Tag Archive for coup in turkey

Will Ankara be the next Benghazi?

Right now Ankara is being heavily bombed by aircraft.  The targets appear to be government installations, but many of the bombs are dropping near the US Embassy and residences of American Diplomatic personnel.  Reports are that Americans are in extreme danger during this fighting and are pinned down in their residences.  The US Embassy at this time seems paralyzed and to date has done nothing to help other than to tell their employees to shelter in place and keep their batteries charged on their cell phones.  I am sure they feel better after that astute advice as bombs are hitting nearby buildings and tanks are having shootouts in the streets.

I guess the CIA’s crack team of “clairvoyants” http://theweek.com/articles/635515/cia-team-clairvoyants failed to catch this one in advance.  Perhaps, instead of hiring academics from the same pool of geniuses that got us into this mess they hired some true outside talent, this wouldn’t have caught them by surprise.  However, seeing how incompetent the entire Obama Administration has been, it should come as no surprise their entire foreign policy just got wiped out.  I just hope the violence ends quickly before we are dealing with another Benghazi.

 

By Guiles Hendrik

July 15, 2016

Putin’s revenge: Did Russian Intelligence Support Coup in Turkey?

Events are still unfolding and it is too early to make any final conclusions.  However, it is clear that a military coup in Turkey is underway to overthrow Erdogan.  As of now, all indications support the CIA was completely caught off guard and US was happy with the Islamic leaning Erdogan’s administration.  As such, it is unlikely the CIA had anything to do with the coup.  However, there are some indications that Russian intelligence helped back the military coup to oust Erdogan.  Did Putin just get the last laugh…again?

Russia-Turkey relations have warmed remarkably in the last two weeks, but was this because Russia knew change was coming?  It is also quite coincidental that US Secretary of State John Kerry just met with his Russian counterpart.  Further, Russia correctly recognized Turkey was continuing to back Islamic extremists in Syria against Russian interests.  Turkey is/was preparing a major military offensive to back Islamic extremists to retake Aleppo from Syrian forces in hopes of forcing Syrian President Assad out of power.  This was a Russian redline.  However, Russia did not want a direct conflict with Turkey and potentially all of NATO.  Nonetheless, Russia could not and would not allow Turkey to directly intervene in a decisive way as I previously warned.  As such, Russia needed a way to counter Erdogan’s policy to overthrow Assad and stop it without a bigger war.  I should also mention Putin didn’t take the fact Turkey shot down a Russian jet lightly.

Short of a major war, a coup became an attractive option for derailing Washington’s Middle East Policy, defeating ISIL/ISIS, and countering Turkish actions targeting Syria and its President Assad.  This appears to have culminated in a Russia covert operation to support the overthrow of Erdogan.  Whether or not the coup proves successful, one will look back and see this is probably the last best effort to return Turkey to a secular state and defeat radical Islamists hijacking the country with a minimal amount of bloodshed.  I find it fitting that Erdogan, a radical extremist that has backed Islamic jihadists found himself potentially one run out of office, not Assad.

I can’t understate the implications of this coup.  If successful, ISIL/ISIS will get hammered by unimpeded Russia, Kurdish, and Syrian forces.  Without Turkey’s covert support, ISIL/ISIS will face near certain military defeat in Syria.  However, if the coup fails, expect all hell to break out across the region.  Erdogan will return and his crackdown and purges will murder many people as radical Islamists solidify their grip on power.  Any hopes for a secular Turkey will be dead.  ISIL/ISIS will also get the full backing of Turkey in Syria and it is likely this will lead to plummeting relations with Russia and an outbreak of a major war.  This is just the beginning of an unraveling of the entire region.  Events will continue spiral out of control across the globe and the US.  I will continue to update on this as events unfold.

Guiles Hendrik

July 15, 2016

Updates from ground on Coup in Turkey; CIA caught completely by surprise; Russia intelligence backing

1040 EST:  Erdogan begins purges of military and government officials.  Rounds up and arrests thousands.  White House clearly caught off guard and still remains without policy plan to move forward.  Obama still hasn’t directly addressed nation and no official word from State Department on the safety and security of Americans trapped in Turkey during the failed coup.

0830 EST:  Situation in Turkey stabilizing.  Coup appears to have failed, but pockets of resistance remain in Ankara.

Saturday, July 16, 2016

1911 EST:  Celebrations now reported in Adana and Istanbul.  Fighting continues in Ankara.

1855 EST:  People cheering and waving flags and honking horns in Istanbul.

1845 EST:  Bombs are heard going off near US Embassy in Ankara.

1834 EST:  Heavy explosions heard around Ankara.  Aircraft bombing multiple locations.  US personnel in danger and pinned down.

1817 EST:  Turkish Police Headquarters under heavy attack by aircraft.  US personnel in area at risk.

1745 EST: Turkish Armed Forces announce they have detained top Turkish officials to include Chief of Defense.

1710 EST: US Embassy in Ankara announces access points to both Istanbul Ataturk Intl and Sabiha Gokcen Intl Airports have been sealed. Flight ops at Istanbul Ataturk have been suspended.  Flight ops at Sabiha Gokcen will be suspended within next 30 minutes.  All personnel are urged to exercise extreme caution and heightened vigilance.

1631 EST:  Military helicopters and jets confirmed over Ankara.  Power has been cut to portions of the city.

1504 EST:  Stand-by for updates as this situation is still developing, fluid, and uncertain.  If events and reports coming out of Turkey are accurate, a major geopolitical crisis is unfolding in Europe.

Friday, July 15, 2016

Guiles Hendrik

July 15, 2016