Profile picture
Rick Petree @RickPetree
, 10 tweets, 3 min read Read on Twitter
Let's take a look back, to see whether we can rely on Erdogan's 'pledge' to his 'friend' Donald, to 'finish off' Isis in Syria if U.S. withdraws.
1. The Erdogan-Gulen battle began 2013 w/ the 'arrest' in Adana province of trucks carrying arms to Isis affiliates in Syria. Trucks operated by a central intelligence agency under control of Erdogan (MiT). Arresting police believed loyal to Gulen.
reuters.com/article/us-mid…
2. At many points during the Syrian conflict, Turkey was a gateway for fighters seeking to reach the battlefield. Turkey hosted many Isis recruitment offices in city centers, and regularly released arrested Isis leaders.
nytimes.com/2014/09/16/wor…
3. Turkish hospitals treated Isis fighters wounded in Syria, returning them to the battlefield (in some cities, volume of casualties placed enough stress on hospitals that regular citizens complained of inability to access care).
express.co.uk/news/world/670…
4. More recently, Turkey has recruited Isis affiliated fighters to fight alongside Turkish army in NW Syria (Afrin).
independent.co.uk/news/world/mid…
5. Turkey has supported, and profited from, Isis' 'war economy' in Syria, particularly through the importation of cheap 'Isis oil.' Erdogan's son, Bilal, is believed to have been central to the oil trade.
observer.com/2016/02/deal-w… and buzzfeednews.com/article/mikegi…
6. Turkish manufactured goods, imported by Isis, have been instrumental to the Isis war effort in other ways.
medium.com/@benjamindbrow…
7. Summarizing: Turkey views the Syrian conflict as an extension of its decades long war against the Kurdish PKK, and its Syrian affiliate, the YPG. Turkey has viewed Isis affiliated groups as a 'proxy' fighting force capable of, at least, tying down and bleeding the YPG.
8. More recently, as noted above, Turkey has directly recruited Isis ("Daesh") elements to fight alongside the Turkish army, a proxy force that it was hoped wd reduce Turkish casualties that might cause domestic political opposition to the war in Syria.
9. These points, IMO, illustrate a degree of interconnectedness between Turkey and Isis that, at a minimum, should give pause in reflecting on Pres. Erdogan's pledge to 'finish off' Isis. End.
Missing some Tweet in this thread?
You can try to force a refresh.

Like this thread? Get email updates or save it to PDF!

Subscribe to Rick Petree
Profile picture

Get real-time email alerts when new unrolls are available from this author!

This content may be removed anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime, convert it as a PDF, save and print for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video

1) Follow Thread Reader App on Twitter so you can easily mention us!

2) Go to a Twitter thread (series of Tweets by the same owner) and mention us with a keyword "unroll" @threadreaderapp unroll

You can practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @RickPetree see all

Profile picture
@maddow tonight featured one of her most important stories, ever. Captioned "Puppet Puppet," you MUST watch it (B bloc) if you didn't see it live. I consider myself a pretty close student of U.S. foreign policy, but knew NOTHING about the material she presented.
It left me shaken. She laid out 3 instances in which Trump himself, or Trump officials, have articulated foreign policy concerns that are (a) completely off the wall in terms of any political opinion in this country (in Rachel's terms, they "don't exist in nature" in the U.S.),
and (b) traceable directly to (and *only* to) Russian military intelligence. The first instance, in the first weeks after inauguration, was an administration request for intel agencies to report on Polish military incursions into Belarus.
Read 11 tweets
Profile picture
Thinking ahead to 2019. Mueller’s findings will be public (one way or another). Key Trump figures will be indicted. GOP, initially, will be intransigent. Americans of all stripes must come together, to force Trump’s ouster. How will that occur ? +
The Constitutional machinery will be creaky, in the face of GOP intransigence. That intransigence must be dislodged. Massive grass roots demonstrations, crossing party lines, will be critical. The People must speak.
We can’t count on a single galvanic moment to turn the tide. It must be persistent, and must grow steadily. We’re going to need to do what the South Koreans did, what Ukrainians did. Its power and persistence must persuade the GOP that they face extinction unless they dump Trump.
Read 4 tweets
Profile picture
Trump's recent conversations with Erdogan, resulting in an abrupt reversal of U.S. policy in Syria and apparent intention to fully withdraw our forces (estimated 2,000 special forces), have a troubled history. Here's a brief refresher:
1. Erdogan has been nothing if not consistent in urging USG to stop co-operating with, and arming, Kurdish YPG forces in Syria. Obama administration deflected those requests, which was one reason for the cooling of the Obama-Erdogan relationship.
2. In April 2017, Erdogan made his first visit to Washington, D.C. after Trump's inauguration. A primary agenda item, from Turkish pov, was U.S. assistance to YPG (as well as the perennial issue of Gulen's extradition and the then pending prosecution of Reza Zarrab).
Read 9 tweets

Related threads

Profile picture
Trump: Day 701
-Day 1 of the #TrumpShutdown
-Calls Shutdown & Syria "Fake News"
-Top US Envoy in ISIS Fight Resigns
-Seeks 2 Fire Fed Reserve Chairman
-Russians Behind Pro-Jill Stein Blitz
-US Senate Adjourns Without Action
-Refuses 2 Negotiate w/ Democrats
Add...
Day 806 since Donald Trump admitted to sexual assault — yet he’s still in the Oval Office
Add...
Day 657 of NO EVIDENCE produced by Trump that his phones were tapped by Obama.

The FISA warrant Trump referenced targeted Carter Page. #TrumpLies
Read 71 tweets
Profile picture
#SUWEIDA: #SAA captures “Mushayrifah School” & “Rahbat Mushayrifah” on Khirbat Al-Umbashi axis during a new operation to eliminate #ISIS cells adjacent to As-Safa volcanic plateau wikimapia.org/m/#lat=33.0552…
BREAKING: #SAA, #SSNP advance 12 km deep into #Suweida desert on Khirbat Al-Umbashi axis, capture “Mushayrifah” hills which overlook Umbashi road amid total #ISIS collapse. #Syria
BREAKING: #SAA, #SSNP capture Wādī ‘Ar’Ar & Rasm Al-Hatitah on Tal Safa - Al-Qasr axis in #Suweida desert from #ISIS. #Suweida #Syria
Read 10 tweets
Profile picture
THREAD: The full story of Syria's #Raqqa 'The Capital of Liberation' from the uprising until the devastation:
1-History:
Raqqa is the Syrian city, situated northern eastern Syria. 1970s the Euphrates dam was built and turned the poor small town of Raqqa into a city.
During the evolution process of Syria, Raqqa's share of development projects was small & most of the resources were stolen by Regime's officials and the state budget was being stolen by Hafiz Assad and his loyal elite. Therefore Raqqa city remained one of the poor cities of Syria
Read 38 tweets

Trending hashtags

#RightTime #MENA #DirectedEneryWeapons #LaFarge #LizCheney #Iran #Russia #GolanHeights #iCloud #Obama #Tartus #OFA #Syria #Imperialism #NDAA #LiquidCremation #Sustainability #BM #ChildTrafficking #OpenBorders #Erdogan #RaniaKhalek #WeAreN2016NY #PMU #MouazMoustafa

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just three indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member and get exclusive features!

Premium member ($30.00/year)

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!