Turkey shoots down Russian warplane it claims was over its airspace.

[superbeets]

Turkey Provided Transport and Logistical Assistance to ISIS Fighters



• According to Radikal on June 13, 2014, Interior Minister Muammar Guler signed a directive: "According to our regional gains, we will help al-Nusra militants against the branch of PKK terrorist organization, the PYD, within our borders...Hatay is a strategic location for the mujahideen crossing from within our borders to Syria. Logistical support for Islamist groups will be increased, and their training, hospital care, and safe passage will mostly take place in Hatay...MIT and the Religious Affairs Directorate will coordinate the placement of fighters in public accommodations."



• The Daily Mail reported on August 25, 2014 that many foreign militants joined ISIS in Syria and Iraq after traveling through Turkey, but Turkey did not try to stop them. This article describes how foreign militants, especially from the UK, go to Syria and Iraq through the Turkish border. They call the border the "Gateway to Jihad." Turkish army soldiers either turn a blind eye and let them pass, or the jihadists pay the border guards as little as $10 to facilitate their crossing.



• Britain's Sky News obtained documents showing that the Turkish government has stamped passports of foreign militants seeking to cross the Turkey border into Syria to join ISIS.



• The BBC interviewed villagers, who claim that buses travel at night, carrying jihadists to fight Kurdish forces in Syria and Iraq, not the Syrian Armed Forces.
• A senior Egyptian official indicated on October 9, 2014 that Turkish intelligence is passing satellite imagery and other data to ISIS.

 

[superbeets]

Turkey Provided Training to ISIS Fighters



• CNN Turk reported on July 29, 2014 that in the heart of Istanbul, places like Duzce and Adapazari, have become gathering spots for terrorists. There are religious orders where ISIS militants are trained. Some of these training videos are posted on the Turkish ISIS propaganda website takvahaber.net. According to CNN Turk, Turkish security forces could have stopped these developments if they had wanted to.



• Turks who joined an affiliate of ISIS were recorded at a public gathering in Istanbul, which took place on July 28, 2014.



• A video shows an ISIS affiliate holding a prayer/gathering in Omerli, a district of Istanbul. In response to the video, CHP Vice President, MP Tanrikulu submitted parliamentary questions to the Minister of the Interior, Efkan Ala, asking questionssuch as, "Is it true that a camp or camps have been allocated to an affiliate of ISIS in Istanbul? What is this affiliate? Who is it made up of? Is the rumor true that the same area allocated for the camp is also used for military exercises?"
• Kemal Kiliçdaroglu warned the AKP government not to provide money and training to terror groups on October 14, 2014. He said, "It isn't right for armed groups to be trained on Turkish soil. You bring foreign fighters to Turkey, put money in their pockets, guns in their hands, and you ask them to kill Muslims in Syria. We told them to stop helping ISIS. Ahmet Davutoglu asked us to show proof. Everyone knows that they're helping ISIS." (See HERE and HERE.)



• According to Jordanian intelligence, Turkey trained ISIS militants for special operations.

 

[superbeets]

Turkey Offers Medical Care to ISIS Fighters



• An ISIS commander told the Washington Post on August 12, 2014, "We used to have some fighters -- even high-level members of the Islamic State -- getting treated in Turkish hospitals."



• Taraf reported on October 12, 2014 that Dengir Mir Mehmet Fırat, a founder of the AKP, said that Turkey supported terrorist groups and still supports them and treats them in hospitals. "In order to weaken the developments in Rojova (Syrian Kurdistan), the government gave concessions and arms to extreme religious groups...the government was helping the wounded. The Minister of Health said something such as, it's a human obligation to care for the ISIS wounded."



• According to Taraf, Ahmet El H, one of the top commanders at ISIS and Al Baghdadi's right hand man, was treated at a hospital in Sanliurfa, Turkey, along with other ISIS militants. The Turkish state paid for their treatment. According to Taraf's sources, ISIS militants are being treated in hospitals all across southeastern Turkey. More and more militants have been coming in to be treated since the start of airstrikes in August. To be more specific, eight ISIS militants were transported through the Sanliurfa border crossing; these are their names: "Mustafa A., Yusuf El R., Mustafa H., Halil El M., Muhammet El H., Ahmet El S., Hasan H., [and] Salim El D."

 

[superbeets]

Turkey Supports ISIS Financially Through Purchase of Oil



• On September 13, 2014, The New York Times reported on the Obama administration's efforts to pressure Turkey to crack down on ISIS extensive sales network for oil. James Phillips, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, argues that Turkey has not fully cracked down on ISIS's sales network because it benefits from a lower price for oil, and that there might even be Turks and government officials who benefit from the trade.



• Fehim Taştekin wrote in Radikal on September 13, 2014 about illegal pipelines transporting oil from Syria to nearby border towns in Turkey. The oil is sold for as little as 1.25 liras per liter. Taştekin indicated that many of these illegal pipelines were dismantled after operating for 3 years, once his article was published.



• According to Diken and OdaTV, David Cohen, a Justice Department official, saysthat there are Turkish individuals acting as middlemen to help sell ISIS's oil through Turkey.



• On October 14, 2014, a German Parliamentarian from the Green Party accusedTurkey of allowing the transportation of arms to ISIS over its territory, as well as the sale of oil.

 

[superbeets]

Turkey Assists ISIS Recruitment


• Kerim Kiliçdaroğlu claimed on October 14, 2014 that ISIS offices in Istanbul and Gaziantep are used to recruit fighters. On October 10, 2014, the mufti of Konya said that 100 people from Konya joined ISIS 4 days ago. (See HERE and HERE.)



• OdaTV reports that Takva Haber serves as a propaganda outlet for ISIS to recruit Turkish-speaking individuals in Turkey and Germany. The address where this propaganda website is registered corresponds to the address of a school called Irfan Koleji, which was established by Ilim Yayma Vakfi, a foundation that was created by Erdogan and Davutoglu, among others. It is thus claimed that the propaganda site is operated from the school of the foundation started by AKP members.



• Minister of Sports, Suat Kilic, an AKP member, visited Salafi jihadists who are ISIS supporters in Germany. The group is known for reaching out to supporters via free Quran distributions and raising funds to sponsor suicide attacks in Syria and Iraq by raising money.
• OdaTV released a video allegedly showing ISIS militants riding a bus in Istanbul.

 

[superbeets]

Turkish Forces Are Fighting Alongside ISIS


• On October 7, 2014, IBDA-C, a militant Islamic organization in Turkey, pledged support to ISIS. A Turkish friend who is a commander in ISIS suggests that Turkey is "involved in all of this" and that "10,000 ISIS members will come to Turkey." A Huda-Par member at the meeting claims that officials criticize ISIS but in fact sympathize with the group (Huda-Par, the "Free Cause Party", is a Kurdish Sunni fundamentalist political party). BBP member claims that National Action Party (MHP) officials are close to embracing ISIS. In the meeting, it is asserted that ISIS militants come to Turkey frequently to rest, as though they are taking a break from military service. They claim that Turkey will experience an Islamic revolution, and Turks should be ready for jihad. (See HERE and HERE.)



• Seymour Hersh maintains in the London Review of Books that ISIS conducted sarin attacks in Syria, and that Turkey was informed. "For months there had been acute concern among senior military leaders and the intelligence community about the role in the war of Syria's neighbors, especially Turkey. Prime Minister Recep Erdogan was known to be supporting the al-Nusra Front, a jihadist faction among the rebel opposition, as well as other Islamist rebel groups. 'We knew there were some in the Turkish government,' a former senior US intelligence official, who has access to current intelligence, told me, 'who believed they could get Assad's nuts in a vice by dabbling with a sarin attack inside Syria - and forcing Obama to make good on his red line threat."
• On September 20, 2014, Demir Celik, a Member of Parliament with the people's democratic party (HDP) claimed that Turkish Special Forces fight with ISIS.

 

[superbeets]

Turkey Helped ISIS in Battle for Kobani



• Anwar Moslem, Mayor of Kobani, said on September 19, 2014: "Based on the intelligence we got two days before the breakout of the current war, trains full of forces and ammunition, which were passing by north of Kobane, had an-hour-and-ten-to-twenty-minute-long stops in these villages: Salib Qaran, Gire Sor, Moshrefat Ezzo. There are evidences, witnesses, and videos about this. Why is ISIS strong only in Kobane's east? Why is it not strong either in its south or west? Since these trains stopped in villages located in the east of Kobane, we guess they had brought ammunition and additional force for the ISIS." In the second article on September 30, 2014, a CHP delegation visited Kobani, where locals claimed that everything from the clothes ISIS militants wear to their guns comes from Turkey. (See HERE and HERE.)


• Released by Nuhaber, a video shows Turkish military convoys carrying tanks and ammunition moving freely under ISIS flags in the Cerablus region and Karkamis border crossing (September 25, 2014). There are writings in Turkish on the trucks.


• Salih Muslim, PYD head, claims that 120 militants crossed into Syria from Turkey between October 20th and 24th, 2014.


• According to an op-ed written by a YPG commander in The New York Times on October 29, 2014, Turkey allows ISIS militants and their equipment to pass freely over the border.


• Diken reported, "ISIS fighters crossed the border from Turkey into Syria, over the Turkish train tracks that delineate the border, in full view of Turkish soldiers. They were met there by PYD fighters and stopped."


• A Kurdish commander in Kobani claims that ISIS militants have Turkish entry stamps on their passports.


• Kurds trying to join the battle in Kobani are turned away by Turkish police at the Turkey-Syrian border.


• OdaTV released a photograph of a Turkish soldier befriending ISIS militants.

 

[superbeets]

Turkey and ISIS Share a Worldview



• RT reports on Vice President Joe Biden's remarks detailing Turkish support to ISIS.



• According to the Hurriyet Daily News on September 26, 2014, "The feelings of the AKP's heavyweights are not limited to Ankara. I was shocked to hear words of admiration for ISIL from some high-level civil servants even in Şanliurfa. 'They are like us, fighting against seven great powers in the War of Independence,' one said." "Rather than the [Kurdistan Workers' Party] PKK on the other side, I would rather have ISIL as a neighbor," said another."




• Cengiz Candar, a well-respected Turkish journalist, maintained that MIT helped "midwife" the Islamic state in Iraq and Syria, as well as other Jihadi groups.



• An AKP council member posted on his Facebook page: "Thankfully ISIS exists... May you never run out of ammunition..."



• A Turkish Social Security Institution supervisor uses the ISIS logo in internal correspondences.



• Bilal Erdogan and Turkish officials meet alleged ISIS fighters.

 

[superbeets]

 

[superbeets]

 

[neverbend]

This is an act of war by NATO against Russia in a desperate attempt to save Isis from Russian annihilation

Obama has for more than a year been leading a coalition that has flown more than 8,000 bombing runs
against Islamic State targets in Syria and Iraq. That's the biggest B.S. statement I've heard in quite a while.

It's more like Obama has been arming ISIS clones and bombing Syrian forces while telling the ignorant masses back home
it's "fighting terrorists". They would have gotten away with it too if not for Russia joining Assad to fight "terrorists" on Syrian soil.

 

[Ricboff]

The world will never forget how, during the siege of Kobani, as its Kurdish defenders mounted a heroic defense of the town against thousands of ISIS fighters, armed with tanks and artillery, Turkish tanks and troops sat just over the border and did nothing to intervene.
Likewise, no one will forget that earlier this year Turkey carried out airstrikes against those same Kurdish volunteers of the PKK/YPG within Syria, while depicting them as terrorists. Turkey’s oppression of its Kurdish minority going back many years is of course a matter of record.



President Erdogan and his government has undeniably been a key in the destabilization of Syria, doing its utmost to foment regime change. As with the Saudis and other Gulf monarchies, before Russia’s intervention Turkey was hovering over Syria as a vulture hovers over a dying animal, waiting for it to perish before descending to feed on its carcass.


The fact that Turkey remains a key Western ally exposes the moral high ground from which Washington and its allies have lectured Russia over its role in Syria as nothing more than a dung-heap of hypocrisy.

 

[superbeets]

Vladimir Putin unleashes fearsome anti-aircraft missile system in revenge

.

+14



Tensions: Russia's S-400 anti-aircraft systems (pictured) are highly advanced and capable of striking jets travelling up to 250miles away

+14







.

 

[superbeets]

[h=1]‘They know how it’s done’: Turkey violated Greek airspace 2,244 times in 2014 alone[/h]Published time: 25 Nov, 2015 14:28

On Wednesday, the Protothema newspaper released the numbers of breaches saying the Turkish Air Force is usually reluctant to share any details when it comes to such violations.
The newspaper quoted University of Thessaly statistics based on the Greek military’s count - there were 2,244 violations in 2014, an increase from 636 in 2013.




“The Turks are trying to enforce sovereignty over disputed islands and bring Greece to the negotiating table,” Thanos Dokos, the director general of the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy, told the Politico news website in July.“What’s worrying are the low-altitude flights, often by helicopters, over these islands.”
Turkey fails to respect the 10-mile airspace surrounding the Aegean Islands, which causes numerous dogfights between Greek and Turkish aircraft invading the area. From January to October 2015, the country’s airspace was violated 1,233 times including 31 flights over Greek territory itself, according to the Greek Air Force’s headquarters. Greek media noted the Turks are taking advantage of the country’s economic hardships.
“In the case of air incursions, you have to react,” Thanos Dokos said. “It’s very hard to unilaterally pull back from a situation of military aggression. It’s a tragic situation, because the money we’re spending on dogfights with Turkey is money that we could have spent on other areas of defense.”
Media attention has also focused on Turkish naval vessels repeatedly breaching national maritime borders. Over just seven months – from January to July 2015 – the Turkish Navy made 175 incursions into Greek maritime waters. In June, the Turkish Navy ship, the Gelibolu, repeatedly went on “patrol” in Greek territorial waters, a move that angered many in Greece.
Earlier on Wednesday, Greek Foreign Minister Nikas Kotzias expressed solidarity with Russia in a phone conversation with Russian FM Sergei Lavrov. The Russian Foreign Ministry said: “Athens agrees with the Russian president’s assessment on Ankara’s hostile actions, which are contrary to the goals of the anti-ISIS coalition,” RIA Novosti reports.
Greece, according to its Foreign Ministry, “especially comprehends provocative moves by Turkey given regular multiple violations of Greek air space by Ankara lasting for years.”









Both Turkey and Greece are NATO members, and each country claims a six- nautical-mile zone of the Aegean Sea. Many of the incidents take place within the disputed four-mile radius near the Turkish coast, which Athens considers its territory and Ankara calls international waters. Greece claims 10 miles of air space around the islands, while Turkey recognizes only six miles and argues that its fighters are flying in international airspace.

 

[superbeets]

Russia accuses Turkey of 'hypocrisy' after Erdogan admits airspace violation 'does not justify attack'
Syria shot down a Turkish warplane in 2012, in an incident which has many echoes with Tuesday morning's


In 2012, Turkey lost an F-3 Phantom warplane to a Syrian attack after it strayed into Syrian territory.
“A short-term border violation can never be a pretext for an attack,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was then-Turkish prime minister, told BBC at the time as he expressed rage over the downing of the plane.



And Turkey has prior form in terms of violating other nations’ airspace. In 2005, Turkey entered Greek airspace 1,017 times, or as often as 40 times a day, according to a WikiLeaks document.
Russia’s anger over the incident is aggravated by the fact that it happened shortly after Moscow signed an agreement with Washington on how to prevent such incidents over Syria, where both Russian warplanes and aircraft of the US-led coalition conduct anti-terrorist missions. Turkey is part of the American coalition and is subject to the agreed rules.

 

[superbeets]

The senior Russian diplomat said the problems at the Turkish-Syrian border could be solved by simply closing it, as suggested by French President Francois Hollande during his meeting with US President Barack Obama in Washington.
“President Hollande suggested measures to close the Turkish-Syrian border to stop the flow of militants and finances to terrorists. It’s remarkable that President Obama didn’t react to it. I believe it’s a good suggestion and that during the visit tomorrow President Hollande will tell us details. We are prepared to consider these measures in earnest. Many people say that sealing the border would effectively eliminate the terrorist threat in Syria,” Lavrov said.

 

[ScottL]

Congrats Barack, Putin now controls the entire ME airspace.

 

[Ricboff]

what's your take on Russia's new profound presence in the Middle East, Scott? Worrisome for you?


Israel's take?


read somewhere that an Israeli commentator has called current times ; 'post-American Middle East'. A bit dramatic?


older article, i'm, sure you've read

http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/21/world/russia-israel-netanyahu-putin-meeting/

Netanyahu visits Putin amid concerns about Russian involvement in Syria



(CNN)With Russia apparently beefing up its military presence in Syria, some countries are getting nervous about what could happen -- including Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday to discuss "the Middle East peace process and the fight against the global terrorist threat," the Kremlin said.
But in a rare move, Netanyahu brought several top Israeli military and security officials with him to Moscow.




Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot, IDF Director of Military Intelligence Maj. Gen. Hertzi HaLevi and National Security Adviser Yossi Cohen accompanied the Prime Minster, Netanyahu's office said.
The meeting, which was closed to the media, came after satellite pictures showed a rapid buildup of an air force base in Syria, with loads of Russian military equipment moving in. Among the Russian equipment are advanced Russian Sukhoi Flanker fighter jets.
Afterward, Netanyahu called the talks "substantive" -- noting that both countries had agreed to "a joint mechanism for preventing misunderstandings between our forces" in and around Syria.
He said there was a "very big" need to prevent such "misunderstandings."
"Israel is constantly working to prevent the transfer of advanced and deadly weaponry from Syrian territory to Hezbollah," said Netanyahu, who also alluded to a threat from the Golan Heights.
"Israel is taking action and, when it does so, it is important for everyone -- including Russia -- to know that we are taking action."


The cause for Israel's concern "relates to the provision by Russia of weapons systems to some of Israel's most determined enemies," said Middle East analyst Jonathan Spyer at the Global Research in International Affairs Center.



Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoygu has said the recent Russian military buildup in Syria is "defensive in nature" and aimed at supporting Russian obligations to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime. Russia has been a staunch ally of Syria, even as much of the world decries al-Assad's role in the country's gruesome civil war.
Israel's policy has been to stay out of the Syrian civil war, which is raging nearby, right across the Golan frontier. But Israel says it has established red lines, such as making sure advanced military equipment such as Russian anti-aircraft missiles don't fall into the hands of Hezbollah in Lebanon or other militant groups.
It's also about issues that go beyond the civil war and to groups and efforts that threaten more directly.
According to Netanyahu, the Syrian government -- the same one that's getting Russian weaponry -- has been involved by arming Hezbollah and working with Iran to try to "build a second terrorist front against us from the Golan Heights."
Putin: Russia's actions 'will always be very responsible'

"Israel has been, in the course of the last four years, determined to prevent the provision of certain weapon systems from Syria to Hezbollah," Spyer said.
"And to achieve that, Israel has required complete air control -- master of Syria's skies to operate when and where it wants -- anywhere over the skies of Syria."
And while Israeli and Russian forces aren't necessarily on a collision course, they want to make sure no inadvertent collisions occur.
To this point, Putin insisted Monday that "all of Russia's actions in the region will always be very responsible."
"We are aware of the shelling against Israel and we condemn all such shelling," the Russian leader said. "In regard to Syria, we know that the Syrian army is in a situation such that it is incapable of opening a new front. Our main goal is to defend the Syrian state."
Israel's not alone in its concerns about increased Russian military force in Syria.
The United States has been at odds with Russia over Syria since the civil war started. U.S. leaders have said al-Assad must leave office after frequent attacks against civilians and the use of chemical weapons. But Russia, a close ally of al-Assad's, continues supporting the Syrian regime.
The U.S. has also been launching airstrikes to fight ISIS in Syria, and it now wants to avoid accidental military encounters with Russian forces in the country.
At a news conference Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told CNN's Elise Labott that his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, has assured him that Russian activities in Syria are aimed at fighting ISIS. But Kerry said he isn't taking those assurances "at face value," given the Russian military assets being moved into Syria.

 

[superbeets]

May this year after a US special forces raid in eastern Syria, which killed the Isis official responsible for the oil trade, Abu Sayyaf.
A trawl through Sayyaf’s compound uncovered hard drives that detailed connections between senior Isis figures and some Turkish officials. Missives were sent to Washington and London warning that the discovery had “urgent policy implications”.



Since the earliest months of the Syrian war, Turkey has had more direct involvement and more at stake than any of the regional states lined up against Bashar al-Assad.
Turkish borders have been the primary thoroughfare for fighters of all kinds to enter Syria. Its military bases have been used to distribute weapons and to train rebel fighters. And its frontier towns and villages have taken in almost one million refugees.
Turkey’s international airports have also been busy. Many, if not most, of the estimated 15,000-20,000 foreign fighters to have joined Islamic State (Isis) have first flown into Istanbul or Adana, or arrived by ferry along its Mediterranean coast.

 

[ScottL]

what's your take on Russia's new profound presence in the Middle East, Scott? Worrisome for you?
Israel's take?

Probably the same.
I find the more I learn about the political and miliary moves made in the ME region the more I need to catch up. There are allies in one area and foes on the other. ISIS fights Assad, yet sells oil to Assad. Russia kills Chechens. Checen mercenaries fight for Russia.

ISIS, for whatever reason has not recognized the political juice they would gain by attacking Israel. They really do want to establish a caliphate. But what happens when people like this gain territory belies the fantasy. Rulers rule brutally, and those who dreamed of living in this utopia are now in a nightmare. That's why it will fail from within, even if it isn't destroyed from without. I don't understand how these people can operate. All we really need to do is cut off their supply lines. Plunge them into darkness, knock out their communications, cellphones, internet so they can't communicate etc. Who provides cell service, inet and electricity to ISIS? Knock down the towers etc and now they can't recruit. Gotta be pretty easy. This is not a functioning gov't that provides for the people yet. What am I missing?

As far as Israel-Russia goes I can't decide yet. I don't see any good for Israel having Russia in the ME outside of embarrassing the chump leader of Turkey. But they are cooperating.
[h=2]Putin: Russia and Israel will exchange information on their combat against terrorism:[/h]http://sputniknews.com/world/20151126/1030790773/information-israel-russia-exchange-putin.html

Putin just today was speaking out of both sides of his mouth. Wants to be part of a global coalition with the US to fight ISIS, yet blames the US for its plane being shot down because the US informs Turkey where the Russians are flying.

Israel seeks to maintain neutraliy in the Syria conflict because Israel knows whoever prevails will still be a hateful regime nextdoor. So Isael doesn't want to enflame tensions with the next Jewhater leaders of Syria. So they just wait it out. What could get interesting is if Iran istructs Hizb'Allah to fire on Israel from Lebanon. How hard does Israel hit back next time? And how does Putin play that out politically if Iran and Israel get into another war in Lebanon?