Meral Çiçek
“The Special War Minister Süleyman Soylu of the Republic of Turkey (TC) stated on 30 April that they will build a base in Metina (in Iraqi/South Kurdistan where the Turkish military campaign has been continuing since 23 April),” writes Meral Çiçek for Yeni Özgür Politika.
“Just like what we did in Syria, we will build a base here and control the region”, he said.
This was a statement that explicitly revealed that the purpose of the military operation is the occupation of part of Bashur (South Kurdistan), but the Kurdistan Regional Government has not issued a single statement regarding this issue.
The ones who call the existence of freedom guerrillas in the Medya Defence Zones as an “occupation” remain silent in the face of the ‘occupation’ plans of a foreign power, that is the TC.
One day after Soylu’s statements, Turkey’s War Minister Hulusi Akar, the Chief of the General Staff General Yaşar Güler and Land Forces Commander General Ümit Dündar arrived at Biliç Hill, located in the Qileban district of Şırnak (Şirnex), which lies on the border of Bakur (‘North’ Kurdistan) and Bashur. This is the place where the occupying Turkish army’s second border command operates. Somehow, when Turkey’s National Defence Ministry announced this visit on its website, this area was referred to as part of “northern Iraq”.
So, one minister says “We will build a base in Metina” one day and the other minister speaks at a military base in “northern Iraq” the other day. How naive can you get.
The fascist regime wages one half of its war via land and air and wages the other half using ‘special war techniques’ and propaganda.
In the recent period, they have used manipulation techniques regarding their occupation operations in Medya Defence Zones. That have used the war ministries to facilitate such actions, but actually they have not been very successful in this.
The TC War Ministry used some footage recorded obviously in the summer time and presented it as if it was footage from Operation Gare, which was launched in the middle of winter. And now the same War Ministry names an occupying military base in Bakur as if it is located in Bashur.
The interesting thing is that the mainstream media in Bashur took part in this propaganda initiative that was spread by the TC War Ministry. So, even if we assume that that news was “real” and accurate: could the top military officials of one country cross borders into another country just like that? Is that possible?
The Iraq government sent a diplomatic protest note to the Turkish Embassy in Baghdad upon publication on the contentious issue and statement. Iraq’s Foreign Ministry condemned the statements of the Turkish Minister of the Interior Soylu regarding the building of a base in Metina. Yet, there is no statement coming from the Bashur government regarding this very issue. Is not that a strange situation?
Whilst the news that the occupying TC army’s top generals went to Haftanin in Iraqi Kurdistan was published in the Bashur media, none of the authorities in Iraq have shared any statements regarding these new developments.
Incidentally, before his visit to Libya, Akar visited Şırnak and the Air Force Command in Eskişehir (in Turkey), but he did not detail any successes during his evaluations of the ongoing operations. Indeed, rather than congratulating the army staff for their “success”, he actually provided justifications for the failure of the occupying army in the ongoing operations.
He stated that they were having troubles in “explaining some issues to NATO” regarding the Kurdish genocide. Obviously, things are not going the way they hoped. They will cling to the use of ‘special war techniques’ even more now in order to veil this truth. That is why everyone who is interested in this ongoing war should be evaluating each and every new statement they issue with a critical eye.