Tweet
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/security/2014/04/turkey-realization-blunder-kassab-syria.html
Turkey realizes its blunder in Kassab operation
By Fehim Tastekin
April 8, 2014
What a harebrained scheme it was. You will provide logistical support
to al-Qaeda and its allies who captured the Syrian Armenian town of
Kassab. When their [Armenian] diaspora rose up, letters were sent to
the US Congress and Kim Kardashian, whose family hails from our
Kars-Karakale, launched a Twitter campaign with hashtag #SaveKessab,
why are we dumbfounded? Then we realized something was not right and
started scheming to find a way out. I had earlier written on Kassab
when it was captured. People fearing massacres fled to Latakia,
leaving behind only the elderly, the infirm and those who say, "If I
am going to die, I will die here.' On the eve of the April 24 genocide
observance, the Armenian diaspora was thus provided with a current
issue to raise. And what did our ambitious official news service
Anatolian Agency [AA] do? It started to run stories on how humane the
Syrian opposition was by protecting Armenian churches and said that
they had actually transported two elderly Armenians to Turkey.
Turkey now seems to realize its mistake in supporting Syrian rebels
in the operation to take control of the Armenian town Kassab in
northern Syria, but it's too late and Ankara will have to pay the
price for this blunder.
First, I want to say, "Wake up." The bill for Kassab was made out to
Turkey long ago. We will find out later how we will have to pay. The
people of Kassab abandoned their homes because of fighters supported
by Turkey. They didn't go to Latakia on vacation. If this temporary
exile becomes permanent and God forbid there are other tragedies, make
no mistake, it will be Turkey that will pay no matter who the
wrongdoer may be.
Now let's discuss siblings Sirpuhi, 82, and Satenik Tititzyan, 84,
taken to Vakifli, the only Armenian village in Turkey. A reporter for
Armenian weekly Agos, Lora Baytar, spoke with this duo who, according
to our AA, had asked to be taken to Turkey. According to Sirpuhi
Titizyan, first Turkish-speaking militants came and searched their
home. Next, Arabic-speaking ones came and said, "We will take you to
Latakia.' But the next morning, instead of Latakia, they were brought
to Turkey. They were tricked. Simply put, Turkey needed a story of `We
opened our arms to the Armenians," and the militants need a Kassab
without Armenians. The Titizyan siblings now want to go to Latakia,
where the other people of Kassab are, or to Beirut.
As for protecting Kassab, Titizyan said he gave the key to his house
to militants so that they could enter without breaking the door and
then loot. But they broke the door and his windows anyway and
confiscated his tractor. This was very much in the spirit of
`Operation Anfal,' which means "prize, trophy or booty"!
AA quoted Izzet Zohta, a member of the Syrian Turkmen Assembly, as
saying: `There are three to four churches in the villages of Karaduran
and Samra. The Free Syrian Army is doing its best to protect the
churches.' But Shant Kerbabian, who lives in Beirut, after speaking
with his relatives [in Syria], told Al-Monitor there were no massacres
but many other incidents. He said: `Crosses were taken down. This was
confirmed." Kerbabian also noted that Jabhat al-Nusra was looting the
houses and carrying their belongings to Turkey, and that "Jabhat
al-Nusra fighters were saying that they want to bring their 'brothers'
[residing] in tents and refugee camps and put them in Kassab."
I called Lora Baytar, who lives in the village of Vakifli. She said 19
more people from Kassab were brought over yesterday. "They are all
old. The youngest is over 70 years. They were simply picked up from
their homes and hastily dropped at the border. The militants are
emptying Kassab but they don't want to cause bodily harm to the
Armenians.'
Then there are reports of Turkey's role in the capture of Kassab.
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said, `The Kassab events did not
occur at our instance.' But Titizyan, asked by Agos if they were
expecting an attack, replied: `No, but they told us Erdogan had opened
the way. If Erdogan had not opened the way, so many nasty men would
have not have come to Kassab. These men came from Turkey."
A lot has been written about militants crossing to Kassab from Turkey.
Suheib Anjarini, a writer from the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar, relying
on an opposition source, said that more than 1,000 fighters trained in
Jordan were brought over from Marka airport to Hatay for the Kassab
operation.
And we are constantly told that the FSA was being very careful and
compassionate. Although apart from the Bayirbucak Turkmen Brigade
there was no FSA involvement in Operation Anfal, they are trying to
make Kassab's capture acceptable by nonstop reporting that it was done
by the FSA. Smart!
We should give up trying to write a saga of hospitality from this
Armenian nightmare. Let's first identify our `allies" who had the
Armenians tweet `Turks again.'
There are five major actors active in Anfal:
The al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-Nusra; Sham al-Islam, established by
former Guantanamo prisoner and Moroccan citizen Ibrahim bin Shekrun
[Abu Ahmed al Maghribi]; Shukur el Iz, which is close to the Islamic
State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS); Ahrar al-Sham; and Ansar al-Islam,
part of the overall Salafist organization of the Islamic Front and the
Islamic Army controlled by Saudi intelligence. Jabhat al-Nusra leader
Mohammed al-Golani is a Syrian al-Qaeda militant who's loyal to Ayman
al-Zawahri.
Abu Khalid al-Suri, the founder of Ahrar al-Sham, whose popularity in
certain circles of Turkey is growing, was a close friend of Osama bin
Laden and was Zawahri's Syria representative. When Suri was killed in
an ISIS suicide attack in Aleppo in February, Zawahri issued a
condolence message. Bin Shekrun, who was killed in Kassab last month,
had said when he established his organization in August 2013,
`Democracy is insulting Allah' and declared Alawites and Shiites to be
enemies. The same enmity was expressed by Salafist Sheikh Abdullah el
Muheysini in a victory speech he made after capturing the strategic
Post 45 in the Kassab area, when he said, `We will annihilate Assad
and his cohorts." These groups have similar ideologies. They are more
careful with the Armenians as compared with Alawites because the world
is watching. Also, their supporter Turkey has found that it will be
paying the price.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Turkey realizes its blunder in Kassab operation
By Fehim Tastekin
April 8, 2014
What a harebrained scheme it was. You will provide logistical support
to al-Qaeda and its allies who captured the Syrian Armenian town of
Kassab. When their [Armenian] diaspora rose up, letters were sent to
the US Congress and Kim Kardashian, whose family hails from our
Kars-Karakale, launched a Twitter campaign with hashtag #SaveKessab,
why are we dumbfounded? Then we realized something was not right and
started scheming to find a way out. I had earlier written on Kassab
when it was captured. People fearing massacres fled to Latakia,
leaving behind only the elderly, the infirm and those who say, "If I
am going to die, I will die here.' On the eve of the April 24 genocide
observance, the Armenian diaspora was thus provided with a current
issue to raise. And what did our ambitious official news service
Anatolian Agency [AA] do? It started to run stories on how humane the
Syrian opposition was by protecting Armenian churches and said that
they had actually transported two elderly Armenians to Turkey.
Turkey now seems to realize its mistake in supporting Syrian rebels
in the operation to take control of the Armenian town Kassab in
northern Syria, but it's too late and Ankara will have to pay the
price for this blunder.
First, I want to say, "Wake up." The bill for Kassab was made out to
Turkey long ago. We will find out later how we will have to pay. The
people of Kassab abandoned their homes because of fighters supported
by Turkey. They didn't go to Latakia on vacation. If this temporary
exile becomes permanent and God forbid there are other tragedies, make
no mistake, it will be Turkey that will pay no matter who the
wrongdoer may be.
Now let's discuss siblings Sirpuhi, 82, and Satenik Tititzyan, 84,
taken to Vakifli, the only Armenian village in Turkey. A reporter for
Armenian weekly Agos, Lora Baytar, spoke with this duo who, according
to our AA, had asked to be taken to Turkey. According to Sirpuhi
Titizyan, first Turkish-speaking militants came and searched their
home. Next, Arabic-speaking ones came and said, "We will take you to
Latakia.' But the next morning, instead of Latakia, they were brought
to Turkey. They were tricked. Simply put, Turkey needed a story of `We
opened our arms to the Armenians," and the militants need a Kassab
without Armenians. The Titizyan siblings now want to go to Latakia,
where the other people of Kassab are, or to Beirut.
As for protecting Kassab, Titizyan said he gave the key to his house
to militants so that they could enter without breaking the door and
then loot. But they broke the door and his windows anyway and
confiscated his tractor. This was very much in the spirit of
`Operation Anfal,' which means "prize, trophy or booty"!
AA quoted Izzet Zohta, a member of the Syrian Turkmen Assembly, as
saying: `There are three to four churches in the villages of Karaduran
and Samra. The Free Syrian Army is doing its best to protect the
churches.' But Shant Kerbabian, who lives in Beirut, after speaking
with his relatives [in Syria], told Al-Monitor there were no massacres
but many other incidents. He said: `Crosses were taken down. This was
confirmed." Kerbabian also noted that Jabhat al-Nusra was looting the
houses and carrying their belongings to Turkey, and that "Jabhat
al-Nusra fighters were saying that they want to bring their 'brothers'
[residing] in tents and refugee camps and put them in Kassab."
I called Lora Baytar, who lives in the village of Vakifli. She said 19
more people from Kassab were brought over yesterday. "They are all
old. The youngest is over 70 years. They were simply picked up from
their homes and hastily dropped at the border. The militants are
emptying Kassab but they don't want to cause bodily harm to the
Armenians.'
Then there are reports of Turkey's role in the capture of Kassab.
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said, `The Kassab events did not
occur at our instance.' But Titizyan, asked by Agos if they were
expecting an attack, replied: `No, but they told us Erdogan had opened
the way. If Erdogan had not opened the way, so many nasty men would
have not have come to Kassab. These men came from Turkey."
A lot has been written about militants crossing to Kassab from Turkey.
Suheib Anjarini, a writer from the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar, relying
on an opposition source, said that more than 1,000 fighters trained in
Jordan were brought over from Marka airport to Hatay for the Kassab
operation.
And we are constantly told that the FSA was being very careful and
compassionate. Although apart from the Bayirbucak Turkmen Brigade
there was no FSA involvement in Operation Anfal, they are trying to
make Kassab's capture acceptable by nonstop reporting that it was done
by the FSA. Smart!
We should give up trying to write a saga of hospitality from this
Armenian nightmare. Let's first identify our `allies" who had the
Armenians tweet `Turks again.'
There are five major actors active in Anfal:
The al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-Nusra; Sham al-Islam, established by
former Guantanamo prisoner and Moroccan citizen Ibrahim bin Shekrun
[Abu Ahmed al Maghribi]; Shukur el Iz, which is close to the Islamic
State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS); Ahrar al-Sham; and Ansar al-Islam,
part of the overall Salafist organization of the Islamic Front and the
Islamic Army controlled by Saudi intelligence. Jabhat al-Nusra leader
Mohammed al-Golani is a Syrian al-Qaeda militant who's loyal to Ayman
al-Zawahri.
Abu Khalid al-Suri, the founder of Ahrar al-Sham, whose popularity in
certain circles of Turkey is growing, was a close friend of Osama bin
Laden and was Zawahri's Syria representative. When Suri was killed in
an ISIS suicide attack in Aleppo in February, Zawahri issued a
condolence message. Bin Shekrun, who was killed in Kassab last month,
had said when he established his organization in August 2013,
`Democracy is insulting Allah' and declared Alawites and Shiites to be
enemies. The same enmity was expressed by Salafist Sheikh Abdullah el
Muheysini in a victory speech he made after capturing the strategic
Post 45 in the Kassab area, when he said, `We will annihilate Assad
and his cohorts." These groups have similar ideologies. They are more
careful with the Armenians as compared with Alawites because the world
is watching. Also, their supporter Turkey has found that it will be
paying the price.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress