Twelfth Bough

i run my own damn think tank

Archive for category Turkey

let’s pretend

Mar 11

Posted by A. Peasant in Bloodlines, Evil, Identities, Sabbateans, Turkey | No Comments

The Sabbateans are also called Donmeh in the Near East. All Donmeh are Sabbateans but theoretically not all Sabbateans are Donmeh.

I assume that Sabbateans made their way outside of the Near East.

In an attempt to nail down the definition of this secretive sect a little more, let’s compare a few sources:

From the Jewish Encyclopedia, a definition of the Donmeh:
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=438&letter=D

A sect of crypto-Jews, descendants of the followers of Shabbethai ?ebi, living to-day mostly in Salonica, European Turkey: the name (Turkish) signifies “apostates.” The members call themselves “Ma’aminim” (Believers), “?aberim” (Associates), or “Ba’ale Mil?amah” (Warriors); but at Adrianople they are known as “Sazanicos”(Little Carps)—a name derived either from the fish-market, near which their first mosque is supposed to have been situated, or because of a prophecy of Shabbethai that the Jews would be delivered under the zodiacal sign of the fish. The Dönmeh are said to have originated with Jacob ?ebi Querido, who was believed to have been a reincarnation of Shabbethai.

The community is outwardly Mohammedan (following the example set by Shabbethai); but in secret observes certain Jewish rites, though in no way making common cause with the Jews, whom they call “koferim” (infidels).

So far this agrees with what Henry Makow wrote about the Sabbateans:

But they didn’t just pretend to be Muslims or Christians. They pretended to be Jews as well.

In other words, the Sabbatean “religion” is not Christian, or Muslim, or Jewish, exactly, in the way that most Christians think of Jews as simple Torah Jews, using the first five books in the bible, which Christians consider harmless. But there are other Jewish texts, like the Talmud, the Cabala and the Zohar, and many Jews who consider these other books more important than the Torah. Sabbateanism is both Satanic and Cabalistic, and Zevi was the so-called Jewish “messiah.” So the movement belongs to Judaism, even if some would like to deny paternity.

^^^^^^^

What is the link to Spain about? During the Spanish Inquisition of the late 1400s, crypto-Jews were rooted out of society. This third source (http://www.cryptojews.com/gad_nassi.htm) links the Sabbateans to the Sephardi Jews who were expelled from the Iberian peninsula and ended up in Turkey. These Sephardi Jews had presumably established a crypto-Jewish culture in Turkey long before Sabbatai Zevi proclaimed himself the Jewish “Messiah” in 1666.

Pretending to convert, ie: being a crypto-Jew, was no big deal.

It was Sabbatai Zevi’s belief system that made the Sabbateans a crypto-sub-culture (Donmeh) of existing crypto-Jewish culture, in Turkey.

Zevi based his beliefs on a satanic strain of Cabalism (the Zohar), and some rabbis denounced him and his followers. Undeterred, he became very popular, attracting over a million followers. His followers would later avenge the snub.

The Mystical Jewish Messiah of the 17th century, Shabbetai Tzvi, promised to depose the kings of the earth, unite the ten lost tribes and restore Israel. When Shabbatai approached the Sultan he thought that the Sultan would have the humility to recognize his greatness and humble himself. The Sultan would have met a man who was clearly greater than himself. Shabbatai would receive the Sultanate and rule the known world. He originally intended to accomplish these goals overtly, however, when the Ottoman ruler threatened to kill him rather than hand over his throne, Shabbatai Zvi understood that he had to take his messianic movement underground. His goals had to be achieved with stealth and deception. His movement was labeled “Apostate Messianism”. Though he would loose the open support of most rabbinic authorities and mainstream Judaism, his faithful followers would be assigned the task of continuing his mission.

Forty-one years after Shabbetai Tzvi’s physical death, his hidden followers would establish Freemasonry in England. Freemasonry would continue Shabbetai Tzvi’s agenda of achieving world rule. Freemasonry linking up with Illuminism has indeed, through revolution and wars, overthrown the monarchies of the world. Freemasonry/Illuminism has taken the reins of the Jewish, Catholic (Vatican) and the Islamic world, united the remnant of the lost tribes through the establishment of the European Union and has “restored” Israel. The infidel “rabbinic” European Jews who had abandoned Shabbatai Tzvi were decimated by the Freemasonic Holocaust of World War II. The Masonic State of Israel would be granted independence by the Masonic United Nations.

Click through for an amazing time line.

^^^^^^^

So the Donmeh are the Near East Sabbateans.

But there must be other Sabbateans, otherwise how else would they have accomplished all of Sabbatei Zeti’s goals?

Did Shabbetai Tzvi have offspring? Yes. Where are they now? Where is this Messianic Dynasty? Have they vanished into obscurity? History leaves us no clues. Or does it? Perhaps Shabbatai did succeed in his messianic takeover of the planet. Perhaps his offspring did manage to fulfill the mission of their prophet-proclaimed Messiah father? I suggest that the family Rothschild are direct descendents of the messiah, Shabbatai Tzvi. Shabbatai Tzvi said that he would rebuild Israel. The Rothschilds did. He said that he would re-unite the lost tribes that had been spread out throughout the world. Has this been accomplished through the United Nations? Is the UN a project of hidden Rothschild influence designed to bring world peace? A Rothshild-Shabbatai Tzvi connection would also explain the Rothschilds’ relationship to the mystical Jacob Frank, a co-creator of the Illuminati, who claimed to be the reincarnation of Shabbetai Tzvi. It would also explain the Rothschilds strange obsession with their bloodline and their custom of intermarrying amongst themselves. Was this practice determined to keep the royal messianic blood from assimilation? A Rothschildian/Messianic relationship would also explain their lavish and opulent lifestyle. Why shouldn’t the direct descendants of the messiah live within the finest palaces on Earth?

It should therefore come as no surprise that there is a strong family resemblance between Shabbatai Tzvi and the Family Rothschild.
Shabbetai Tzvi (1626-1676)
Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744-1812)
Edmund de Rothschild (1845-1934)
Gustave de Rothschild (1829-1911)

spring festival time

Mar 8

Posted by A. Peasant in Identities, Israel, Occult, Religion, Sabbateans, Symbolism, Turkey | No Comments

Henry Makow has written about the Sabbateans. The Sabbateans pre-date the Freemasons and exist to this day.

“Either convert to Islam or die.”  This was the choice the Turkish Sultan put to Sabbatai Zevi,  self-proclaimed Jewish “Messiah” in 1666.

By only pretending to convert, Zevi  resorted to a common practice. But Zevi was not an ordinary Jew. He led a popular heresy, based on a satanic strain of Cabalism. The rabbis had denounced him and his followers.

After his “conversion,” over a million followers, who later included financiers like the Rothschilds, imitated his example. But they didn’t just pretend to be Muslims or Christians. They pretended to be Jews as well.
Communist defector Bella Dodd revealed that during the 1930’s the Communist Party had 1100 members join the Catholic Priesthood. They became Bishops, Cardinals and possibly Popes.

By adopting this chameleon strategy, this satanic cult infiltrated and subverted most governments and religions, and established an invisible tyranny without drawing much attention.

The Sabbateans encourage licentiousness for all, but they remain self-contained within their own sect. Religion is ultimately meaningless to them, although they use it to manipulate others.

According to Rabbi Marvin Antelman, they believe sin is holy and should be practised for its own sake. Since the Messiah will come when people either become righteous or totally corrupt, the Sabbateans opted for debauchery: “Since we cannot all be saints, let us all be sinners.”

…We are told ”free sex” is “progressive and modern.” In fact, the Sabbatean sect has indulged in wife sharing, sex orgies, adultery and incest for more than 350 years. They also promoted interracial sex. They have partly inducted us into their cult.

…Sabbateans only marry within their demonic sect. They often marry rich, influential Gentiles. Thus, the Fourth Baron Rothschild (Jacob’s) mother was not Jewish nor is his wife.

Many Sabbateans live in Istanbul, Turkey.

[1999] Everyone in Istanbul, so it seems, knows about the Sabbateans, or, as they are known here, the Doenmeh (”converts” or “apostates” in Turkish; the Sabbateans themselves dislike this title, and seldom use it.) They are perhaps Turkey’s best-known secret.

No Sabbatean, with the exception of Ilgaz Zorlu himself, will ever publicly admit to being one, and they are rarely talked about.

Even the Sabbateans themselves learn their real identities only when they turn 18, when the secret is finally revealed to them by their parents. This tradition of zealously maintaining a double identity in Muslim society has been passed on for generations.

Jews and other minorities can advance only so far in Turkish society; because they keep their identity secret, Sabbateans, on the other hand, can and do enjoy high positions in almost every field. The Sabbatean cemetery, which is ostensibly Muslim, offers ample evidence: The tomb of a Supreme Court judge lies next to that of an ex-leader of the Communist party, and near them stand the graves of a general and a famous educator. Zorlu freely adds more big names to the list of prominent Sabbateans, including Foreign Minister Ismail Cem, who, claims Zorlu, used to have a Sabbatean surname (Cem has denied being a Sabbatean). Zorlu also claims that former prime minister Tanso Ciler is a Sabbatean, as is the wife of the current prime minister, Bulent Ecevit.

^^^^^^^

According to this source, Sephardic Jews who were expelled from the Iberian peninsula and developed an underground culture, merged with the Sabbateans in Turkey, and they developed a spring festival.
(http://www.cryptojews.com/gad_nassi.htm)

Born and educated in Istanbul, I became aware early about a mysterious people who appeared to be Turks with Jewish affinities. Their elders spoke Spanish at home and sometimes exchanged a few words in this language with my parents. I heard rumors that the approach of Jewish holy days made these “other Turks” tense and they were secretly celebrating them with their own customs. Besides these sporadic manifestations, they never talked about their Jewish ties, and mutual discretion made the subject a taboo.

…In fact, the Sabbatean community which flourished in Salonica is the only heretical sect in the history of crypto-Jewry with so well-established precepts and institutions. The Ma’minim—believers in Hebrew—they called themselves were voluntary converts, a mass phenomenon without a precedent in Jewish history. They were considered as Muslims publicly; Ten Commandments were replaced with a new religious order based on eighteen precepts, las Incomendensas, as they called it in Judeo-Spanish.

The definition of adultery in las Incomendensas, suggesting prudence rather than a prohibition, is ambiguous. It is in this context that a peculiar feast, the Sabbatean Spring Festival, was incorporated into the Sabbatean liturgy. Based on its origins and its mode of celebration, this feast, usually known as the Lamb Festival, remains the most puzzling and eccentric holiday of Sabbatean lore.

The feast begins at midnight between the 21st and the 22nd’ day of the month of Adar, at the supposed occurrence of the spring equinox. According to the Sabbatean tradition, the spring equinox represents the beginning of the New Year and the creation of the world. Only married couples were permitted to participate in the ceremony, where the meat of the lamb was eaten for the first time in the year. It was required that at least two married couples or a paired number of married couples participate in the ceremony. Women wore jewels and their best clothes and served at the banquet. At a certain moment, lights were extinguished and the couples would make love after exchanging partners.

21-22 Adar corresponds to March 7-8, 2010. Last night.

The scholarly paper goes on to describe the meaning of various symbols including water, blood, seasons, etc.

There is no doubt that the renewal of nature represented by the Sabbatean Spring Festival also implied themes associated with the creation of man and the world, as well as the reappearance of the Messiah, according to one belief, as the original Adam. The extinguishing of lights and the concomitant sexual orgy is a simulacrum of the darkness, the eschatological, messianic and creational chaos and the free expression of instinctual needs followed by rebirth, as conceived in mystical philosophies.

According to rumors, during the secret rites observed by Alevi populations in Turkey, which are accompanied by music and drinking, the candles would go out at a certain point and the entire ceremony would turn into an orgy. This festivity is popularly known in Turkish as mum sonde alemi, meaning “festivity of extinguishing candles.” Rumors about this custom spread in Turkey and are even extant today.

What do they want, or perhaps, who do they want to destroy? It depends who you ask. But it’s never good.

Destroy Israel?

Destroy America?

Destroy Turkey?

^^^^^^^

Currently there’s a debate about the Armenian Genocide, and who is responsible for that. Turkey does not want to take responsibility for the Armenian Genocide.

Who was running Turkey at the time? The Young Turks: Sabbateans.

Huge topic.

think tanks: where experts go to reverse engineer plans for world domination

Feb 23

Posted by A. Peasant in Iran, Israel, Military, Mind-fucking, Mossad, Nuclear Weapons, Sabbateans, Terrorism, Think Tanks, Turkey | No Comments

At think tanks, experts figure out how to get from point A to point B. First they decide on point B, and then they reverse engineer how to arrive there from point A. When insiders do this, they call it “brainstorming” or “war games” or “simulations.” When outsiders do this, they call it “terrorism.”

^^^^^^^

The exposure of military plots in Turkey has finally gained momentum, after several weeks. This morning we learn of over 50 arrests of current and retired military officers in connection with the alleged Ergenekon coup plots: Sledgehammer and Cage.

Former Naval Forces Adm. Özden Örnek kept detailed journals between 2000-2004 on some of the plans.

Naturally, some of the plotting came under cover of think tanks , including the General Staff’s Strategic Research and Study Center (SAREM), a foundation affiliated with the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK).

The Sledgehammer plan, revealed in January by a Turkish newspaper, was more than simply an outline of a plan to kill or injure various bureaucrats, journalists and the government. It included a plot to bomb one of ?stanbul’s largest mosques during Friday prayer and a subplot named Oraj (Thunderstorm) that called for the deliberate downing of a Turkish jet to trigger problems with Greece, which the conspirators hoped would give the army the upper hand in politics as the public would feel threatened by a foreign enemy.

Police said the operation yesterday was launched when the National Police Department’s criminal investigations department examined and verified the authenticity of documents regarding the Sledgehammer and Cage plans. The original documents were handed to the Ergenekon prosecutors by the Taraf daily, which exposed both plans.

^^^^^^^

In 2007, the director of SAREM and several other accused Turkish military people met with the Hudson Institute to “brainstorm.” The Hudson Institute is a very prestigious US think tank where very important and surely very well-paid experts work, in Washington DC and NY, to help devise policies and solve problems facing the world.

In the meeting, participants had discussed the outcomes of possible scenarios in Turkey, including increased terrorist attacks killing 50 people in ?stanbul and the assassination of the former head of the Constitutional Court, Tülay Tu?cu, by a suicide bomber. Sources confirmed that Gen. Tanyeri and military attaché Brig. Gen. Bertan Nogaylaro?lu participated in the meeting.

This is one of the scenarios discussed, my comments in green:

  • On June 18, a suicide bomber attacks a police station in Beyo?lu, Istanbul. Fifty, including police officers, tourists and shoppers, are dead and 200 are wounded.  [who directs the suicide bomber?]
  • Rumors indicate that the PKK perpetrated the attack. [who starts the rumors?]
  • One day later, the Interior Ministry announces the attacker was trained in northern Iraq by the PKK. [false flag set, the attack could now be blamed on the desired party: PKK, according to people inside government?]
  • Chief of General Staff Gen. Büyükan?t says the terrorist PKK will continue carrying out attacks on big cities. [and how does he know what the PKK will do?]
  • He makes the call for an immediate military operation into northern Iraq. [one of the goals?]
  • The US State Department calls for calm. [working both sides, manipulating emotions?]
  • On June 23, Iran announces that the PKK attacked trucks carrying supplies to Syria inside its borders and alleges that the PKK was previously instructed by the US to carry out this attack. [which will be denied, and the media will spin it as paranoid?]
  • Fueled by the attack, the Tehran administration offers Turkey a joint military operation against the PKK. [taking the bait?]
  • On June 24, former chief justice of the Turkish Constitutional Court Tülay Tu?cu is assassinated. Tu?cu is taken to the hospital in critical condition and dies there the next day. [a week later, goosing the situation to the next level, and who directs the assassin?]
  • Preliminary investigations reveal that the bomb used in the assassination is the same type as the one detonated in Beyo?lu. [naturally, it's the same people?]
  • On June 25, the Interior Ministry and General Staff announce the involvement of the PKK in the incident. [as they well know, since it's really them?]
  • Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an decides on a military operation in northern Iraq. [the desired reaction, drawing Turkey into the conflict?]
  • On June 29, the Turkish Army enters northern Iraq. The Baghdad administration strongly reacts to the operation. [escalation?]
  • The US State Department underlines the operation will undermine Turkey’s security, as the White House notes Turkey has the right to defend itself.” [whose favorite phrase?]

The end result of this scenario being that Turkey and Iran have now been drawn into northern Iraq, it all gets blamed on the PKK terrorists. Regrettable. Sure thing.

^^^^^^^

And here’s a war-game scenario about Israel attacking Iran reported on this week, from another US think tank: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/02/21/87061/war-game-shows-how-attacking-iran.html. The scenario shows how “unintended consequences can spin out of control.” The only trouble is the entire thing is based on false assumptions and innuendo.

With diplomacy failing and precious intelligence just received about two new secret Iranian nuclear facilities, Israel launches a pre-emptive strike against Tehran’s nuclear complex. The strike is successful, wiping out six of Iran’s key sites and setting back its suspected quest for a bomb by years.

Would honest diplomacy fail? Probably not. The Iranians haven’t started a war in a couple hundred years. So, bad assumption. Also, no actual evidence of Iran’s secret nuclear facilities has ever been put forth. None. Nothing but innuendo, and yet that did not stop the Saban Center for Mideast Policy, part of the Bookings Institution, to run a war-games scenario, which ends up in disaster. What a bummer for them.

Some members of the “Israeli” team nonetheless felt that setting back Iran’s nuclear program “was worth it, even given what was a pretty robust response,” said one participant. He asked that his name not be used, because under the game’s ground rules, participants are supposed to remain anonymous.

Yes, I bet they would like to remain anonymous, considering what they really seem to be doing. Considering that they considered it “worth it” to set back a nuclear program for which no evidence exists.

The Brookings war game was one of three simulations regarding Iran’s nuclear program conducted in December. The other two, at Harvard University and Tel Aviv University, reportedly found that neither sanctions nor threats dissuaded Tehran from its suspected nuclear weapons ambitions.

Again, the “suspected” ambitions don’t exist of course. But by never acknowledging that fact, Tehran can never be dissuaded from their imaginary ambitions, so that our experts may continue to justify all this fluffy frosting of lies as they try to reverse engineer some series of events that will result in point B: Israel’s continued hegemony over the world and a defeated Iran, hmm?

In the Brookings game, three teams of experts, including former senior U.S. officials, played the Israeli, Iranian and American leadership. They assembled in separate rooms at the think tank’s Washington headquarters. Israeli and U.S. “officials” communicated with each other, but not with the Iranians.

One of the simulation’s major findings was how aggressively the Iranians responded to the attack — more aggressively, some participants felt, than they would in real life — and how Washington and Tehran, lacking direct communication, misunderstood each other.

And no you may NOT know who got to “play” the Iranians or anyone else in this game, as these demented people plot — oh, I’m sorry, “brainstorm.” And look at all the comments. People will take this all very seriously when we should be pulling the rug right out from under their feet since the entire thing rests on LIES about Iran’s “suspected” nuclear program. Why are think tanks discussing a strike at all? What a diabolical waste of time. It appears they want to creates a reality out of thin air, for Israel. And if lots and lots of people have to die to make that happen, which they would, well, “so be it” seems to be the attitude from the people at the think tanks who consider the cost “worth it.”

^^^^^^^

No surprise really. Look at the man who founded the Hudson Institute, Herman Kohn. A few facts about this monster from Wikipedia:

  1. Born in Bayonne, New Jersey, Kahn grew up in a Jewish family in the Bronx, then in Los Angeles following his parents’ divorce.
  2. Like many of his colleagues at RAND, he had little personal experience of warfare.
  3. Kahn’s major contributions were the several strategies he developed during the Cold War to contemplate “the unthinkable”, namely, nuclear warfare, by using applications of game theory….Whether hundreds of millions died or “merely” a few major cities were destroyed, Kahn argued, life would in fact go on.

1975, in Vancouver, Mr. Robyn Williams arranges a meeting with Kahn to discuss nuclear arms:

I had taken the trouble to write to Khan in advance at the Hudson Institute where he was based and received a courteous reply. …He opened the door, wearing only boxer shorts. With another man that would, perhaps, have been unremarkable. But Khan was immense and spectacularly hirsute. He repaired back to his made-up bed where he had obviously been sitting, eating grapes. He lifted a large bunch and nibbled them like Nero at a Roman banquet. To my great relief, I was not invited to share the feast.

Herman Kahn was a giant. He boldly confronted public issues with creativity and the conviction, in his case correct, that thought and analysis could help make ours a better world. ~ Donald Rumsfeld

^^^^^^^

You can read more details of the Hudson Institute meeting here.

Sources confirm that various Turkish military officials and civilian experts, the Hudson Institute’s Turkey expert Zeyno Baran, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani’s son Kubat Talabani, as well as Brig. Gen. Suha Tanyeri and military attaché Brig. Gen. Bertan Nogaylaro?lu participated in the meeting.


The invitation outlines the meeting sessions with headlines translated into Turkish as “Introduction,” “The Scenario,” “Questions” and “Wildcard.”

Potential Wildcards

  • A new set of clues indicates that the suicide terrorist who attacked the police station in Beyo?lu was trained by Hezbollah in a Syrian camp.

  • In a raid near Kandil Mountain, Turkish security forces confiscate two-year-old MOSSAD training manuals and videos showing Israeli agents side by side with the PKK militants.

  • A Peshmerga unit on patrol in northern Iraq panics and attacks a group of Turkish Special Forces. After the battle, it is revealed that one of the gunned-down Peshmerga is, in fact, an American soldier who was training the Kurdish militia. This soldier, however, was not authorized to be on patrol with the Peshmerga.

Well I guess they have to plan for everything, even maybe getting caught? Yes a few people on the front lines sometimes go “rogue,” it’s very regrettable. Tsk tsk. But you know, should any of these scenarios cooked up at think tanks ever go live, don’t expect any of those experts to be held accountable for the planning. That would just be a coincidence. In fact, you will probably see them paraded across teevee as even greater experts for having predicted what happened in advance.

Like this one: she’s a star.

Zeyno Baran, Hudson Institute
nice necklace

Lebanon, Cyprus, Turkey, Iran

Feb 22

Posted by A. Peasant in Cyprus, Israel, Lebanon, Military, Mr. Bibi N. & Friends, Oil, Psychopaths, Terrorism, Turkey | No Comments

1. Former military chiefs held in Turkey plot probe

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish police detained former heads of the air force and navy and other senior officers on Monday in an investigation into an alleged plot to undermine the Islamist-rooted government and trigger a military coup.

The swoop, one of the largest in European Union candidate Turkey against the secularist armed forces, further raised tensions between the ruling AK Party and the military, which has been implicated in several alleged plots in the past year.

Former Air Force Commander Ibrahim Firtina, former Naval Commander Ozden Ornek and ex-Deputy Chief of the General Staff General Ergin Saygun, were among those held, broadcasters said.

Current armed forces chief General Ilker Basbug delayed a trip to Egypt as a result, broadcaster CNN Turk reported. In total seven serving officers and seven retired officers were detained.

Interior Minister Besir Atalay, accompanying Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on an official visit to Spain, said he was being kept informed of developments, state-run Anatolian news agency reported.

NTV said the suspects held in Ankara were being flown to Istanbul for questioning over the “Sledgehammer” plot after police raids in the cities of Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir.

Neither police or the military had any immediate comment.

Financial markets showed little reaction to the detentions, but Wolfango Piccoli from the Eurasia political risk consultancy said they looked set to trigger another escalation in the tense relations between the military and the AK Party.

“The government is now embroiled in an open and bitter power-struggle with the judiciary and the military, raising the risk of a head-on confrontation that would badly damage political stability,” Piccoli said.

Such detentions would have been unthinkable in the past for the military, which has ousted four governments in the last 50 years. However, its powers have waned in recent years due to democratic reforms aimed at securing EU membership.

Other senior military officers have been indicted on charges of planning a separate plot to overthrow the AK Party, which has its roots in political Islam.

SOWING INSTABILITY

According to previous media reports on the Sledgehammer plan, denied by the military, the army had plotted to provoke Greek fighter jets into shooting down a Turkish military jet.

Turkey and neighbouring Greece have longstanding territorial disputes and came close to war in 1996 over an islet in the Aegean, though relations have improved in the last decade.

The alleged plot also involved planting bombs in mosques and museums in Istanbul to stir chaos. Last month Taraf newspaper said it had obtained 5,000 pages of documents and tapes on the plan which was aimed at justifying an army takeover in 2003.

The military has said documents quoted by the paper were part of a military training seminar but were never meant to be carried out and were not part of a conspiracy.

The latest detentions coincide with rising political tensions due to a clash between Erdogan’s government and the secularist judiciary over the arrest of a prosecutor who had investigated Islamic groups.

That prosecutor has been accused of links to an alleged far-right militant network, “Ergenekon”. More than 200 people, including military officers, lawyers and politicians, have been arrested in the case since it came to light 2-1/2 years ago.

Critics of the government say the Ergenekon investigation has also been used to hound political opponents.

source

2. Lebanese PM Sleiman and Cyprus — time to implement agreements

During a press conference held Wednesday February 17, 2010 at the embassy headquarters in Beirut, the ambassador of Cyprus in Lebanon Mr. Kiriakos Koros said Michel Sleimane’s visit to Cyprus aimed, above all, to tighten bilateral relations, and namely to promote tourism in both countries. “Since the official establishment of the Cyprus Embassy was officially established in Beirut, several contracts have been signed between the island and the country of cedars. Today, it is time to implement these contracts”, the ambassador said.

…On the political level, Mr. Koros focused on the Lebanese support to the island in international forums. Lebanon, he said, should be alerted, and even sensitive on issues concerning Cyprus. “Being elected for the non-permanent seat within the Security Council but also as it is an integral part of the Arab League, Lebanon can now echo Cyprus requests in international forums,” Koros said.

The two countries also stressed the need to comply with UN resolutions and move the peace process forward in the Middle East. “The two countries share many political opinions, particularly concerning the need to freeze the settlement process in the Palestinian territories and the importance to establish peace in the Middle East” he added.

To conclude, Mr. Koros stressed the need to coordinate between Lebanon and Cyprus and exchange experiences so as to meet the interests of both the Cypriots and the Lebanese. He also praised the key role assumed by the Maronite community in Cyprus, as it was serving as a cultural bridge between the Lebanese and the Cypriot society.

more @ iloubnan

3. Ahmadinejad calls for independent states to be ready for changes in world

“Today that capitalism is collapsing, the independent states should prepare themselves for huge global developments, and this necessitates promotion of the level of mutual and all-out cooperation,” Ahmadinejad said in a meeting with the Democratic Republic of Congo’s National Assembly Speaker, Evariste Boshab, here in Tehran today.

Ahmadinejad described expansion of mutual and multilateral cooperation among independent states as the key to resistance against the pressures imposed by the bullying powers.

more @ fars

4. Iran to speak to IAEA about “unreal parts” of Amano’s report

“Unfortunately Amano’s report is two-sided and some unreal issues have been intermingled with real issues,” member of the parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Esmae’il Kowsari told FNA….The latest report on Iran presented by Amano to the agency’s Board of Governors on Thursday vindicates the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear activities and confirms that Iran’s program is faced with no technical or legal problems.

Yet, Amano’s first report on Iran’s nuclear program, similar to ElBaradei’s reports, is comprised of technical and legal as well as political aspects. Those parts which deal with the legal and technical issues underline the technical success and legality of Iran’s nuclear program and the peaceful nature of the country’s nuclear activities.  However, a number of issues fabricated by the western media are stated in the report on Iran which Iranian officials say has no legal rationale.

Despite, Amano’s previous claims that he wants to focus on “the facts” and pursue a more technical approach than his predecessor Mohammad ElBaradei, he also complained about the level of Iran’s cooperation with the Agency. This is while the agency has repeatedly praised Iran’s full cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog agency in is previous reports.

more @ fars

5. and where do those “unreal parts” come from? Israel urges Iran oil embargo even without UN approval

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Monday for an immediate embargo on Iran’s energy sector, saying the U.N. Security Council should be sidestepped if it cannot agree on the move.

…If the world “is serious about stopping Iran, then what it needs to do is not watered-down sanctions, moderate sanctions … but effective, biting sanctions that curtail the import and export of oil into Iran,” Netanyahu said in a speech.

STOPPING IRAN FROM WHAT YOU FUCKING WHACK JOB?

hasbara: FAIL

Feb 9

Posted by A. Peasant in Censorship, Diplomats, Hasbara, Iran, Israel, Mossad, Mr. Bibi N. & Friends, Palestinians, Psychopaths, Resistance, Turkey | 2 Comments

1. Michael Oren heckled. professor appears to be practically in tears at the outrage, verbally attacks students and threatens to fail them all for disrupting the important speech of busy man Michael Oren.

2. Elie Wiesel repeats a bunch of lies and misquotes attributed to Ahmadinejad, then suggests it wouldn’t be so bad if he were assassinated. jpost puts headlines thusly, with quote marks: ‘i wouldn’t cry if he was killed’  EXCEPT that’s not what Elie Wiesel said. Elie Wiesel used the assassination word.

“I wouldn’t cry if I heard that Ahmadinejad was assassinated,” he quipped, calling the Iranian president “a pathological danger to world peace.”

http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=168217

3. Lieberman whines about Turkey

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Tuesday leveled criticism at Turkey for what he called “weekly” condemnations of Israel.

Speaking during a visit to Azerbaijan’s capital Baku, Lieberman said that Israel had been “supporting close relations with Turkey for 10 years.” He said that the recent change in Ankara’s stance, since Operation Cast Lead against Hamas terrorists in Gaza, was “unexpected.”

Turkey can’t keep repeating this “sharp anti-Israel line” every week, the foreign minister told an Azerbaijani television station.

Nonetheless, he said, Israel is doing everything in its power to maintain ties and coordinate closely with Turkey.

“We hope Turkey will make certain amendments to its foreign policy,” he added.

Lieberman’s comments came some two weeks after Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an said Israel “should give some thought to what it would be like to lose a friend like Turkey in the future,” in an interview with the Euronews channel.

“We have important ongoing agreements between us. How can these agreements be kept going in this climate of mistrust? I think Israel had better take another look at its relations with its neighbors if it believes it is a world power,” Erdo?an said in the interview.The Turkish premier said that the humiliation of Turkish Ambassador to Israel Oguz Celikkol by Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon had “no place in international politics.”

Earlier in January, Aylaon called Celikkol in for a public dressing down over a Turkish television show that depicted Mossad agents as baby snatchers. At that meeting, Ayalon instructed the camera crews, in Hebrew and in the ambassador’s presence, not to film them shaking hands, to show that the Turkish envoy was sitting on a lower sofa, to show that there was only an Israeli flag on the table and not to film them smiling.

When asked by Euronews if Turkey could have handled relations with Israel more diplomatically, Ergodan answered that “I am telling the truth…And I will keep telling the truth.”

http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=168212

passports and terrorism

Jan 30

Posted by A. Peasant in 9-11, CIA, Corruption & Crime, India, Israel, Media, Mind-fucking, Surveillance, Terrorism, Turkey | No Comments

1. passport fraud is a global threat according to chief of Interpol. the man makes sense! airport scanners are misguided.

DAVOS - THE biggest travel threat facing the world now is passport fraud, according to the chief of Interpol - the millions of stolen documents that could be used by terrorists or criminals to travel worldwide.

Airport body scanners, embraced by many in the aftermath of the attempted Christmas Day airplane bombing, are a misguided solution to travel threats, Interpol Secretary-General Ronald K. Noble told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday night.

‘The greatest threat in the world is that last year there were 500 million, half a billion, international air arrivals worldwide where travel documents were not compared against Interpol databases,’ he said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, where 2,500 business and political leaders are gathered in this Alpine resort.

‘Right now in our database we have over 11 million stolen or lost passports,’ he said. ‘These passports are being used, fraudulently altered and are being given to terrorists, war criminals, drug traffickers, human traffickers.’ The solution, he said, is better intelligence, and better intelligence sharing, among countries. [as long as they are not corrupt!!! - ed.]

‘You don’t know the motivation behind the person carrying the passport,’ he said. If you’re a terrorist, he said, ‘Are you going to carry explosives that are going to be detected? No.’

Many US airports use the body-scanning machines and airports in other countries are adopting them after Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab allegedly tried to detonate explosives hidden in his underwear Dec 25 on the Detroit-bound flight. But Noble cited a case two weeks ago in a Caribbean country where five people were caught after they were found to be carrying stolen passports - one stolen back in 2001. — AP

source: straits times

2. US state dept say they let patsy underpants keep his visa, at the request of counterterrorism officials (CIA? DHS?), “to avoid tipping off larger investigation.” i see. so how does that work?  is it that the people on the plane were never in danger because our agencies were running an operation? and therefore all the bloviating after-the-fact is simply a giant mind-fuck? or they were in danger but our agencies did a cost-benefit analysis and decided that all those people’s potential lives were worth the risk?

Nathan Hurst / Detroit News Washington Bureau

Washington –The State Department didn’t revoke the visa of foiled terrorism suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab because federal counterterrorism officials had begged off revocation, a top State Department official revealed Wednesday.

Patrick F. Kennedy, an undersecretary for management at the State Department, said Abdulmutallab’s visa wasn’t taken away because intelligence officials asked his agency not to deny a visa to the suspected terrorist over concerns that a denial would’ve foiled a larger investigation into al-Qaida threats against the United States.

“Revocation action would’ve disclosed what they were doing,” Kennedy said in testimony before the House Committee on Homeland Security. Allowing Adbulmutallab to keep the visa increased chances federal investigators would be able to get closer to apprehending the terror network he is accused of working with, “rather than simply knocking out one solider in that effort.”

3. jpost: ‘assassins came to Dubai with Landau’ - possibly using forged documents. so you see, INTELLIGENCE OPERATIVES might use forged documents. let us say, they probably do. that would be an expected part of INTELLIGENCE WORK. and INTELLIGENCE OPERATIVES might knowingly allow people with FORGED DOCUMENTS to travel to accomplish their INTELLIGENCE WORK, which may or may not involve KILLING PEOPLE.

Israeli agents who accompanied National Infrastructures Minister Uzi Landau to two weeks ago may have assassinated Hamas operative Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, senior Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar said Saturday. Speaking to Al Jazeera, Zahar added that the agents possibly entered the with forged documents.

On Friday, Hamas claimed that Israeli agents assassinated one of the Islamist group’s veteran operatives in a killing allegedly carried out last week in , and vowed to retaliate. The group blamed for Mabhouh’s slaying, but offered no evidence of foul play or Israeli involvement in the man’s death. The government had no immediate comment.

http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=167299

4. and then the INTELLIGENCE PEOPLE will say things like this:

Mumbai An alert has been sounded in the city following fresh intelligence inputs that two terror suspects might have sneaked into the metropolis to carry out strikes, police said on Thursday. The inputs, which even specified the names of the suspects, say that the duo from a neighbouring country might masquerade as taxi drivers to conduct recce and execute their plans, sources said. They, however, declined to divulge the names of the suspects and their nationality lest it should hamper investigation.

The police have intensified patrolling and checking of taxis across the metropolis. Traffic police are also conducting random checks of licences. Intelligence inputs about possible terror strikes have become a frequent occurrence since 26/11 attacks and all precautions in this regard have been taken, they said. Special Branch officials are searching various lodges and hotels to check if any foreign national was staying without proper documentation. All police stations and Mumbai police’s various units are working on the inputs to prevent any terror attacks, the sources said.

source: express india

5. more vague and POINTLESS requests from INTELLIGENCE people, simply designed to make the public paranoid when obviously, the problem is the INTELLIGENCE PEOPLE THEMSELVES.

Washington The US continues to receive information about terrorist groups planning attacks against India; the State Department has said and advised its nationals to be alert during their travel to the country in the coming months. “The Department of State alerts US citizens to ongoing security concerns in India. The US government continues to receive information that terrorist groups may be planning attacks in India,” the US State Department said in its latest terror alert.

Terrorists and their sympathisers have demonstrated their willingness and capability to attack targets where US citizens or Westerners are known to congregate or visit. The recent advise replaces the travel Alert dated December 29 that expired on April 30, the State Department said. Noting that 26/11 Mumbai attacks provide a vivid reminder that hotels, markets and other public places are especially targeted by terrorist groups, the State Department asked its nationals to always practice good security, maintain a heightened situational awareness and a low profile. “US citizens are advised to monitor local news reports and consider the level of security present when visiting public places, including religious sites, or choosing hotels, restaurants, entertainment and recreation venues,” it said.

source: express india

6. meanwhile, some “young, hip US jews” have taken to wearing the new “israeli keffiyeh”. how special. to horn in on a symbol long associated with the Arab world, to suddenly decide that hey, why can’t we wear the keffiyeh too? now it means nothing, or everything, or anything. how convenient. now one might think about the al qaeda woman decoy idea: women who “look” western but are al qaeda terrorists, and note that now we will also have women who may “look” arab but are jewish, etc. so much confusion, so many opportunities for things to go wrong, especially with 11 million lost or stolen passports floating around and intelligences agencies who intentionally overlook people they assure us that they’re watching 247 365….

It might be considered by some as a symbol of Palestinian “resistance” or solidarity, but for a group of young, hip US Jews, wearing a keffiyeh – especially one with blue embroidered Stars of David – is just as much their right as anyone else’s.

“We did have some negative comments [about the keffiyeh] when we initially sent it out to our mailing list,” Erez Safar, founder and director of Shemspeed, a Jewish music label and promotion company that started selling the traditional Arab headdress about two weeks ago, told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday….However, he is not oblivious to the fact that this new “Israeli keffiyeh,” which has been selling fairly well, has already engendered controversy among some who feel it might be inappropriate for Jews to use it as a pro-Israel symbol. [d'ya think?]

“We have had some Arab friends take offense to our new scarf-remix,” acknowledged Safar. “We have some Muslim rappers who have taken part in our Hip Hop Sulha series, which is a Jewish and Muslim reconciliation concert series featuring Hip Hop groups from around the world. We are having a concert in February and one of the performers has actually backed out because of these scarves.”

…“As a Jew, I am not offended by the pope who wears a ‘kippa,’ and in the same respect, I don’t feel there is any reason for anyone to take offense to a Jewish person wearing a version of the keffiyeh, which they also identify with,” he said in the statement. [too funny. the problem only comes if the pope *didn't* wear the 'kippa' when the rabbis tell him to...]

…“The way that symbols are politicized and used to divide people, rather than as common ground for discussion and dialogue, is exactly the kind of thought-provoking topic that we at Shemspeed want to explore with our music, as well as our programming. Our Israeli remix of the keffiyeh is just one more interpretation of a scarf worn by our brothers for thousands of years.” [oh sure, yes, we're all one big happy family right? ]

…Safar said that the scarves, which also have “Am Israel Chai” embroidered in Hebrew into the fabric, were created purely to express a deep love for and “the unity it creates among Jews.” [and who could possibly argue with that? ]

more at jpost

http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=167191

7. the frosting on the cake. PLEASE READ! aangirfan: Sledgehammer; 911. see for yourself how so-called al qaeda militants work closely with our very own INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES to plot murder, mayhem and chaos, using, among other tools, FRAUDULENT PASSPORTS.

excerpt:

Ercan Gun, at zaman.com (TODAY’S ZAMAN ), 15 Agust 2005, reported on the Syrian ‘Al Qaeda Militant’ Luai Sakra (Saqa) who was arrested for organizing the double bomb attacks in Istanbul on 15-23 November 2003.

Sakra ‘has confessed to Turkish police that he provided the attackers of 9 11 with passports’.

Sakra ‘claims that he knew Muhammad Ata’.

Sakra ‘claims he drinks alcohol and does not pray’.

Sarka reportedly said: “I was one of the people who knew the perpetrators of September 11, and knew the time and plan before the attacks. I also participated in the preparations for the attacks to WTI and Pentagon. I provided money and passports.”

Reportedly, some of the passports, which Sakra claimed to have provided himself, were found in the ruins of World Trade Centre I.

Ercan Gun wonders if Al-Qaeda is a Secret Service operation.

Sakra was interrogated for 4 days at the Istanbul Anti-Terror Department Headquarters. Reportedly this has provided some important information.

According to Ercan Gun, Turkish intelligence specialists now believe:

1. Al-Qaeda is the name of a secret service operation.

2. Al Qaeda is linked to a strategy of tension.

3. Sakra, the fifth most senior man in al-Qaeda, was offered employment by the CIA. The CIA gave him a large sum of money.

read the whole thing @ aangirfan


update on Hadjicostis murder

Jan 24

Posted by A. Peasant in Cyprus, Limited Hangouts, Turkey | No Comments

image from: Cyprus Weekly

An update on the Hadjicostis murder, covered here and by aangirfan here,

…which you can readily see has intelligence services fingerprints all over it.

But never mind all that crazy talk about the embassy and the security cameras and the shell casings and Mossad and Cyprus blah blah blah. This is the very simple, very easy to understand white bread explanation, suitable for public consumption:

NICOSIA - A Cyprus court remanded a blonde TV presenter and her brother in police custody on Friday on suspicion of ordering the contract killing of media tycoon Andis Hadjicostis.

Elena Skordelli, a 42-year-old mother of two and TV show host, and her brother Tassos Krasopoulis, 37, appeared before a Nicosia district court and were remanded for eight days. They have not been charged.

The pair denies any involvement in the killing and their defence lawyers said the suspects wanted to help police with their inquiries.

They were arrested on Thursday night in connection with the gangland-style hit on the media mogul after a suspect already in custody admitted to his part in the crime.

He then fingered the brother and sister as the people behind the killing, police said.

According to the suspect’s police statement, he met the TV journalist and her brother on two occasions during which they ordered the hit on Hadjicostis for a fee, the court heard.

Police believe the motive was financial and personal revenge as they are both shareholders in private channel Sigma TV.

Hadjicostis, a father of two, was chief executive of the Dias media group, one of the island’s largest, which owns Sigma TV, Radio Proto, daily newspaper Simerini and other publications.

It is alleged that the woman wanted her revenge after she was sacked from Sigma and held Hadjicostis responsible.

In return for carrying out the hit, the other suspects were also to receive jobs at the station, the court heard.

Five suspects are in police custody on suspicion of involvement in the killing.

The 42-year-old media mogul was gunned down outside his home close to the US embassy on January 11.

Earlier in the week, Skordelli had issued a statement threatening to sue anyone who implicated her in the killing of her “beloved Andis”.

She also claimed that her life was being endangered by a scurrilous whispering campaign against her and requested police protection saying someone had tampered with her car.

The seasoned journalist reportedly has a 20-% share in private TV station Sigma, which belongs to the Dias group owned by Hadjicostis’s father Costis.

Three other suspects arrested last week are expected to appear again before a Nicosia court on Saturday.

Police have asked Interpol to circulate a warrant for the arrest of a sixth suspect, Gregoris Xenofontos, 29, who is thought to be in Moldova.

Additional details:

The arrests came after the outcome of the testimony of one of three suspects already in custody, who is said to have ‘broken under police questioning’ and confessed his involvement in the crime. Authorities withheld comment on the nature of the confession….The minister was flanked by Kypros Michaelides, police superintendent for the Nicosia district, who also refused to answer any questions by newsmen, such as whether the two new suspects were being considered as the masterminds of the crime, or whether the arrests would take investigations in a new direction.

…Earlier this week Skordelli’s lawyer sent letters to the police chief, Attorney-general and the Justice and Interior Ministers requesting protection after an alleged attempt to cause her injury. In the letter, lawyer Michalakis Kyprianou claimed his client was potentially in danger and asked for police protection. He further claimed that unknown persons removed three nuts from the front tyre of Skordelli’s car last Friday, “evidently, to cause an accident or even her death”.The letter came just 24 hours after the TV presenter ordered her lawyer to sue everyone “responsible for all the slanderous and malicious publicity, which has been carried out at my expense, as much in the Greek domain as in the Cypriot, via televisual or electronic formats, in printed, televised and electronic forms of media.”

Almost from day one of the murder, Skordelli’s name came up on a number of Greek websites and blogs offering theories about the murder.

Their remand for the other three suspects ends tomorrow, at which time police are expected to request a renewal. The so-called fourth suspect, 29-year-old Gregoris Xenofontos is wanted by police, who have issued European and international warrants for his capture. Xenofontos is believed to have departed for Moldova with his wife a few days after the murder.

that is what you call “coordination”

Jan 18

Posted by A. Peasant in Germany, Iran, Israel, Syria, Turkey | No Comments

1. Merkel and bibi meet

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Berlin with top ministers Monday to hold a historic joint cabinet meeting on German soil, an AFP reporter said. The gathering of the two governments, the second ever after a similar meeting in Israel two years ago, will address urgent security issues such as Iran and underline the strong bond forged in the wake of the Holocaust.

Netanyahu and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were also to hold bilateral talks focused on efforts to revive Middle East peace talks and face “threats to regional security”, the prime minister’s spokesman Mark Regev said. The trip is “designed to strengthen and expand the cooperation between Israel and Germany. There is a very special relationship between Berlin and Jerusalem,” Regev told AFP. Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman were among members of Israel’s centre-right cabinet joining the premier.

more @ naharnet

2. mm hmm, now it was Hezbollah what killed the Iranian scientist. yup. they got a picture.

An Iranian nuclear scientist killed last week by a blast from a remote-controlled bomb strapped to a parked motorcycle may have been the victim of an Arab hit man belonging to Hizbullah, opposition groups told Britain’s Sunday Times. The Tehran regime has accused “mercenaries” financed by Israel and Washington of involvement in the killing of Massoud Ali Mohammadi, 50, a supporter of Mir Hossein Mousavi, the opposition leader.

However, opposition groups who monitor Hizbullah, claim that a member of the group, known by his pseudonym “Abu Nasser,” was photographed at the scene of the explosion in Tehran’s affluent Gheytarih suburb, according to The Sunday Times. It said that a German-based opposition group released a photograph of a man of similar appearance who, it alleges, was one of the pro-regime demonstrators who stormed Mousavi’s office in Tehran after the disputed presidential polls last June.

more @ naharnet

3. Merkel backs more sanctions against Iran

German Chancellor Angela Merkel says her country will back tougher sanctions against Iran if the country doesn’t change its tune on its nuclear programme. Ms. Merkel said after meeting Israel’s prime minister on Monday that “if Iran’s reactions don’t change, we will help work on comprehensive sanctions.”

more @ hindu

4. pro-Palestinian hackers target website of top British jewish newspaper — but don’t worry, they didn’t damage anything they just did it to make asses of themselves. yeah, phew.

Britain’s flagship Jewish newspaper, the Jewish Chronicle, was taken over on Monday morning by pro-Palestinian hackers. The homepage of the Web site, which was rendered unavailable in the wake of the hack, was replaced with a Palestinian flag and a message reading “Hacked by Palestinian Mujaheeds.” Apparently angered by the newspaper’s support for Israel, the message also says: “Arent [sic] you ashamed of giving tolerance to Jewish who is the main actor of wars with being of children killers? Arent [sic] you ashamed of giving support to vampire who doesn’t care any human life?”

Jewish Chronicle Editor Stephen Pollard confirmed the paper’s Web site had been replaced by anti-Semitic messages for several hours.
“Somebody hacked into the site and had a message up for a couple of hours,” Pollard told AP. “It did no damage, as far as we can tell.” Pollard said the attack could be related to the diplomatic feud that erupted between Israel and Turkey last week, but added: “I don’t want to
speculate.”  The Turkish government was outraged when Israel’s deputy foreign minister denied their ambassador a handshake and forced him to sit on a low sofa as the cameras rolled. Israel has since apologized. The Chronicle, founded in 1841, is Britain’s oldest Jewish newspaper.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1143396.html

5. israel had to go grovel in Turkey — looks like there’s some split between barak and lieberman / bibi

Israel’s defense minister held fence-mending talks in Turkey on Sunday, securing a commitment to military cooperation but failing to cajole Ankara into curbing its criticism of Israeli policies, officials said. Ehud Barak  traveled to Turkey in the wake of a severe diplomatic row that had threatened to plunge the already estranged allies into a serious crisis. …Barak met also with Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, but Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a central figure in bilateral tensions, and President Abdullah Gul, were not available to meet him, citing programs outside Ankara.

It was the highest-level bilateral visit since Israel’s offensive on the Gaza Strip last year prompted an unprecedented barrage of criticism from Erdogan’s Islamist-rooted government, marking a sharp downturn in relations. Barak, whose Labor Party is in favor of keeping close ties with Turkey, insisted on the visit amid a row that brought Ankara to the verge of recalling its ambassador from Tel Aviv. “Turkey is a very important country… a pillar in the region, and dialogue and cooperation with it are very important,” Barak said.

Gonul voiced hope that cooperation in arms projects, which has been at the heart of the once-flourishing ties, would continue. The long-delayed delivery of 10 unmanned aircraft manufactured in Israel for the Turkish army is expected to be completed by June, he said.

...Turkey’s blooming ties with Syria and close contacts with Iran have made its snubs even harder for Israel to swallow and raised questions on whether a key Muslim-majority NATO member is sliding away from the West. Turkey became Israel’s main regional ally when the two signed a military cooperation accord in 1996. The pact eased Israel’s isolation in a hostile Arab neighborhood, while Turkey gained an ally against Syria, then an arch-foe for sheltering Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan, and access to Israel’s advanced military technology.(AFP)

source: naharnet

thoughts on a murder

Jan 16

Posted by A. Peasant in CIA, Corruption & Crime, Cyprus, Diplomats, Greece, Identities, Israel, Mossad, Terrorism, Turkey | No Comments

This past week someone important died in Greece. Actually he was murdered. Antis Hadjicostis was the son of Costis Hadjicostis, owner of Dias Media Group. A privately held media group. Presumably that means the station can air whatever views it likes.

Sigma TV is a commercial network in Cyprus [...eastern Mediterranean, south of Turkey and west of Syria and Lebanon] that commenced broadcasting on April 3, 1995. It is a private service and is currently the second-rated channel in Cyprus. Sigma TV is geared at a younger audience, with the focus on the 18-45 age group. It broadcasts a mix of original programmes as well as popular foreign programming. The current programming breakdown is as follows: Local- 40%, US- 15%, Greece- 5% and Latin American- 40%.

News programs include:

Tomes Sta Gegonota- Daily newcast with live reports and informative discussion with all the headlines from around the world. Me Agapi- Informative discussion on current affairs and key issues. From personal issues to problems affecting society as a whole. Etsi Apla… me tin Mairi Haritonos- Talkshow that examines economic issues affecting everyday life; unemployment, inequality, taxes- how people deal with these problems. Also a look at Cyprus’ role in the Global economy. Hosted by ?ary Haritonos, Tuesdays at 11:10pm

The killers escaped on a high speed motorcycle near the American and French embassies.

Police said the victim was shot twice at close range while entering his house, a short distance away from the American and French embassies in an exclusive part of Nicosia. The gunman got away on a high powered motorcycle driven by another man.

His father is considered a political king-maker.

The father of the victim is considered by United Nations officials in Cyprus and some western foreign embassies as a political king-maker who can exert influence on a large portion of Greek Cypriots in connection with a future solution of the Cyprus problem.

So the most obvious conclusion: someone is trying to send a message about which way to exert his influence on the Cyprus problem. But we don’t necessarily draw the most obvious conclusion, we just note it.

What is the Cyprus problem? Long story. Shorter:

In retrospect, Greek inhabitance of Cyprus that dates back to the Bronze age, shows us that this island consists of a religion, culture and language that is of Greek origin. However, we must also understand that the Turkish conquest also played a large role in creating Cyprus’s demography. Subsequently, the Greek-Cypriot majority and Turkish-Cypriot minority lived together, in peace and harmony, for hundreds of years.

However, we believe that two of the many things that led to the deterioration of peace and harmony should be highlighted. The first, the plan of “taksim” was engraved in the minds of the Turkish-Cypriots, which led them to believe, after many years of co-habitation, that things needed to change. The Turkish-Cypriots were led to believe that “taksim” was the only answer to their problems, even though no problem existed. [Taksim means division, partition, distribution in Turkish. - ed.]

Then, there was the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee. [Signed between Cyprus on one side and Greece, Britian, and Turkey on the other. - ed.] Here, Turkey was given “the right of joint or even unilateral action for the purpose of re-establishing the state of affairs created by the Treaty.” In the end, their actions were unilateral; however, they did not achieve the “purpose” of the Treaty. Instead, they achieved their own “purpose” which is to “occupy” a foreign, sovereign, and last but not least, the territory of an United Nations member.

I don’t know this Cyprus story but right away I notice it’s familiar. Colonial powers interfering and mucking around in other countries causing problems signing treaties and giving land that doesn’t belong to them to other people. In writing. Mind-viruses taking hold of people. Problems being CREATED.

Of course, hegemons create problems for long-term strategic reasons. They let the problems fester over generations, until people can no longer remember how it all started, until the history has been rewritten the bodies buried the keys lost… The problems fester as long as needed, which is as long as people need to be divided. Typically forever. Kick the can down the road forever, just like the Middle East “peace” “process.”

In more recent history, we know that Turkey has stood up to Israel. Turkey, specifically Erdogan, has taken a principled stand against Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians, over that other illegal occupation, and he has been very effective in diplomacy meeting with Iran, Syria, Lebanon and all the interested parties in world diplomacy, all while capturing the populist imagination. A serious crime. He truly showed Peres up last year by walking out at Davos. The Israelis will never get over it, as they proved just this past week.

Official sources in Tel Aviv said Erdogan had changed his attitude towards Israel since Operation Cast Lead. “This process started when Erdogan abandoned a debate with President Shimon Peres (in Davos), so actually what is being done in Jerusalem is less important than what is happening in Ankara,” one source said.

Evidently that was unforgivable. At the time, Israel gloated that Erdogan had shot himself in the foot and senior European diplomats would never let Turkey into the EU after this. And what is that all about anyway? Is it really a tribal thing?

In terms of foreign policy, the main obstacle to EU membership remains the unresolved issues between Turkey and EU member Greece….Equally as serious as the Cyprus issue is Turkey’s dispute with Greece over territorial rights and interests in the Aegean Sea. Although both Greece and Turkey are de jure allies in NATO, their conflicting claims brought them to the brink of war in 1986 and 1987. A fundamental source of contention is exploration rights to minerals, primarily oil, beneath the Aegean Sea. International law recognizes the right of a country to explore the mineral wealth on its own continental shelf. Greece and Turkey, however, have been unable to agree on what constitutes the Aegean continental shelf. …The issue of the right to control the airspace over the Aegean appears similarly intractable.

OK. So so far we can see a long-standing mess in Cyprus, having little to do with the people in power today, pitting the Turks and the Greeks for decades. And we have Erdogan pissing off Israel now. And all of a sudden, lo, there’s a flare-up in the Cyprus problem — an assassination — the son of a king-maker who owns an independent media company. Hold that thought.

Moving right along. Greece is a problem for the EU… a financial catastrophe dragging everyone down.

Jan. 14 (Bloomberg) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Greece’s mounting budget deficit risks hurting the euro, saying the currency faces a “very difficult phase.” Merkel, speaking at a private forum hosted by Die Welt newspaper yesterday, questioned the fiscal discipline of other countries using the euro, according to a transcript posted on the German government’s Web site today. “The Greek example can put us under great, great pressures,” she said, according to the transcript. “Who will tell the Greek parliament to please go ahead and pass a pension reform? I don’t know that they’ll be enthusiastic about Germany giving them instructions.” German lawmakers wouldn’t be happy if Greece told them what to do, she said. “So the euro is in a very difficult phase over the coming years.”

In Athens, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou announced plans to cut spending and raise revenue by about 10 billion euros ($14.5 billion) this year as part of a three-year plan adopted today to bring the European Union’s biggest budget deficit within the EU limit in 2012. “We will do whatever it takes,” Papandreou said in a televised speech to his Cabinet. “Our country can and is obliged to exit as soon as possible this vicious circle of misery. We will not retreat; we will proceed quickly.”

So in the very large picture, we see Turkey strong and relatively independent, while Greece is relatively weak and dependent, a situation that has been obvious to the casual observer for about a year.

Given all of that, let’s take a closer look at this murder and the events surrounding it.

1. The assassination has stirred up instability, according to politicians.

The assassination of Cyprus’ most powerful publisher stirred fears of rising instability Tuesday as ethnic Greek and Turkish leaders made a new push to reunify the war-divided Mediterranean island.… The spokesman said the gunman fled on a motorcycle driven by an accomplice. No shell casings were found. Police stressed that no evidence of a motive had emerged. But politicians said the crime appeared aimed at spurring instability at a time when the peace talks with Turkish Cypriots have sharpened political divisions between Greek Cypriot liberals and nationalists favoring a harder line.

Regarding the shell casings: “A sign of professional assassins who knew that these casings would easily identify the weapon used and who had plenty of time to collect them.”

2. Greek police say Hadjicostis was warned by an intelligence operative that his life was in danger.

NICOSIA (AP) – Police in Cyprus say it is unlikely that political motives lay behind the assassination of the country’s most powerful publisher. … Police spokesman Michalis Katsounotos said yesterday that a member of the island’s intelligence service had warned Hadjicostis that his life was in danger. Katsounotos said the investigation is proceeding in a “specific direction,” but did not elaborate.

If true, this dispenses with the most obvious conclusion noted up top, namely that someone wanted to send a strong message to the elder Hadjicostis, king-maker. Also note that the most obvious conclusion implicates Turkey, which would exacerbate tensions between the Greece and Turkey. Now who would want to smear Turkey? Hmm. Thinking…..

3. Three men have been arrested for the murder. Recall that no shell casings were found. Smart. No, wait. They were stupid.

Prosecutors said the evidence collected includes fingerprints on a motorcycle helmet visor found near the crime scene, tire treads matching a motorcycle at one suspect’s home and CCTV camera footage. An informant also testified of hearing the suspects boast about “a job that would earn them a lot of money,” and then about planning and carrying out the murder, Nicosia crimes unit chief Thomas Efthymiou said.

4. Actually, they pulled off a stunningly brazen murder if you consider all this, so they had to be either really smart, or really stupid, or doing an inside job:

Andy’s assassination came only hours after the inauguration of the so called intensive talks between President Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader M. Ali Talat.

His assassination took place almost on the doorstep of the American Embassy in Nicosia (He lived in a very near proximity). It was unprecedented for such a killing to take place “in front of the eyes” of the American Embassy and KYP offices (Cyprus Intelligence Service) which are also housed in the same immediate area.

The freedom with which the killers executed their crime, at a time people are still out and about, (early evening) in such a populated area in Nicosia with so many other Embassies and surveillance cameras, is indeed unprecedented.

…The American Embassy as we all know is equipped with the most modern and sophisticated technology in intelligence and surveillance. For the killers to ignore this factor and relentlessly carry on with the execution of their mission creates a great number of crucial questions as to the identity of these assassins.

It has been said that the Police inquiries are investigating also economic criteria for the murder. However, economic criteria can easily connect or lead to political behind the scenes criteria and reasons. As we all know it is the business world that keeps or controls political matters….

5. From the same source, we learn about the DIAS publishing group’s role in shaping public opinion on important international matters:

DIAS publishing is an organisation that has held high the flag of resistance against the notorious Annan Plan and contributed proudly to its rejection by the people on 24 April 2004. The consortium with its newspaper, Radio and TV gave all its strength in enlightening the people on the parameters and definition of the Annan monstrosity and was proud for the results.

This result was not liked by the supporters of the Annan Plan, primarily the Turks and the British and Sir David Hannay did not miss the opportunity to blame certain journalists as those responsible for the big NO against the Annan Plan. He clearly meant Dias group (besides Antenna TV which also played a significant role in fighting against the Annan Plan) and all of us who campaigned from it against the Annan Plan. He actually vowed to revenge the Greek Cypriots when he stated “you have rejected it but we will keep on bringing it back until you accept”.

Aha there are the British again. Here you can read about the UN Annan Plan.

Its philosophy derives out of the existing Cyprus constitution that was drafted in 1960 by the British in order to cause deadlocks and subsequently havoc between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities in Cyprus with the overriding objective of retaining the two British military bases in Cyprus in Dekelia and in Akrotiri indefinitely.

…Nevertheless, all of the abovementioned politicians serve one very important (National Security) function that should never be undermined: They serve as the Greek Cypriot alibi to the European and International Public Opinions that the Greek/Greek Cypriot politicians have done ALL they could to convince (mislead) the people of Cyprus to vote FOR the UN Annan plan in the referenda of the 24 April 2004 in view of the pressures exercised by Washington (USA) and London (UK) in order to favor Ankara (Turkey).

Running both sides of the conflict, are we then? Support Turkey, but also support Greece. Keep the people embroiled in conflict. Perhaps I misunderstand.

September 7, 2009: The Greek people of Cyprus rejected their anathema in 2004 and they will do the same again. We are not going to surrender our country, our rights, our properties, our Churches, our memories neither for Hannay and his lot nor any of our lot to that matter that supports them so that they can de-criminise Turkey and facilitate her EU entry. We say NO. WE DO NOT FORGET THE THIEVES, INVADERS, RAPISTS, MURDERERS OF OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS AND SNATCHERS OF OUR LAND.

Is it true there are only eight stories in the world? It seems like that sometimes.

Anyway, there are only two more items of interest right now:

1. A powerful explosion, blamed on leftists, went off at the Ministry of Press and Information in Athens Saturday. No one was hurt.

2. Erdogan to meet with Greek president in Abu Dhabi next week, after attending an energy summit.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayip Erdogan will meet with Greek President Karolos Papoulias next week in United Arab Emirates where he will attend an energy summit. Erdogan will make a speech at the 3rd World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi on Monday January 18. Following the summit meeting, Erdogan will have a meeting with Greek President Papoulias, Turkish officials said.

I would love to wrap this all up with some pithy case closed remark, but I can’t. All I can say is that we can almost always dismiss the obvious conclusions and look instead to the long narrative, the one dealing with Israel’s world hegemony. Sometimes it seems like the world is turning on Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Be careful man.

UPDATE: Israel to send Cabinet minister to Persian Gulf emirate of Abu Dhabi for first time (cough).

UPDATE: For our further edification, aangirfan explains the Mossad connection, providing many interesting links, such as this meeting which took place two days after the assassination:

5. On 13 and 14 January 2010, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman visited Greek Cyprus. (Israeli FM begins official visit )

Greek Cyprus’s Foreign Minister Marcos Kyprianou said that the meeting allowed discussion on matters that would help Cyprus and Israel to improve on ‘excellent’ relations.

In August 2009, Turkey and Russia signed an agreement to construct a gas pipeline that is intended to run from Ceyhan in Turkey to Ashkelon in Israel, via a transit station in Karpasia in Turkish Cyprus. (Israeli FM begins official visit )

damage control: you’re doing it wrong

Jan 14

Posted by A. Peasant in Diplomats, Hasbara, Israel, Mr. Bibi N. & Friends, Stupidity, Turkey | No Comments

Oh dear…

“This is not diplomacy, but rather a mistake by one person. It is good that this man, the deputy foreign minister, fixed his mistake,” the president said at an event in Tel Aviv. “This must not be attributed to the entire country and to all diplomats. We must learn not to make such mistakes,” Peres reportedly said.

Earlier Thursday, Kadima Council chairman and former MK Haim Ramon said

that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s government should send a letter of apology

to all the Israeli citizens

for humiliating Israel in an unnecessary confrontation with Turkey.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1263147892230

Also:

Turkey’s main Jewish group on Thursday said the row between their country and Israel must be solved courteously, and warned that continued tensions could inflame anti-Semitism.

…“We continue to be concerned about a new environment in Turkey which permits and even encourages extreme expressions regarding Jews and Israel,” Abraham H. Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League said in a statement released Wednesday.

“While we have celebrated Turkey’s history of coexistence with Jews and the protection Turkish society provides for its Jewish community, we cannot ignore this new atmosphere and its potential consequences.”

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1142658.html

No no, keep talking. You’re doing just great.

See: the full monty:

Ayalon’s associates responded that the messages of praise he had received from inside and outside his party outnumbered the condemnations by a ratio of eight to one. They stressed that everything he did was coordinated with Lieberman.

UPDATE: No no…see, Ayalon meant to threaten the Turkish ambassador, not humiliate him. Sheesh you people are so hyper-sensitive. He tewtally deserved it.

In the interview, Ayalon also said that the incident in which he reportedly ‘humiliated’ the Turkish ambassador by making him sit in a lower chair was intended to send the Turks a threatening message, not humiliate the ambassador. [SEE? Threatening, humiliating...not the same. -ed.]

“The story with the cameras wasn’t planned, I didn’t think it was being recorded, and if it was - I didn’t think it would be aired with sound. [ie: I though I would get away with it... - ed.] My intention wasn’t to humiliate, but to send a visual message. The ambassador didn’t feel humiliated either - only once reporters started calling him. The picture was aimed at the Turks, to send them a message. I think what Erdogan did to Peres in Davos is humiliation, not this,” said Ayalon….During the meeting, Turkey’s ambassador was seated in a low sofa, and facing him, in higher chairs, were Ayalon and two other officials - an arrangement carried out at Lieberman’s orders. [But that doesn't mean it was, you know, "planned." - ed.]

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1142969.html

Donde los clown pants?