II) colour revolutions: Burma’s “Saffron Revolution,” like the Ukraine “Orange Revolution” or the Georgia “Rose Revolution” and the various colour revolutions instigated in recent years against strategic states surrounding Russia, is a well-orchestrated exercise in Washington-run regime change, down to the details of “hit-and-run” protests with “swarming” mobs of Buddhists in saffron, internet blogs, mobile SMS links between protest groups, well-organized protest cells which disperse and reform.

(III) false flag operations: Covert opeartions conducted by governments, corporations, or other organizations, which are designed to appear as if they are being carried out by other entities. The name is derived from the military concept of flying false colours; that is, flying the flag of a country other than one's own. False flag operations are not limited to war and counter-insurgency operations, and have been used in peace-time; for example, during Italy’s strategy of tension.

(IV) strategy of tension: A way to control and manipulate public opinion by using fear, propaganda, disinformation, psychological warfare, agents provocateurs, as well as false flag terrorist actions. According to historian Daniele Ganser, “It is a tactic which consists in committing bombings and attributing them to others. By the term 'tension' one refers to emotional tension, to what creates a sentiment of fear. By the term 'strategy' one refers to what feeds the fear of the people towards one particular group".

REFERENCES

[1] IAEA's report on Iran

IAEA, 22 February 2008

http://www.campaigniran.org/casmii/index.php?q=node/4134

[2] The US-NATO Pre-emptive Nuclear Doctrine: Trigger a Middle East Nuclear Holocaust to Defend "The Western Way of Life"

by Michel Chossudovsky, Global Research, 11 February 2008

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8048

[3] "Triple Alliance": The US, Turkey, Israel and the War on Lebanon

by Michel Chossudovsky, Global Research, 6 August 2006

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=CHO20060806&articleId=2906

[4] Israel's Barak in Turkey to discuss defense cooperation

AFP, 12 February 2008

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jRHa0Cve1T-cBQuQXyCfxsP6dxjg

[5] Barak hoping for Turkish satellite sale

by Jacob Katz, Jerusalem Post, 11 February 2008

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1202742131202

[6] Israel's Barak To Visit Turkey For Talks On Iran

Dow Jones Newswires, 11 February 2008

http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20080211%5cACQDJON200802111018DOWJONESDJONLINE000337.htm&

[7] Barak says he’s lobbying for Turkey’s EU bid

by Emine Kart, Today’s Zaman, 14 February 2008

http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=134011

[8] AKP iktidarinin bolgesel etkin rolu nedense hep Washington-Tel Aviv'e ayarli gerceklesiyor!

Kenan Camurcu, Fikritakip, 15 November 2007

http://www.fikritakip.com/news.asp?pg=3&yazi=193

[9] Turkish Party Issues Warning on a War on Iran

Milli Gazete, 28 November 2007

http://www.campaigniran.org/casmii/index.php?q=node/3440

[10] Cooperation between Turkey, Israel Contributes to Mideast Peace: Turkish Defense Minister

Xinhua News, 13 February 2008

http://english.cri.cn/2947/2008/02/13/1321@322582.htm

[11] Ali Kirca uygun ortam hazirlama telasindayken!

Fikritakip, 5 February 2008

http://www.fikritakip.com/news.asp?pg=1&yazi=2289

[12] 'Ortak dusman' emperyalizmdir!

Mehmet Bekaroglu, Radikal Iki, 8 February 2008

http://www.radikal.com.tr/ek_haber.php?ek=r2&haberno=7852

[13] Blood price for the US support to Turkey’s PKK operation: A military base against Iran

by Mehmet Yaman, Firat News Agency, 14 January 2008

http://www.campaigniran.org/casmii/index.php?q=node/3814

[14] The Future of the U.S.-Turkey Relationship

by R. Nicholas Burns, Remarks at the Atlantic Council of the United States (ACUS), 13 September 2007

http://www.state.gov/p/us/rm/2007/92066.htm

[15] U.S. says will seek 3rd missile-defense site in Europe

by Jim Wolf, Reuters, 12 February 2008

http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN1225015020080212?feedType=RSS&feedName=politicsNews&rpc=22&sp=true

[16] ‘Turkey is under the threat of Iran’s short and medium range missiles’ claims US Ambassador to NATO

by Utku Cakirozer, Milliyet, 5 March 2007

http://www.campaigniran.org/casmii/index.php?q=node/1550

[17] Turkey Warned Over Iranian Banks

Associated Press, 28 January 2008

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080128/turkey_us_terror_finance.html?.v=1

[18] The Mediterranean Union: Dividing the Middle East and North Africa

by Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya, Global Research, 10 February 2008

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=6879

[19] Who allies with whom against Iran?

by Umur Talu, Sabah, 20 September 2007

http://www.campaigniran.org/casmii/index.php?q=node/2947/print

[20] House Panel Votes to Condemn Armenian Killings as Genocide

by Steven Lee Myers and Carl Hulse, New York Times, 10 October 2007

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/10/washington/10cnd-armenia.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&hp

[21] The Hidden Holocaust: Our Civilizational Crisis

by Nafeez Ahmed, The Cutting Edge

Part 1: The Holocaust in History, 25 November 2007

http://nafeez.blogspot.com/2007_11_01_archive.html

Part 2: Exporting Democracy, 3 December 2007

http://nafeez.blogspot.com/2007/12/hidden-holocaust-our-civilizational.html

[22] NATO’s Hidden Terrorism

Daniele Ganser interviewed by Silvia Cattori, Voltaire Network, 22 January 2007

http://www.voltairenet.org/article144748.html

[23] Mass Arrests Expose Operations of Turkey’s “Deep State”

by Gareth Jenkins, Terrorism Focus, Vol. 5, Issue 4, 29 January 2008

http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2373933

[24] Ugur Mumcu was assassinated by the US, claims his brother

Tevhid Haber, 26 January 2008

http://vineyardsaker.blogspot.com/2008/01/brother-of-murdered-turkish-journalist.html

[25] Warning: Al-Qaeda planning attacks on Israeli targets in Turkey

Ynetnews, 31 December 2007

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3488536,00.html

[26] Five die in raids on al Qaeda cells in Turkey

Reuters, 24 January 2007

http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL24120943

[27] Mukasey warns Turkey on recent expansion of Al Qaeda presence

Zeynep Gurcanli, Hurriyet Online, 15 February 2008

http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/8241646.asp?gid=74&sz=44679

[28] Turkish Top Military Brass meets Wolfowitz one day before Istanbul Attacks

by Michel Chossudovsky, Global Research, 21 November 2003

http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CRG311A.html

[29] PKK'nin tanki mi? Iran'in atom bombasi mi?

by Kadri Gursel, Milliyet, 7 October 2007

http://www.milliyet.com.tr/2007/10/07/dunya/dunz1.html

[30] Karsi devrim endisesi

by Fatih Cekirge, Hurriyet, 14 February 2008

http://arama.hurriyet.com.tr/arsivnews.aspx?id=8228121

[31] “Iran'da ortu okula sinsice girdi; 3 yilda herkes ortundu”

by Can Dundar, Milliyet, 7 February 2008

http://www.milliyet.com.tr/2008/02/07/yazar/dundar.html

[32] Cheney molla icin geliyor

by Kasim Cindemir, Hurriyet, 17 February 2008

http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/dunya/8248131.asp

[33] Cheney Turkiye’ye neden gelir?

by Nagehan Alci, Aksam, 20 February 2008

http://www.aksam.com.tr/yazar.asp?a=109310,10,194

Tue Feb 26, 10:19:00 pm UTC  

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