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ISTANBUL: Military activities piling up in the region

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  • ISTANBUL: Military activities piling up in the region

    Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
    Oct 20 2012

    Military activities piling up in the region


    MURAT YETKÄ°N


    Russian Black Sea fleet destroyer Smetliviy, which has missile
    capability, passed through Istanbul and the Çanakkale straits on Oct.
    19 as a part of its Mediterranean patrol. It also took the same route
    in July this year.

    Its destination is not public knowledge, but it would not be
    surprising to see it appear in the Eastern Mediterranean. This is
    because there is the only relevant Russian military base in the whole
    Middle East, in the port of Tartus in civil war-hit Syria.

    Meanwhile, south of Syria, the U.S. is getting prepared to perform its
    biggest joint military exercise ever with Israel, in which 3,500
    troops are expected to take part, along with anti-missile batteries
    and missile warships from the U.S. Navy. This is obviously a move by
    U.S. President Barack Obama to deter Iran and sooth Israel, right on
    the eve of elections on Nov. 6. The message is: `We don't want to get
    involved in another war, but we are ready to defend Israel.'

    Along Syria's northern borders, Turkey carried out another military
    exercise - a small scale one involving tank battalions - on Oct. 18.
    General Necdet Ã-zel, the Turkish Chief of General Staff, recently
    completed his inspections of the naval forces, after the troops along
    the Syrian border received orders from Prime Minister Tayyip ErdoÄ?an
    to upgrade the war readiness of all forces.

    On the other side of Turkey's northeastern borders, Armenia recently
    completed a military exercise against the growing influence of oil and
    gas-rich Azerbaijan, which has had a fifth of its territory under
    Armenian occupation for nearly 20 years now.

    In Iraq, tension is growing between the Nouri al-Maliki government in
    Baghdad and Massoud Barzani's autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government
    (KRG) in the north, by Turkish and Iranian borders.

    Iran has been engaging in one military exercise after another and is
    already testing new missiles.

    I asked a ranking Turkish diplomat whether the whole region was
    heading into a larger-scale conflict as a matter of infection from the
    Syrian war. This region, by the way, is defined by the oil and gas of
    the Arabian, Basra, Mezopotamia and Caspian basins, which represents a
    serious portion of the total global energy output.

    `Don't worry,' he said. `Nothing's going to happen. Military exercises
    have taken place in this part of the world for decades. Relax and have
    a good weekend.'

    He pretended as if he was not joking.

    October/20/2012


    From: Baghdasarian
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