On the day Israel began its attack on Gaza, the Turkish air force re-started bombarding Kurdistan.
It was no coincidence; Israel and Turkey are strong allies in the region. Though one state is Jewish and the other Islamic; they have a lot in common and common goals. Both aim at hegemonial supremacy in the region, both have to deal with indigenous populations or populations that had been living in the region before there were any states of Israel or Turkey. Both strive to keep lands or expand into territory that historically or legally belongs to other peoples.
Both are client states. The triple alliance Washington-Tel Aviv-Ankara is the brainchild of the neo-cons in the 90s. Pentagon, State Department, White House, Jewish and Turkish Lobbies concluded back then it was a good idea to promote and coordinate their interests in the Middle East. As usual, the peoples on the ground were never asked.
The common interests are the huge profits made through the military-industrial complex, energy resources, narcotics and nuclear trade, and the geo-strategic and security pacts. This business of the US global empire was previously called fights against communism, today it is marketed under the label “war on terrorism”.
The deal is being implemented. Israeli military advisors are now in Batman and other occupied Kurdish cities to train Turkish pilots and provide them with intelligence on location of the Kurdish liberation movement, thus they are actively involved in Ankara’s programme of eradicating the Kurdish struggle for survival.
Gaza shows how active and effective the Turkish-Jewish alliance has become. Most likely the Turks were given advance notice of the Gaza attack. On the surface, the Turkish regime sides with their fellow Muslims in Gaza, but in reality Israel has the full state and military backing of the “Republic of Turkey” in its unprecedented military operations against a civilian population.
Realpolitics are ugly no doubt. But its Turkish form is particularly ugly, disgusting, and barbaric. The Turkish Islamist regime can cry about the injured, mutilated, and murdered brothers in faith, victims of an aggression in which they play a role, while at the same time the Turkish military has been committing similar atrocities. It has been terrorizing and murdering for decades without a single drop of tear shed, without any Turkish (and international) protest whatsoever. There has never been a judicial or any public investigation into crimes against the Kurdish population.
Following US counterinsurgency tactics and with implicit approval of the US governments; Turkey could destroy more than 4,000 Kurdish villages, deport millions of Kurds into Turkish settlements in the western parts of the country where they now live in slums; thousands of Kurds were tortured, thousands were killed in extra-judicial circumstances. More than 25,000 Kurds, labeled "terrorist" were killed in the “anti-terrorism” warfare of the Turkish army.
The truth of the matter is, there would have never been an armed Kurdish resistance if the Turks would have accepted the Kurdish population as a people with human and ethnic rights; if it hadn’t prohibited Kurdish language and education; if it hadn’t attempted to assimilate them into obedient Turkish “citizens”. Assimilation, by legal and accepted definition, is a crime against humanity, for those suffering under this state policy, assimilation is nothing but terrorism.
The Kurdish liberation movement, under the leadership of the PKK, is the reaction to that terror state of Turkey. The Turkish people have remained silent about these crimes committed in their names. One wonders how the Turkish people and state can live with such hypocrisy and double-standards, how much longer this schizophrenic and criminal condition can continue.
Despite the ongoing crimes and injustices; Kurds and other oppressed peoples maintain their hopes that there will be change and liberation one day.
The USA has a history of crimes, but also of positive change. It has the potential for changing the world, both for the worse or for the better. One of the greatest achievements of the American people, if not the greatest, has been the abolition of slavery. This liberated the black people and gave hope for millions of others under oppression. One wonders if there will be real change with the new American administration, with President Obama. The USA has still the power and the potential to abolish slavery in the Middle East.
However, any real change must address the injustice camouflaged under the name “US foreign policy”. The policy of change needs to be concrete and clear. It must end the support for despotic and fascist regimes, even if they are "US allies" or NATO members. The USA must abolish its system of client states, which is a modern and global form of slavery. It must not accept and allow pseudo democracies and racist regimes to continue committing crimes against humanity. It must stop applying the term “terrorism” to liberation movements of indigenous peoples; but instead openly support their rights, including the right for self-determination. (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
Cooperation with puppet regimes and parasitical elites that prevent progress, freedom and democracy in the region must end. In a new US foreign policy, trust and friendship with other nations should come before profits. A new strategy must be developed that does not divide the world into spheres of influence and leads to more wars for territory or resources. In that new strategy, principles of justice should dominate rather than military power.
One of the main obstacles for global justice and peace has historically been the fight for resources between groups or states. It is high time that the raw materials and energy sources of the world should belong to everyone instead of being in the hands of a few or prey to corporate competitors. A new American policy should lead to an international agreement that will manage our depleting resources in the name of and for the benefit of mankind alone.
