Thread by @modernhomesla

Paul needs 2 do some
quick catch-up on Turkey.
Love me some
President Reject Catnip Erdogan
He's a crazy dictator
who is now super chum-chum
w RUssia. [not a good thing]

It's alienating Turkey from
alliance w NATO.

Tensions build in Syria
as U.S. troops become targets.

Tension btw Washington + Ankara
spiked cpl wks ago,
as Turkey began amassing
lrg numbers of troops
+ military equipment
on border w northeast Syria
in preparation 4 attack
against U.S.-backed Syrian Kurds
who helped defeat Islamic State!

Defense Sec Esper
strongly implied
U.S. would take action
if Turkey attacks
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)👈[good]
mostly Kurdish group
Turkey argues has ties 2
Kurdistan Workers’ Party militant group,
known as PKK👈[bad]
which both U.S. + Turkey
have designated terrorist group.

U.S. military delegation
are/were in Turkey
2 meet w Turkish officials,

"Delegation is part of
last-ditch attempt 2
head off offensive."

8-4-19
washingtonpost.com/national-secur…

As NATO’s southern flank
+ home 2 key launching pad
4 U.S. operations in the Middle East,
Incirlik Air Base in Turkey
is a *crucial U.S. partner
in European security
+ fight against extremism.

foreignpolicy.com/2019/08/06/ten…

U.S. | Turkey alliance
has frayed in recent years,
especially after:

▪️Turkey’s failed 2016 military coup,
▪️U.S. support 4 the Syrian Kurds,
▪️Turkey’s increasingly cozy relationship with Russia.

foreignpolicy.com/2019/08/06/ten…

Recently,
U.S. condemned Turkey’s purchase
of a Russian missile system
U.S. officials say threatens
F-35 fighter jet + NATO air defenses.

Pentagon went so far as 2
kick Ankara out of F-35 program
+ cancel all planned Turkish orders of jet.

[tRUmp? Nothing. No sanctions.]

Diplomatic relations between
Washington and Ankara
often seem 2 hinge on
tRUmp’s *personal relationship
w his Turkish counterpart,
President Reject Catnip Erdogan.
foreignpolicy.com/2019/08/06/ten…

In January,
tRUmp announced [via Twitter]
the 2 had agreed 2
20-mile buffer zone in northeast Syria,
a move that would leave SDF vulnerable
2 cross-border attacks.
But so far no buffer zone
has materialized,
angering the Turks.

jpost.com/Middle-East/Tu…

8-6-19
The SDF is currently holding
1,000s of Islamic State fighters
in camps across northeast Syria.

Security of those prisons + prisoners
would be at risk
if Turkey launches an attack, Esper said.

foreignpolicy.com/2019/08/06/ten…

8-6-19
“We want 2 sustain continued defeat
at least of the physical caliphate of ISIS,”
Esper said.
“That becomes a question
if [Turkey] moves in.”
foreignpolicy.com/2019/08/06/ten…

8-7-19
Statement from
U.S. Embassy + Consulates
in Turkey

tr.usembassy.gov/statement-on-j…

8-12-19

Turkey + its National Intelligence Organization
appear 2 abuse
intelligence + diplomatic process
by seeking 2
insert flawed + false intelligence
in order 2 constrain
+ subvert U.S. diplomatic options.

nationalinterest.org/blog/middle-ea…

Turkish insistence is *ironic
given U.S. only began
partnering w the YPG
when evidence became overwhelming
Turkey’s political leadership
including Pres Erdoğan’s own family👈
+ intel services actively supported
+ profited from Islamic State
+ other Al Qaeda-affil grps in Syria.

3-31-16

AGAIN...

▪️President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
▪️ Erdoğan family members
▪️ Turkish intelligence services
👉actively supported
AND
👉profited from
Islamic State😱
+ other Al Qaeda-affiliated groups in Syria.😱

[very very bad. like, naughty bad.]
newsweek.com/impossible-bea…

10-27-16
One of the most contentious issues
uncovered w the hacked + leaked
email communications + documents

was the transfer of oil👈
controlled by
so-called Islamic State
+ Erdoğan family’s involvement
via a company named
▪️Powertrans.
worldpolicy.org/2016/10/17/hac…

12-13-18

Ah!
Always about resolution
recognizing as genocide
the World War I-era
Ottoman massacres of Armenians.
Turkish officials
oppose any resolution
holding Turkey responsible
both bc Republic of Turkey
was not formally declared until 1923
[🤦‍♂️]
washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/confro…

Problems w Turkish arguments
R multi-fold.🤣

1st, there's no evidence
YPG or PKK plot
or direct terror operations
from Syria.

This accusation was
stated reason behind
Turkey’s launch in January 2018 of
Operation Olive Branch

nationalinterest.org/blog/middle-ea…

Turkish Ethnic Cleansing

but, 20 mos after
Turkey's *launch,
it's clear
Operation Olive Brach
was more about
ethnically cleansing
region’s Kurdish population
than eradicating terrorism.

nationalinterest.org/blog/middle-ea…

Erdoğan has accused rival politicians
both from predominantly
Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP)
+ center-left Republican People’s Party (CHP)
of supporting terrorism,
imprisoning many.

[Dictator much? Oh how similar 2 tRUmpelstiltskins]
nationalinterest.org/blog/middle-ea…

Erdoğan + Fethullah Gülen
[oysh]
Erdoğan has accused followers
of his one-time ally,👈
Pennsylvania-based cleric
Fethullah Gülen,
of being terrorists,
imprisoning tens of thousands
while somehow ignoring
his own role in Gülen’s empowerment.🤔
nationalinterest.org/blog/middle-ea…

🔥
That Turkish intel
is based more on
political expediency
+ wishful thinking
than profess tradecraft👈
is clear.
[ouch]

? 4 U.S. policymakers
becomes how long has
Turkish intelligence been so corrupt?

nationalinterest.org/blog/middle-ea…

Long B4 today’s diplomatic crises,
CIA+St Dept
relied upon
+integrated Turkish intel.

W/in U.S. context,
? is not only whether there
is any evidence independent of
Turkish govt sources 2 back claims PKK is terrorist org,
but also whether
leading Kurdish officials r criminals.

In 2011, while President Barack Obama
still considered Erdoğan
2B 1 of his “most trusted”
foreign friends,
U.S. Treasury Dept named
▪️Adem Uzun
exec council member KCK
+ several colleagues as “Specially Designated Narcotics Trafficking Kingpins.”
sanctionlaw.com/ofac-takes-aim…

Simply put,
Turkey + its
National Intelligence Organization (MIT)
appear 2 abuse
the intelligence and diplomatic process
by seeking 2 insert
flawed + false intelligence👈
in order 2 constrain
+ subvert U.S. diplomatic options.
[how Pompeo|Bolton-like]
nationalinterest.org/blog/middle-ea…

@threadreaderapp
please unroll
+ then roll
+ then unroll,
back + forth-like,
in a truck,
over
Racist Catnip Erdoğan.