The Şemdinli-Bashiqa attack: They are imposing a new Mosul game on us

BY: İbrahim Karagül*

We were exposed to a heavy terrorist attack yesterday. We lost 18 lives to martyrdom, 10 of them soldiers. There is no doubt that this PKK attack was more than a terrorist attack alone. Let us stress that especially after the July 15 coup and civil war attack, all attacks that appear as terrorist attacks are multinational attacks. On the same day, Daesh attacked the Bashiqa military base. Similar to the attack in Şemdinli, the multinational nature of the Daesh attack is also obvious.

They are the US and EU’s hired killers

Both organizations are the hired killers of the international interventions that are aimed at our country, that have stained our region in blood. They are controlled by the U.S. and Europe and conduct their attacks in accordance with instructions from their intelligence agencies. Hence, we are in a position to tackle the terrorism issue with new terms, a new political language. We are in a position to express it not in terror terminology, but war terminology.

We are now required to question what is happening in Syria and Iraq, the Aleppo war, operation preparations aimed at Mosul within the context of multinational interventions, to see it as part of the same scenario as the July 15 attack, view the power struggle in the region within this context and spend time contemplating the new geography map of the U.S – Europe will aimed to keep Turkey far from Iraq and Syria. There is no longer any chance of understanding this complex struggle through old statements, memorized information, presuppositions and alliance relationships.

Aleppo and Mosul: War of cities?

Okay.

Is the Syria war and ambiguity in Iraq going to turn into a cities war? Are Aleppo and Mosul going to be the two main fronts of the greatest showdown in our region? Will the power struggle over these two cities give the final shape of the invasion maps drawn in Western capitals in relation to almost every country in the region including Turkey? Is the war of cities going to replace the countries war? Is the new form of the geography going to be shaped by invasion maps or the resistance of our region?

The moment the north of Aleppo starts to be controlled by a terrorist organization or a foreign power, an enemy front is going to be built throughout the Syria border and this front is will attack Turkey for decades. If an enemy force establishes control in the north of Mosul, that front will also strike Turkey for decades. Even from today our country is already under heavy attacks from the same regions. Because the threat is coming from the south, from these regions. The threats today are the indicators that there will be bigger attacks or an open war from this region.

They are imposing a new Mosul game on us

Turkey has no choice but to exist in the north of both these countries. Thinking the contrary is scary. Because the contrary means, a Turkey that is attacked on the inside today by the Gülenist Terror Organization (FETÖ) or another terrorist organization, will then be directly exposed to open, multinational attacks.

The understanding of defending one’s own country at its own borders, on its own territory – when everything that has happened in our region in the last two decades is taken into consideration – has become a very dangerous strategic blindness. Every circle, country or the lobbies within Turkey that recommend or impose this are either victims of this blindness or are part of another plan.

The internal problems the newly founded Turkey experienced at the time Mosul was lost in 1926 and the revolts served in the region by the British are very similar to the current incidents. Even comparing 90 years ago with today will be enough to understand what is happening today.

The hostile position the U.S. has taken against Turkey in the north of Syria and Iraq perfectly overlaps with the games of the British 90 years ago. Back then they used to do their business through revolts, today they do it through terrorist organizations. Looking at it from here, one is obliged to question what might happen in the upcoming period in Şemdinli or some other regions.

Their only partners are terrorist organizations

They are doing it with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Democratic Union Party (PYD) and Daesh. All these organizations are being used as the hitmen of the geopolitical showdown aimed at the sharing of the region. It is so sad that the alliance circles in which Turkey is included or its allies have determined Turkey as a target to be hit and have released those organizations onto Turkey.

The U.S. pushing aside an ally like Turkey in Iraq and Syria and establishing open partnership with terrorist organizations is new and tells us a great deal. Because in the past this used to be done covertly, now they are openly declaring their partnership with terrorist organizations and have them wear their own uniforms.

Corridor up to the Mediterranean-Iran border both inside and out

The attack in Şemdinli, the clashes in the Şemdinli, Aktütün and Çukurca regions for the last few weeks, the Bashiqa base becoming discussed even more than İncirlik, the desire to siege the Euphrates Shield from the south again by the hand of the U.S., the desire to build a siege wall in the south of Turkey from the Mediterranean coast to the Iranian border through terrorist organizations is a multinational operation and a disposal concerning the new map drafts of the region and this plan is targeting Turkey.

If they could, they are going to attempt to open a corridor inside Turkey as well. It should be taken into account that such a plan is being made in areas like Şemdinli. The PKK’s being directed to the Black Sea should also be taken into account in this context. This is why the attacks in Şemdinli are attacks connected to Mosul-Aleppo.

Focusing on not the present alone but the next few years, being able to foresee what kind of problems today’s signals will lead to and where, escaping everyday discussions and making serious preparations for the future is an urgent obligation.

Turkey’s political mind is reading the deep change

Not only the government in Turkey, security circles, intelligence officials, but everybody following the region somewhat need to pay attention to these new circumstances. Turkey’s intellectual mind must immediately get out of the shallowness in which it has fallen, stand out and tell Turkey and the world something on these topics. If we are living in a time that history is transforming – and that we are – then our intelligentsia, opinion leaders need to close this gap, make strong statements, push themselves in this direction.

I believe Turkey’s political mind is in the right place. I see that it sees the deep change in the region and world, the power showdowns and that it is trying to take position accordingly and that it is involved in proportion with its means.

Surprising maneuvers should be made

The Euphrates Shield is critical in this aspect – it will leave historic traces and must continue on its path. The military base in Bashiqa is already standing out as a critical strategic position in the international scale. Turkey is in a position to continue making asymmetrical interventions on the region.

Surprising maneuvers are needed. Traditional position taking will not give us strong positions in this multi-front fight. Hence, unexpected interventions must be made. A while later the entire world may see similar surprising interventions not only in the Middle East but also in the Baltics, the Pacific and even in the Balkans. Hence, foresights are gaining prominence rather than memorized knowledge.

Turkey is rising while they regress

Why do you think there is intervention on the will that is leading Turkey; the will that is directing it to a quest for global scale power at a rate never seen before? Why do you think the Gezi terror, Dec. 17 and Dec. 25 and the bloody attack on July 15 happened? Do you think these interventions are over? Why do you think they are struggling so hard to eliminate President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, attacking in waves?

Their plan is to get Turkey in their hands. Just like in the past. The present political mind and leadership is not allowing this to happen. They long let Turkey slip out of their hands and it has drawn its own path. It has become a lot stronger than many of the old tutelage circles. They want to retaliate. The cards in their hands are becoming weaker with time, their intervention tools and partners on the inside are losing strength.

Every passing time means Turkey’s becoming stronger and them becoming weaker. Because while Turkey is on a rise, they are in their period of stagnation and ass a matter of fact, period of regress. This is why the struggle is everywhere and is multidimensional. In the southeast, Syria, Mosul, Ankara, Istanbul…

Carrying the front even further

We believe in this country. We believe in its power, means and deep historical experience. We believe in its current political mind, political leadership. We believe in the way it reads the region and the world. We find right Turkey’s taking positions in accordance with complex power relations in the East-West struggle in our geography rather than the one-sided dependency relationship. The only thing we need to do is make our home stronger, to further strengthen our borders and defense shields beyond the border.

We need to be on constant alert, not fear, to stay alive. We need to make sound foresights regarding what will happen post-July 15. The only thing we need to do is further expand our current positions. The more they carry the war into Turkey, the more we need to carry the front further beyond the border. This is what they are doing today; this is what they want to prevent.

 

*Ibrahim Karagül is a Turkish writer and journalist. He is the editor-in-chief of Turkish Yeni Şafak newspaper.

(Published in Yeni Şafak Turkish newspaper on Monday, Oct. 10, 2016)