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Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been accused of squandering state resources when he was prime minister by building the 1,150-room palace.

Turkey's president has defended the controversial construction of a grandiose new presidential palace, saying his old office was infested with cockroaches.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been accused of squandering state resources when he was prime minister by building the 1,150-room palace, which critics say was illegally built on protected land. In the run-up to Sunday's parliamentary elections, opposition parties have criticized the expenditure.

Erdogan moved into the vast structure after he was elected president in August. The former presidential palace was given to the prime minister.

In a television interview late Friday, Erdogan said cockroaches had roamed the lavatories in the now-vacated prime ministry.

He said: "Does such an office suit the prime minister of the Republic of Turkey? There can be no question of waste where representation is concerned."

http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/1.659889

Yes. Yes it does.

Hmm.. I was about to put up a thread on the Turkish parliamentary elections. Then I noticed this thread.  ;D

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's party has lost its majority in the parliament. His Islamist party (AKP) has managed to secure only 42% of the votes. The AKP will be having 263 out of 550 seats in the new parliament. And for the first time, a Kurdish party (HDP) has managed to cross the 10% threshold. The chances are that the fight against ISIS will be strengthened as a result.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33042284

Hope the Kurds can influence the border controls in Turkey, they've stopped many of the kurds travelling across to fight ISIS but done nothing to stop the ISIS fighters, if there's at least a more moderate group in charge then there might be a chance to turn the whole war against ISIS around without the U.S.

It seems a little late by now. The U.S. is still massively supplying ISIS with armaments through the totally useless Iraqi U.S.-trained military.

Don't underestimate the Peshmerga ;) They're holding they're own with the U.S airstrikes, if they're not interfered with the kurds could easily take out ISIS even with the weaponry, the problem lots of countries including the U.S have shat on the Kurds diplomatically which has made getting weaponry and supplies difficult.

Well, the U.S. has supplied ISIS with literally thousands of Humvees which are of course excellent for suicide bomb attacks. And they´re still desperately shipping even more Humvees and other materiel over for the Iraqi army to hand over to ISIS. There is literally no defense against multiple such car bombs. The Kurds have like a 500-mile front to defend and have only outdated weapons and dwindling stocks of ammunition. Suicide blitz by ISIS, their usual tactics, they break through and then the whole line folds.

Peshmerga is the only anti-ISIS force which is not lacking motivation right now. But their light machine guns and grenades are no match for the heavy machinery and armored personnel carriers (APC) used by the ISIS. Erdoğan has made it sure that no meaningful weapon supplies are given to the Kurds. At the present situation, the Peshmerga will be able to hold their line at the most. They won't be able to advance.

That's why if the U.S stop fucking around then ISIS will lose, when even the CIA say that arming these various rebel groups never works you know somethings up, this is actually pretty much a working example of how non-interventionism is actually a good thing.

Lira Falls to Record Amid Stock Rout as AK Party Loses Majority

by Constantine Courcoulas

June 7, 2015 — 9:18 PM GMT Updated on June 8, 2015 — 3:11 PM GMT

Turkey’s lira weakened to an all-time low and stocks plunged after voters denied the ruling AK Party a majority government for the first time since 2002.
The currency tumbled as much as 5.2 percent and the benchmark stock index dropped the most in two years. The ruling Justice and Development Party, or AK Party, won 40.9 percent of the vote, giving it 258 seats in parliament, according to preliminary results from the state-run news agency. It needed 276 to form a single-party government.
The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democracy Party, or HDP, passed the 10 percent threshold of the national vote needed to win seats in parliament. The AK Party’s loss of its majority raises the prospect of a coalition and conflict with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. If a new government can’t be agreed upon within 45 days, the country may have to hold elections again. The results also mean the party won’t be able to deliver its key campaign promise of formally shifting the nation’s center of executive power from parliament to the president.
It’s an “eye-catching” slide in Turkish assets, Gulsen Ayaz, the director of institutional sales at Deniz Yatirim in Istanbul, said by e-mail. “The election results ruled out one of the most feared scenarios -- the executive presidency -- but it didn’t rule out early elections. Nobody can rule out central bank intervention and possibly a rate hike if this trend continues.”
The lira declined to a record 2.8096 per dollar before trading 3.5 percent weaker at 2.7668 at 5:41 p.m. in Istanbul. The Borsa Istanbul 100 Index slid 5.1 percent, after sinking 8.2 percent at the open of trading. The yield on the 10-year government bond jumped 40 basis points to 9.72 percent, the highest since October 2014 on a closing basis.
Repeat Election
Turkey’s five-year credit-default swaps, a measure of the country’s debt risk, climbed 13 basis points to 233, the biggest increase since December.
All three major opposition parties have rejected the idea of a coalition with the AK Party, leaving the formation of a new government in doubt and raising the prospect of a repeat election. It’s important that political parties act responsibly to preserve a climate of stability, confidence and democratic gains, Erdogan said in an e-mailed statement today.
“The current hung parliament will probably be viewed by the market as the worst outcome of the June 7 elections, and probably hit lira assets for some time to come,” Sertan Kargin, the chief economist at Eczacibasi Securities in Istanbul, said in an e-mailed note.
Central Bank
The AK Party can also form a minority government by forging ad hoc alliances to win specific votes, or persuading other parties to agree not to topple it even if they don’t want to join a coalition. While a minority administration is “the most likely scenario,” it would probably lead to another election within approximately 18 months, Credit Suisse Group AG said in a report Sunday.
The central bank lowered the rate it charges banks to borrow foreign currency because of “recent global and local developments,” according to a statement on its website today. It cut the rate for dollar funding to 3.5 percent from 4 percent and for euros to 1.5 percent from 2 percent.
While the move has no material impact on liquidity, the central bank is showing the market it stands ready to act “in the midst of turbulence,” Ozlem Derici, an economist at Deniz Investment in Istanbul, said in an e-mailed note.
The Turkish lira’s one-month implied volatility climbed to 18.3 percent, the highest since January 2014, when the central bank more than doubled its benchmark one-week repurchase rate to stem a decline in the lira.
Policy makers left the one-week repurchase rate unchanged at 7.5 percent for a third month in May after lowering it by 250 basis points since the emergency increase last year.
Stocks Tumble
Turkiye Garanti Bankasi AS, the nation’s largest listed lender, slid the most in almost six months, retreating 7.5 percent, and Akbank TAS, the second-largest, fell to a three-month low. The Borsa Istanbul’s 14-day relative strength index fell to 32.2, the lowest since March and approaching the 30-level that signals to some technical analysts a security is oversold.
As stocks tumbled, some shares had their biggest gains in weeks. Koza Altin Isletmeleri AS jumped 7.6 percent. The gold miner’s shares have been battered over the past two years in part because of its association with Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Erdogan accuses of being behind a “parallel state” in Turkey. Sister company Ipek Dogal Enerji Kaynaklari AS jumped 8.6 percent and Koza Anadolu Metal Madencilik Isletmeleri AS, owned by Ipek, climbed 11 percent.
Slowing growth
Turkey’s currency has weakened more than 15 percent against the dollar this year, the most among 24 emerging market currencies tracked by Bloomberg. The lira dropped to a record 2.9629 against an equally weighted basket of dollars and euros.
Turkey’s annual economic growth, which averaged 5 percent under the AK Party’s rule, fell to almost half that rate last year and is set to increase to 3.2 percent in 2015. Unemployment is near a six-year high and inflation has stayed above the central bank’s target since 2011.
“Many investors were still hoping for a single-party government,” Ozgur Altug, the chief economist at BGC Partners in Istanbul, said by e-mail on Sunday. “Coalition talks or early election speculation will determine the trend in financial markets” and until investors see more clarity, markets will remain weak, he said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-07/lira-falls-to-record-as-turkey-voters-end-ak-s-single-party-era

I am afraid that the situation is about to get worse for the Kurds. If Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's AKP forms an alliance with the rabidly anti-Kurdish MHP (which seems to be the most viable coalition right now), then we can expect more anti-Kurdish military action from the Turks. The MHP is nominally secular, unlike the Islamist AKP. But they consider the Kurds as their mortal enemies, and they might be ready to support the ISIS in order to defeat the Kurds.

2012 Defense Intelligence Agency document: West will facilitate rise of Islamic State “in order to isolate the Syrian regime”

http://levantreport.com/2015/05/19/2012-defense-intelligence-agency-document-west-will-facilitate-rise-of-islamic-state-in-order-to-isolate-the-syrian-regime/

I guess a side benefit for the Turks was ISIS dealing with the Kurds.

Turkish media are coming under what local journalists have described as one of the worst crackdowns in the republic’s history in the run-up to crucial parliamentary elections that may put an end to over a decade of single-party rule by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Justice and Development party (AKP).
Journalists critical of Erdoğan or government policies have been fired from newspapers seen as close to the president and even assaulted, while offices of pro-opposition media outlets have been raided in what observers say is a broad campaign to intimidate voices demanding change and accountability in Ankara.

“It’s the biggest crackdown on press in Turkish history,” said Tarık Toros, the editor-in-chief of the television station Bugün, which on Wednesday was taken off the air by security officers during a raid, with Toros taking refuge in the station’s control room before being forced out by police.

Teenagers face 4 years in prison for ripping up posters of Turkish president

Published time: 30 Oct, 2015 09:21

https://cdn.rt.com/files/2015.10/thumbnail/5633143bc46188b01f8b45e2.jpg

Two Turkish boys, aged 12 and 13, could spend four years behind bars for "insulting" President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Prosecutors accuse them of ripping up posters of the Turkish leader, while the boys’ lawyer says the charges themselves violate the law.
“There was no premeditation to insult the president. Also, they were unaware the face on the banners was the president himself,” Ismail Korkmaz, the teenagers’ lawyer, told RT.

The kids themselves say they just wanted to sell the paper.

“Tearing a banner is just a minor offence and should be subject to the law of misdemeanor, but even that law prohibits the punishment of children under 15 years old,” the lawyer said.

READ MORE: Turkey's 'cleansing of traitors' will continue if Erdogan gets majority

Korkmaz told RT the defense has a psychiatric report stating “these children have no ability of discernment, perception of legal meaning, consequences of the offence, or control of their behavior.”

Despite this, the prosecution went ahead with the indictment, which was accepted by the court, said the lawyer.

Turkey has witnessed a number of anti-government protests in recent days. Ankara's decision to pull the plug on two television stations linked to President Erdogan's political rivals triggered rallies in Istanbul.

The Turkish government’s crackdown on opposition media is gaining momentum on the eve of the general election slated for November 1.

On Thursday, two newspapers linked to the stations failed to appear on newsstands.

The internet activities of the opposition are suppressed with an iron fist and without a second thought. Re-tweeting of opposition statements or disputing the president in social networks could result in detention. In January, ex-Miss Turkey Merve Buyuksarac was arrested for posting a satirical poem that criticized Erdogan.

READ MORE: Human rights abuse rampant in Turkey – British lawyers

“Lately, the head of state has a more autocratic and totalitarian way of governing. He can’t handle any critics,” Ismail Korkmaz told RT.

Referring to the teenagers’ case, the lawyer said that after Erdogan was elected president, many people have been charged with insulting the national leader, and have been prosecuted and punished.

“Nowadays, the judiciary has a broad interpretation of this article. Even casual criticism within the framework of freedom of expression is being considered an insult, and become part of these trials,” Korkmaz said.

https://www.rt.com/news/320124-teenagers-posters-erdogan-jail/

"saying his old office was infested with cockroaches."
Well to be honest, they are the only company that understood you anyway Erdogen. I bet deep down, you are going to miss their company

Putin calls Turkey 'accomplices of terrorists' after Russian jet shot down - live updates

Russian plane 'acting against militants originating from Russia'

More from the Russian defence ministry, which follows Putin’s comments (see 13.02) that the Russian jet was taking action against militants originally from Russia.

“The Russian operations were against illegal terrorist formations mainly made up of fighters from Russia’s North Caucasus region… Attempts by Russian defence ministry specialists to make emergency contact with their Turkish counterparts were unsuccessful… The ministry is currently working out a range of measures to react to this kind of incident… Military operations against terrorists in Syria will continue.”

http://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2015/nov/24/russian-jet-downed-by-turkish-planes-near-syrian-border-live-updates

^^^^ During the past 4-5 days, the Russian jets destroyed more than 1,000 ISIS crude oil trucks, carrying oil from Raqqah to Turkey. Turkey lost millions of $$$ in profits, and this was one of the reasons why Erdogan decided to shoot down the Russian aircraft. Also, Turkish Islamist groups in Syria were getting their asses kicked by the Russians and the regime forces.

Recap: Newly-Declassified U.S. Government Documents: The West Supported the Creation of ISIS

The documents were written by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency on August 12, 2012

https://www.judicialwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Pg.-291-Pgs.-287-293-JW-v-DOD-and-State-14-812-DOD-Release-2015-04-10-final-version11.pdf

AQI= al Queda in Iraq, ISIS is basically a revamping of that

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ISIS1.jpg

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ISIS-2.jpg

24.08.2015 Author: F. William Engdahl

Erdogan’s Dirty Dangerous ISIS Games

Turkey is a beautiful land, rich in resources, with many highly intelligent and warm people. It also happens to have a President who seems intent on destroying his once-proud nation. More and more details are coming to light revealing that the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, variously known as ISIS, IS or Daesh, is being fed and kept alive by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Turkish President and by his Turkish intelligence service, including MIT, the Turkish CIA. Turkey, as a result of Erdoğan’s pursuit of what some call a Neo-Ottoman Empire fantasies that stretch all the way to China, Syria and Iraq, threatens not only to destroy Turkey but much of the Middle East if he continues on his present path.

In October 2014 US Vice President Joe Biden told a Harvard gathering that Erdoğan’s regime was backing ISIS with “hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of tons of weapons…” Biden later apologized clearly for tactical reasons to get Erdoğan’s permission to use Turkey’s Incirlik Air Base for airstrikes against ISIS in Syria, but the dimensions of Erdoğan’s backing for ISIS since revealed is far, far more than Biden hinted.

ISIS militants were trained by US, Israeli and now it emerges, by Turkish special forces at secret bases in Konya Province inside the Turkish border to Syria, over the past three years. Erdoğan’s involvement in ISIS goes much deeper. At a time when Washington, Saudi Arabia and even Qatar appear to have cut off their support for ISIS, they remaining amazingly durable. The reason appears to be the scale of the backing from Erdoğan and his fellow neo-Ottoman Sunni Islam Prime Minister, Ahmet Davutoğlu.

Nice Family Business

The prime source of money feeding ISIS these days is sale of Iraqi oil from the Mosul region oilfields where they maintain a stronghold. The son of Erdoğan it seems is the man who makes the export sales of ISIS-controlled oil possible.

Bilal Erdoğan owns several maritime companies. He has allegedly signed contracts with European operating companies to carry Iraqi stolen oil to different Asian countries. The Turkish government buys Iraqi plundered oil which is being produced from the Iraqi seized oil wells. Bilal Erdoğan’s maritime companies own special wharfs in Beirut and Ceyhan ports that are transporting ISIS’ smuggled crude oil in Japan-bound oil tankers.

Gürsel Tekin vice-president of the Turkish Republican Peoples’ Party, CHP, declared in a recent Turkish media interview, “President Erdoğan claims that according to international transportation conventions there is no legal infraction concerning Bilal’s illicit activities and his son is doing an ordinary business with the registered Japanese companies, but in fact Bilal Erdoğan is up to his neck in complicity with terrorism, but as long as his father holds office he will be immune from any judicial prosecution.” Tekin adds that Bilal’s maritime company doing the oil trades for ISIS, BMZ Ltd, is “a family business and president Erdoğan’s close relatives hold shares in BMZ and they misused public funds and took illicit loans from Turkish banks.”

In addition to son Bilal’s illegal and lucrative oil trading for ISIS, Sümeyye Erdoğan, the daughter of the Turkish President apparently runs a secret hospital camp inside Turkey just over the Syrian border where Turkish army trucks daily being in scores of wounded ISIS Jihadists to be patched up and sent back to wage the bloody Jihad in Syria, according to the testimony of a nurse who was recruited to work there until it was discovered she was a member of the Alawite branch of Islam, the same as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad who Erdoğan seems hell-bent on toppling.

Turkish citizen Ramazan Başol, captured this month by Kurdish People’s Defence Units,YPG, as he attempted to join ISIS from Konya province, told his captors that said he was sent to ISIS by the ‘İsmail Ağa Sect,’ a strict Turkish Islam sect reported to be tied to Recep Erdoğan. Başol said the sect recruits members and provides logistic support to the radical Islamist organization. He added that the Sect gives jihad training in neighborhoods of Konya and sends those trained here to join ISIS gangs in Syria.

According to French geopolitical analyst, Thierry Meyssan, Recep Erdoğan “organised the pillage of Syria, dismantled all the factories in Aleppo, the economic capital, and stole the machine-tools. Similarly, he organised the theft of archeological treasures and set up an international market in Antioch…with the help of General Benoît Puga, Chief of Staff for the Elysée, he organised a false-flag operation intended to provoke the launching of a war by the Atlantic Alliance – the chemical bombing of la Ghoutta in Damascus, in August 2013. “

Meyssan claims that the Syria strategy of Erdoğan was initially secretly developed in coordination with former French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé and Erdoğan’s then Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, in 2011, after Juppe won a hesitant Erdoğan to the idea of supporting the attack on traditional Turkish ally Syria in return for a promise of French support for Turkish membership in the EU. France later backed out, leaving Erdoğan to continue the Syrian bloodbath largely on his own using ISIS.

Gen. John R. Allen, an opponent of Obama’s Iran peace strategy, now US diplomatic envoy coordinating the coalition against the Islamic State, exceeded his authorized role after meeting with Erdoğan and “promised to create a « no-fly zone » ninety miles wide, over Syrian territory, along the whole border with Turkey, supposedly intended to help Syrian refugees fleeing from their government, but in reality to apply the « Juppé-Wright plan ». The Turkish Prime Minister, Ahmet Davutoğlu, revealed US support for the project on the TV channel A Haber by launching a bombing raid against the PKK.” Meyssan adds.

There are never winners in war and Erdoğan’s war against Syria’s Assad demonstrates that in bold. Turkey and the world deserve better. Ahmet Davutoğlu’s famous “Zero Problems With Neighbors” foreign policy has been turned into massive problems with all neighbors due to the foolish ambitions of Erdoğan and his gang.

F. William Engdahl is strategic risk consultant and lecturer, he holds a degree in politics from Princeton University and is a best-selling author on oil and geopolitics, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.

First appeared: http://journal-neo.org/2015/08/24/erdogan-s-dirty-dangerous-isis-games/

Erdogan Says Will Resign If Oil Purchases From ISIS Proven After Putin Says Has "More Proof"

“I’ve shown photos taken from space and from aircraft which clearly demonstrate the scale of the illegal trade in oil and petroleum products,” Vladimir Putin told reporters earlier this month on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Antalya. Putin was of course referencing Islamic State’s illicit and highly lucrative oil trade, the ins and outs of which we’ve documented extensively over the past two weeks:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-11-19/most-important-question-about-isis-nobody-asking
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-11-25/meet-man-who-funds-isis-bilal-erdogan-son-turkeys-president
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-11-27/how-turkey-exports-isis-oil-world-scientific-evidence
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-11-28/isis-oil-trade-full-frontal-raqqas-rockefellers-bilal-erdogan-krg-crude-and-israel-c

Turkey’s move to shoot down a Russian Su-24 warplane near the Syrian border afforded the Russian President all the motivation and PR cover he needed to expose Ankara’s alleged role in the trafficking of illegal crude from Iraq and Syria and in the aftermath of last Tuesday’s “incident,” Putin lambasted Erdogan. “Oil from Islamic State is being shipped to Turkey,” Putin said while in Jordan for a meeting with King Abdullah. In case that wasn’t clear enough, Putin added this: “Islamic State gets cash by selling oil to Turkey.”

To be sure, it’s impossible to track the path ISIS oil takes from extraction to market with any degree of precision. That said, it seems that Islamic State takes advantage of the same network of smugglers, traders, and shipping companies that the KRG uses to transport Kurdish crude from Kurdistan to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. From there, the oil makes its way to Israel and other markets (depending on which story you believe) and if anyone needs to be thrown off the trail along the way, there’s a ship-to-ship transfer trick that can be executed off the coast of Malta. The maneuver allegedly makes the cargoes more difficult to track.

Some believe Erdogan’s son Bilal - who owns a marine transport company called BMZ Group - is heavily involved in the trafficking of Kurdish and ISIS crude. Most of the ships BMZ owns are Malta-flagged.

In light of the above, some have speculated that Turkey shot down the Su-24 in retaliation for Russia’s bombing campaign that recently has destroyed over 1,000 ISIS oil trucks. Here’s what Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoub said on Friday:

“All of the oil was delivered to a company that belongs to the son of Recep [Tayyip] Erdogan. This is why Turkey became anxious when Russia began delivering airstrikes against the IS infrastructure and destroyed more than 500 trucks with oil already. This really got on Erdogan and his company’s nerves. They’re importing not only oil, but wheat and historic artefacts as well."
Al-Zoub isn’t alone in his suspicions. In an interview with RT, Iraqi MP and former national security adviser, Mowaffak al Rubaie - who personally led Saddam to the gallows - said ISIS is selling around $100 million of stolen crude each month in Turkey. Here are some excerpts:

“In the last eight months ISIS has managed to sell ... $800 million dollars worth of oil on the black market of Turkey. This is Iraqi oil and Syrian oil, carried by trucks from Iraq, from Syria through the borders to Turkey and sold ...[at] less than 50 percent of the international oil price."
 
"Now this either get consumed inside, the crude is refined on Turkish territory by the Turkish refineries, and sold in the Turkish market. Or it goes to Jihan and then in the pipelines from Jihan to the Mediterranean and sold to the international market.”
 
“Money and dollars generated by selling Iraqi and Syrian oil on the Turkish black market  is like the oxygen supply to ISIS and it’s operation,” he added. “Once you cut the oxygen then ISIS will suffocate.”
 
"There isn't a shadow of a doubt that the Turkish government knows about the oil smuggling operations. The merchants, the businessmen [are buying oil] in the black market in Turkey under the noses – under the auspices if you like – of the Turkish intelligence agency and the Turkish security apparatus."
 
“There are security officers who are sympathizing with ISIS in Turkey. They are allowing them to go from Istanbul to the borders and infiltrate ... Syria and Iraq.”
 
“There is no terrorist organization which can stand alone, without a neighboring country helping it – in this case Turkey.”
That's pretty unequivocal. But it gets better.

On Monday, Putin was back at it, saying that Russia has obtained new information that further implicates Turkey in the Islamic State oil trade. “At the moment we have received additional information confirming that that oil from the deposits controlled by Islamic State militants enters Turkish territory on industrial scale," Putin said on the sidelines of the climate change summit in Paris. "We have traced some located on the territory of the Turkish Republic and living in regions guarded by special security services and police that have used the visa-free regime to return to our territory, where we continue to fight them."

"We have every reason to believe that the decision to down our plane was guided by a desire to ensure security of this oil’s delivery routes to ports where they are shipped in tankers," he added, taking it up another notch still.

As for Erdogan, well, he "can't accept" the accusations which he calls "not moral":

ERDOGAN: TURKEY CAN'T ACCEPT RUSSIA CLAIMS THAT IT BUYS IS OIL
Hilariously, the man who just finished starting a civil war just so he could regain a few lost seats in Parliament and who would just as soon throw you in jail as look at you if he thinks you might be a threat to his government, now says he will resign if Putin (or anyone else) can present "proof": “We are not that dishonest as to buy oil from terrorists. If it is proven that we have, in fact, done so, I will leave office. If there is any evidence, let them present it, we’ll consider [it]."

Hold your breath on that.

And so, the Turkey connection has been exposed and in dramatic fashion. Unfortunately for Ankara, Erdogan can't arrest Vladimir Putin like he can award winning journalists and honest police officers who, like Moscow, want to see the flow of money and weapons to Sunni militants in Syria cut off.

The real question is how NATO will react now that Turkey is quickly becoming a liability. Furthermore, you can be sure that the US, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar (who are all heavily invested in the Sunni extremist cause in Syria), are getting nervous. No one wants to see this blown wide open as that would mean the Western public getting wise to the fact that it is indeed anti-ISIS coalition governments that are funding and arming not only ISIS, but also al-Nusra and every other rebel group fighting to wrest control of the country from Assad. Worse, if it gets out that the reason the US has refrained from bombing ISIS oil trucks until now is due to the fact that Ankara and Washington had an understanding when it comes to the flow of illicit crude to Cehyan, the American public may just insist on indicting "some folks."

Remember, when it comes to criminal conspiracies, the guy who gets caught first usually ends up getting cut loose. It will be interesting to see if Erdogan starts to get the cold shoulder from Ankara's "allies" going forward.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-11-30/putin-says-has-more-proof-isis-oil-routed-through-turkey-after-erdogan-slams-claim

If cockroaches infest someone’s house or office, they might put down some poison or maybe call in the pest-controllers.

But President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey had a more radical solution. The presence of cockroaches in his old offices, he revealed in an interview, were the reason why he needed a vast new presidential palace outside Ankara.

Erdogan’s new $615 million presidential palace in the outskirts of Ankara has been ridiculed by the opposition as the tasteless and needless extravagance of an increasingly authoritarian leader.

But in an interview with A-Haber television broadcast late Friday, Erdogan said his reasons for needing the 1,150-room palace were much more mundane.

He said his old offices when he was prime minister from 2003-2014 were infested with cockroaches.

Turkish Nutcase News

-----------------------------------------

Turkish court 'orders Gollum study' in Erdogan case

5 hours ago

http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/16858/production/_86984229_gettyimages-157046927.jpg

A Turkish court has asked experts to assess the character Gollum from The Lord of the Rings in the case of a man on trial for insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish media report.
Bilgin Ciftci is accused of insulting the president for sharing images comparing Mr Erdogan and Gollum.
The experts will reportedly decide whether or not this was an insult.
It is not known precisely what criteria the experts will use to arrive at their decision.
The character of Gollum appears in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy by JRR Tolkien and the film versions directed by Peter Jackson.
He was first introduced in the Hobbit as "a small, slimy creature". In the Lord of the Rings his longing for the ring distorted his body and mind.
The experts will be a group composed of two academics, two behavioural scientists or psychologists and an expert on cinema and television productions, the Today's Zaman newspaper reports.
The judge took the decision after admitting he had not seen the whole of the Lord of the Rings series in which Gollum features.
The images shared by Mr Ciftci showed Mr Erdogan and Gollum in similar poses eating, expressing surprise and amazement.
The case has now been adjourned until February.

Insulting the president is a crime in Turkey, punishable by prison.
Turkey's record on freedom of speech and treatment of journalists has come in for criticism in recent years, with Mr Erdogan's administration seen as being increasingly intolerant of criticism.
Mr Erdogan's legal team has often backed cases brought by lawyers and private individuals against people who have allegedly insulted him.

Turkey's hard line on insults:
Between August 2014 and March 2015, 236 people investigated for "insulting the head of state"; 105 indicted; eight formally arrested
Between July and December 2014, Turkey filed 477 requests to Twitter for removal of content, over five times more than any other country and an increase of 156% on the first half of the year
Reporters Without Borders places Turkey 149th of 180 countries in the press freedom index
During Mr Erdogan's time in office (Prime Minister 2003-14, President from 2014), 63 journalists have been sentenced to a total of 32 years in prison, with collective fines of $128,000
Article 299 of the Turkish penal code states that anybody who insults the president of the republic can face a prison term of up to four years. This sentence can be increased by a sixth if committed publicly; and a third if committed by press or media

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34979249

Russia Presents Detailed Evidence Of ISIS-Turkey Oil Trade

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/02/2015 09:01 -0500

http://www.haaretz.com/polopoly_fs/1.642754.1424174012!/image/2680287923.jpg_gen/derivatives/headline_857x482/2680287923.jpg

On Monday, Turkey’s sultan President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said something funny. In the wake of Vladimir Putin’s contention that Russia has additional proof of Turkey’s participation in Islamic State’s illicit crude trade, Erdogan said he would resign if anyone could prove the accusations.

Now obviously, conclusive evidence that Ankara is knowingly facilitating the sale of ISIS crude will probably be hard to come by, at least in the short-term, but the silly thing about Erdogan’s pronouncement is that we’re talking about a man who was willing to plunge his country into civil war over a few lost seats in Parliament. The idea that he would ever “step down” is patently absurd.

But that’s not what’s important. What’s critical is that the world gets the truth about who’s financing and facilitating “Raqqa’s Rockefellers.” If a NATO member is supporting this, and if the US has refrained from bombing ISIS oil trucks for 14 months as part of an understanding with Erdogan, well then we have a problem. For those who need a review, see the following four pieces:

The Most Important Question About ISIS That Nobody Is Asking
Meet The Man Who Funds ISIS: Bilal Erdogan, The Son Of Turkey's President
How Turkey Exports ISIS Oil To The World: The Scientific Evidence
ISIS Oil Trade Full Frontal: "Raqqa's Rockefellers", Bilal Erdogan, KRG Crude, And The Israel Connection
Unfortunately for Ankara, The Kremlin is on a mission to blow this story wide open now that Turkey has apparently decided it’s ok to shoot down Russian fighter jets. On Wednesday, we get the latest from Russia, where the Defense Ministry has just finished a briefing on the Islamic State oil trade. Not to put too fine a point on it, but Turkey may be in trouble.

First, here’s the bullet point summary via Reuters:

RUSSIA'S DEFENCE MINISTRY SAYS RUSSIA'S AIR STRIKES IN SYRIA HELPED TO ALMOST HALVE ILLEGAL OIL TURNOVER
RUSSIA'S DEFENCE MINISTRY SAYS TURKISH PRESIDENT AND FAMILY INVOLVED IN BUSINESS WITH ISLAMIC STATE OIL
RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTRY SAYS WILL CONTINUE STRIKES IN SYRIA ON ISLAMIC STATE OIL INFRASTRUCTURE
RUSSIA'S DEFENCE MINISTRY SAYS KNOWS OF THREE ROUTES BY WHICH ISLAMIC STATE OIL IS DIRECTED TO TURKEY
RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTRY SAYS TO PRESENT NEXT WEEK INFORMATION SHOWING TURKEY HELPING ISLAMIC STATE
That’s the Cliff’s Notes version and the full statement from Deputy Minister of Defence Anatoly Antonov is below. Let us be the first to tell you, Antonov did not hold back.

In the opening address, the Deputy says the ISIS oil trade reaches the highest levels of Turkey's government. He also says Erdogan wouldn’t resign if his face was smeared with stolen Syrian oil. Antonov then blasts Ankara for arresting journalists and mocks Erdogan’s “lovely family oil business.” Antonov even calls on the journalists of the world to "get involved" and help Russia "expose and destroy the sources of terrorist financing."

"Today, we are presenting only some of the facts that confirm that a whole team of bandits and Turkish elites stealing oil from their neighbors is operating in the region," Antonov continues, setting up a lengthy presentation in which the MoD shows photos of oil trucks, videos of airstrikes and maps detailing the trafficking of stolen oil. The clip is presented here with an English voice-over. Enjoy.

Full statement from Anatoly Antonov (translated)

At a briefing for the media, "the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in the fight against international terrorism. The new data "

International terrorism - is the main threat of our time. This threat is not illusory but real, and many countries, primarily Russia, knows this firsthand. The notorious "Is Islamic state" - the absolute leader of the terrorist international. This is a rearing monster of international terrorism can be countered. And you can win. Over the past two months, Aerospace Russian forces is clearly demonstrated.

We are firmly convinced that victory over LIH need to deliver a powerful and devastating blow to the sources of its funding, as repeatedly mentioned by President Vladimir Putin. Terrorism has no money - is a beast without teeth. Oil revenues are a major source of terrorist activity in Syria. They earn about $ 2 billion. Dollars annually, spending this money on hiring fighters around the world, providing them with weapons, equipment and weapons. That's why so LIH protects thieves oil infrastructure in Syria and Iraq.

The main consumer of stolen from legitimate owners - Syria and Iraq - the oil is Turkey. According to the data entered in this criminal business involved the highest political leadership of the country - President Erdogan and his family.

We have repeatedly talked about the dangers of flirting with terrorists. It's like that stokes. The fire from one country can spill over to others. This situation we are seeing in the Middle East. Today, we present only part of the facts, confirming that the region has a team of bandits and Turkish elites stealing oil from the neighbors.

This oil in large numbers on an industrial scale, for the living pipelines from thousands of oil tankers entering the territory of Turkey. We are absolutely convinced today present you the hard facts about what the final destination of the stolen oil - Turkey. There is a large number of media representatives, and Our briefing will see more of your colleagues. In this regard, I would like to say the following. We know and appreciate the work of journalists. We know that in the journalistic community, many courageous, fearless people honestly do its job.Today, we have clearly shown you how the illegal trade in oil, the result of which - the financing of terrorism. Provided concrete evidence that, in our opinion, may be the subject of investigative journalism.

We are confident that the truth with your help will, will find its way. We know the price to Erdogan. He has already been caught in a lie again Turkish journalists who opened Turkey delivery of arms and ammunition to militants under the guise of humanitarian convoys. For this imprisoned journalists.

Do not resign Turkish leaders, particularly Mr. Erdogan, and did not recognize, even if their faces will be smeared by oil thieves. I might be too harsh, but at the hands of the Turkish military killed our comrades. The cynicism of the Turkish leadership is unlimited. Look what they're doing ?! Climbed to a foreign country, it shamelessly robbed. And if the owners interfere, then they have to be addressed.

I stress that Erdogan's resignation is not our goal. It is - it is the people of Turkey. Our goal and the goal to which we urge you, ladies and gentlemen, - joint action to block the sources of funding for terrorism. We will continue to provide evidence of robbery by Turkey of its neighbors. Maybe I'll be too straightforward, but the control of these thieves in business can be entrusted only to the most close people.

No one in the West, I wonder, does not cause the issue that the son of the President of Turkey is the leader of one of the largest energy companies, and son-in-appointed Minister of Energy? What a brilliant family business!

This, in general, may elsewhere? Well, once again, of course, such cases can not be charging anyone, only the closest people. Votes this fact in the Western media we do not see much, but it sure can not hide the truth. Yes, of course, dirty petrodollars will work. I am sure that there are now discussions about the fact that everything you see here, - falsification. Well. If it did not - let be allowed in those places that we showed journalists.

It is obvious that today the publicity was devoted only part of the information about the monstrous crimes of the Turkish elites who directly finance international terrorism. We believe that any sane journalist should fight this plague of the XXI century. The world experience has repeatedly argued that the objective journalism is able to be an effective and formidable tool in the fight against various financial corruption schemes. We invite colleagues to investigative journalism on the disclosure of financial schemes and supplies oil from the terrorists to the consumers. Especially since the oil produced in the controlled militants territories in transit through Turkish ports shipped to other regions. For its part, the Ministry of Defense of Russia will continue to disclose new evidence on the supply of terrorists oil to foreign countries and to talk about the conduct of aerospace forces of Russia operations in Syria.Let's unite our efforts. We will destroy the sources of financing of terrorism in Syria, as you get involved in the kind of work abroad. "

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-12-02/russia-presents-detailed-evidence-isis-turkey-oil-trade

Good post.

Some good info here also.


Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (http://eng.syria.mil.ru/en/index/syria/news/more.htm?id=12070708@cmsArticle)

Israeli Defense Chief Says ISIS 'Enjoyed Turkish Money for Oil'

ReutersJanuary 26, 2016

ATHENS - Israel’s defense minister said on Tuesday that Islamic State militants had been funded with ‘Turkish money’, an assertion that could hinder attempts to mend fences between the two countries after years of estrangement.
“It’s up to Turkey, the Turkish government, the Turkish leadership, to decide whether they want to be part of any kind of cooperation to fight terrorism. This is not the case so far,” Moshe Yaalon told reporters in Athens.
“As you know, Daesh (Islamic State) enjoyed Turkish money for oil for a very, very long period of time. I hope that it will be ended,” Yaalon, a right-wing former armed forces chief, told reporters after meeting his Greek counterpart, Panos Kammenos.


Read more: http://forward.com/news/israel/331952/israeli-defense-chief-says-isis-enjoyed-turkish-money-for-oil/#ixzz3yQdf4Woq

I think this is the right time to mention that Western (Syrian) Kurdistan opened an official consulate in Moscow:
http://flnka.ru/aktualnoe/12354-kurdskoe-predstavitelstvo-v-moskve.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrUrPQVXoPw

Excellent. The Turks will suffer a slow death by a thousand cuts for pissing off the patient Russian Bear.

Best of luck, galdur

this reason is so ridiculous and funny... recep tayyip erdogan make fool of his public... he could find another reason for construction for his extravagant palace but cocroach story is so silly..

Almost 2,000 court cases opened in 18-months for ‘insulting’ Turkish President Erdogan

Published time: 3 Mar, 2016 07:20

Around 2,000 legal cases have been opened in Turkey for insulting Recep Tayyip Erdogan, since he became president 18 months ago. Mocking the president carries a maximum of four years in jail with schoolchildren and journalists amongst those arrested.
The revelations were made by Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag, who said the ministry had allowed 1,845 cases on charges of insulting Erdogan to proceed, Reuters reports.

"I am unable to read the shameful insults made against our president. I start to blush," said Bozdag, who is a member of Erdogan's ruling Islamist-rooted AK Party.

Those convicted of insulting the Turkish leader could receive a maximum prison sentence of four years. However, before Erdogan became president in August, 2014, the law was rarely invoked. Those critical of the president say he is using the legislation to crack down on dissent.

People of all ages have fallen foul of the law. In February, a 13-year-old boy was briefly detained on charges of “insulting” the president on Facebook. The teen’s social media page had been under surveillance for months by police.

His family’s house was raided by anti-terror teams on February 25, following a tip-off from “a secret witness,” who claimed the boy had insulted Erdogan in a comment he allegedly posted below a video on Facebook.

In October, two boys aged 12 and 13 were arrested and are facing up to four years in prison for ripping up posters of the Turkish leader.

Former Turkish football star Hakan Sukur is also facing jail time for insulting the Turkish president on Twitter. Although Turkey’s record goal scorer said he had not intended to target the president, prosecutors argued his tweets were “clearly related” to the Turkish leader, the Dogan news agency reported in February.

It would also seem that criticizing Erdogan in the privacy of one’s own home is also illegal. Last month, a 40-year-old man filed a legal complaint against his own wife for insulting the Turkish president.

"I kept on warning her, saying why are you doing this? Our president is a good person and did good things for Turkey," the man known as Ali D. said.

The wife reportedly provoked legal action against herself by telling her husband to "record and lodge a complaint" if he dislikes her behavior so much.

Ali recorded his wife's “insults” and enclosed them as evidence in the case, when he lodged a complaint with prosecutors in the city of Izmir.

"Even if it is my father who swears against or insults the president, I would not forgive and I would complain," the man told the Yeni Safak publication.

https://www.rt.com/news/334367-insult-cases-erdogan-turkey/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

Jordan's king accuses Turkey of sending terrorists to Europe

#Abdullah'sWar

Abdullah tells US politicians that radicals are being 'manufactured in Turkey... as part of Turkish policy'

Friday 25 March 2016 09:00 UTC
Last update:
Friday 25 March 2016 14:14 UTC

King Abdullah of Jordan accused Turkey of exporting terrorists to Europe at a top level meeting with senior US politicians in January, the MEE can reveal.

The king said Europe’s biggest refugee crisis was not an accident, and neither was the presence of terrorists among them: “The fact that terrorists are going to Europe is part of Turkish policy and Turkey keeps on getting a slap on the hand, but they are let off the hook.”

Asked by one of the congressmen present whether the Islamic State group was exporting oil to Turkey, Abdullah replied: ”Absolutely.”

Abdullah made his remarks during a wide-ranging debriefing to Congress on 11 January, the day a meeting with the US president, Barack Obama, was cancelled.

The White House was forced to deny that Obama snubbed one of America’s closest allies in the Middle East, attributing the cancellation to "scheduling conflicts", although Obama and Abdullah met briefly at St Andrews Airforce base a day later.

Present at the meeting in Congress were the chairmen and members of the Senate Intelligence, Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees, including Senators John McCain and Bob Corker, and Senators Mitch McConnell and Harry Reid, the Senate Majority and Minority leaders respectively.

According to a detailed account of the meeting seen by MEE, the king went on to explain what he thought was the motivation of Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Abdullah said that Erdogan believed in a “radical Islamic solution to the region".

He repeated: "Turkey sought a religious solution to Syria, while we are looking at moderate elements in the south and Jordan pushed for a third option that would not allow a religious option.”

The king presented Turkey as part of a strategic challenge to the world.

"We keep being forced to tackle tactical problems against ISIL but not the strategic issue. We forget the issue [of] the Turks who are not with us on this strategically."

He claimed that Turkey had not only supported religious groups in Syria, and letting foreign fighters in, but had also been helping Islamist militias in Libya and Somalia.

Abdullah claimed that "radicalisation was being manufactured in Turkey" and asked the US senators why the Turks were training the Somali army.

The king invited the US politicians present to ask the presidents of Kosovo and Albania about the Turks.

Abdullah said that both countries were begging Europe to include them, before Erdogan did.

Abdullah was supported in his remarks by his Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, who said that the Albanian president was a Catholic married to a Muslim, and that that was a model which should be protected in a Muslim majority country.

Judeh said that when the Russian bombing campaign prevented Turkey from establishing safe zones in northern Syria to stop refugees from coming to Turkey, "Turkey unleashed the refugees onto Europe”.

Both Judeh and Abdullah bridled at the $3bn deal offered by Europe to Turkey, noting that Turkey had only 2m Syrian refugees out of a population of 70m, whereas Jordan was facing “a bigger problem proportionally".

Jordan and Turkey are officially allies. The Turkish prime minister, Ahmed Davutoglu, cancelled an official visit to Jordan after the latest bomb attack in Turkey which killed 34 people in Ankara.

The Kurdish Freedom Falcons (TAK), an offshoot of the PKK, claimed responsibility for the bombing.

The postponed visit is due to take place this weekend and Davutoglu will be mindful that Abdullah told senators that Turkey was using the Kurds as an "excuse" for its policies in Syria.

Galip Dalay, research director at Al Sharq Forum and senior associate fellow on Turkey and Kurdish Affairs at Al Jazeera Center for Studies, said it was wrong to portray Turkey as having a strategic goal of establishing an Islamist government in Syria.

He said: "Turkey did its best in the first eight months of the Syrian crisis to find a political solution to the crisis, which would have included Bashar Assad. Back then, Turkey was criticised in the region and the West for being too soft on Assad regime and being too optimistic about the possibility of reform. When it became clear, after eight months of arduous attempts, that Assad had no intention of initiating a political and democratic process to meet the demands of the protestors, Turkey threw its weight behind the opposition. "

Dalay said that the claim Turkey was buying oil from the Islamic State group was a Russian fabrication concocted by Moscow after Turkey shot down the Russian fighter. "Turkey is not the only one saying there is no evidence to support this claim. The United States said it too."

The Turkish government would not comment officially on Abdullah’s reported remarks on 11 January. But a senior Turkish source accused the king of becoming "the spokesman for Bashar al-Assad".

He said the portrait emerging from these remarks was not one of a king speaking but of a "Western journalist with a fuzzy state of mind and little familiarity with the region".

He said: “Turkey is definitely carrying out an intense struggle against Daesh (the Islamic State group). Bombings take place in Turkey not in Jordan. When this is the case, groundless accusations by King Abdullah are totally unacceptable.

"Moreover, his tackling of the Daesh issue with such unfounded information also raises the question about whether Jordan could play a meaningful role in the fight against Daesh.”

He said the king’s claims that IS was selling oil to Turkey were not only absurd but showed that Abdullah did not have the slightest idea about what was going on in Syria.

"The king's statements and accusations against Turkey are not the first. Unfortunately, all of his allegations are the same as the slanders frequently expressed by the Assad regime.

"It would be to Jordan's and the region's interest, if Jordan, as a friend of Turkey, were to work for a strategic cooperation with a strategic power like Turkey, instead of acting like the spokesperson of Assad.”

- See more at: http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/jordans-king-accuses-turkey-sending-terrorists-europe-1687591648#sthash.Zs3lMUCK.dpuf