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Daily Sabah, Turkey
April 12 2014
BASELESS ALLEGATIONS TARGET TURKEY OVER SYRIA
by Yusuf Selman Ä°nanç
ISTANBUL ' Since U.S. President Barack Obama did not take action when
the red line was violated by the Bashar Assad regime using sarin gas
in Damascus' suburbs last August, Turkey stood alone as the most eager
opponent of the regime.
After the pro-opposition countries' failure to end the war and prevent
extremist groups from becoming involved in the war, black propaganda
was initiated against Turkey to cover up the failure and to portray
Turkey as the only country responsible for the failure.
Besides the claims asserted by Seymour Hersh and Robert Fisk that
accused Turkey of using sarin gas to prompt the US to launch a
military intervention, many others started claiming that Turkey was
one of al-Qaeda's helpers as al-Qaeda's Syrian branch, the al-Nusra
Front, has become the strongest opposition group in Syria. It was
claimed that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an's Turkey (as if
Turkey is ruled by only ErdoÄ?an, as is North Korea by Kim Jong-un) had
started using illegal means to topple the al-Assad regime. Also
Turkey's policies towards Twitter, YouTube and the Gülen Movement,
headed by U.S.-based controversial imam Fethullah Gülen, were used to
portray Turkey as an autocratic country. Many media outlets claimed
that the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) was going to lose
the March 30 local elections or, at least, that its votes were going
to decrease. But ErdoÄ?an gained 45 percent and increased his votes.
After this prediction failed, the focus was turned on Turkish foreign
policy again.
A new completely baseless allegation emerged, claiming that Turkey
organized opposition groups to massacre and displace the Armenians
living in the Syrian town of Kasab, which was captured by the
opposition two weeks ago. I traveled to the region to investigate the
situation of the Armenians and their churches and property. Yet, what
I witnessed was completely different from that which was alleged. The
opposition had not touched the churches, the cemetery and Armenian
property. Yet, some of them were damaged, as the war continues and the
al-Assad regime continuously bombs the town.
I interviewed one of the top officials of the Free Syrian Army (FSA),
Fedaa Majzoub, who organized the evacuation of the Armenians from the
town, first to a safe village and finally to Turkey. He said,
"Opposition groups have nothing to do with the Armenian population. We
captured the town as a part of our war strategy. We are trying to go
down to Latakia to increase the pressure on Damascus. Young Armenians
and Arabs left the town. We helped the old people and sent them to
Turkey." When I was travelling around the town, I saw that the houses
had not been ruined. The only problem was that the town has become one
of the fronts of the war after three years, as the opposition could
not reach Damascus through Aleppo. As a result, the only other way is
to capture Kasab, reach Latakia and tighten al-Assad's maneuvering
capability. Majzoub also added that Turkish officials welcomed and
helped the Armenians during the evacuation process. After leaving
Kasab, I went to Turkey's only ethnically Armenian village Vakıflı in
the Hatay province where the Armenians were settled. When I
interviewed the village's headman, he said that the village would
accommodate the Armenians until they are able to return. He also added
that the government provided all kinds of help. I also spoke to the
Armenians who were evacuated from Kasab, and what they told me
confirmed the opposition groups' claims. They said the opposition
groups did not mistreat them but helped them instead to escape the
bombardments.
As the anniversary of the alleged Armenian genocide is approaches
(April 24), several media outlets and journalists have started raising
baseless allegations to undermine Turkey's international reputation.
Yet, my work on the ground and Turkey's policies refute the
allegations, as Turkey recognizes al-Qaeda as a terrorist
organization, it has never been officially proved that Turkey helps
opposition groups militarily and the evacuated Armenians refuted the
massacre allegations. It is a fact that Turkey supports the opposition
politically and the refugees logistically. The contradiction of the
claims is that Turkey is the only NATO-ally country in the region
where Russia is increasing its influence by occupying Crimea and
supporting the al-Assad regime explicitly.
http://www.dailysabah.com/opinion/2014/04/12/baseless-allegations-target-turkey-over-syria
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
April 12 2014
BASELESS ALLEGATIONS TARGET TURKEY OVER SYRIA
by Yusuf Selman Ä°nanç
ISTANBUL ' Since U.S. President Barack Obama did not take action when
the red line was violated by the Bashar Assad regime using sarin gas
in Damascus' suburbs last August, Turkey stood alone as the most eager
opponent of the regime.
After the pro-opposition countries' failure to end the war and prevent
extremist groups from becoming involved in the war, black propaganda
was initiated against Turkey to cover up the failure and to portray
Turkey as the only country responsible for the failure.
Besides the claims asserted by Seymour Hersh and Robert Fisk that
accused Turkey of using sarin gas to prompt the US to launch a
military intervention, many others started claiming that Turkey was
one of al-Qaeda's helpers as al-Qaeda's Syrian branch, the al-Nusra
Front, has become the strongest opposition group in Syria. It was
claimed that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an's Turkey (as if
Turkey is ruled by only ErdoÄ?an, as is North Korea by Kim Jong-un) had
started using illegal means to topple the al-Assad regime. Also
Turkey's policies towards Twitter, YouTube and the Gülen Movement,
headed by U.S.-based controversial imam Fethullah Gülen, were used to
portray Turkey as an autocratic country. Many media outlets claimed
that the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) was going to lose
the March 30 local elections or, at least, that its votes were going
to decrease. But ErdoÄ?an gained 45 percent and increased his votes.
After this prediction failed, the focus was turned on Turkish foreign
policy again.
A new completely baseless allegation emerged, claiming that Turkey
organized opposition groups to massacre and displace the Armenians
living in the Syrian town of Kasab, which was captured by the
opposition two weeks ago. I traveled to the region to investigate the
situation of the Armenians and their churches and property. Yet, what
I witnessed was completely different from that which was alleged. The
opposition had not touched the churches, the cemetery and Armenian
property. Yet, some of them were damaged, as the war continues and the
al-Assad regime continuously bombs the town.
I interviewed one of the top officials of the Free Syrian Army (FSA),
Fedaa Majzoub, who organized the evacuation of the Armenians from the
town, first to a safe village and finally to Turkey. He said,
"Opposition groups have nothing to do with the Armenian population. We
captured the town as a part of our war strategy. We are trying to go
down to Latakia to increase the pressure on Damascus. Young Armenians
and Arabs left the town. We helped the old people and sent them to
Turkey." When I was travelling around the town, I saw that the houses
had not been ruined. The only problem was that the town has become one
of the fronts of the war after three years, as the opposition could
not reach Damascus through Aleppo. As a result, the only other way is
to capture Kasab, reach Latakia and tighten al-Assad's maneuvering
capability. Majzoub also added that Turkish officials welcomed and
helped the Armenians during the evacuation process. After leaving
Kasab, I went to Turkey's only ethnically Armenian village Vakıflı in
the Hatay province where the Armenians were settled. When I
interviewed the village's headman, he said that the village would
accommodate the Armenians until they are able to return. He also added
that the government provided all kinds of help. I also spoke to the
Armenians who were evacuated from Kasab, and what they told me
confirmed the opposition groups' claims. They said the opposition
groups did not mistreat them but helped them instead to escape the
bombardments.
As the anniversary of the alleged Armenian genocide is approaches
(April 24), several media outlets and journalists have started raising
baseless allegations to undermine Turkey's international reputation.
Yet, my work on the ground and Turkey's policies refute the
allegations, as Turkey recognizes al-Qaeda as a terrorist
organization, it has never been officially proved that Turkey helps
opposition groups militarily and the evacuated Armenians refuted the
massacre allegations. It is a fact that Turkey supports the opposition
politically and the refugees logistically. The contradiction of the
claims is that Turkey is the only NATO-ally country in the region
where Russia is increasing its influence by occupying Crimea and
supporting the al-Assad regime explicitly.
http://www.dailysabah.com/opinion/2014/04/12/baseless-allegations-target-turkey-over-syria
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress