Turkey Warns US Decision To Arm Kurd "Terrorists" Is A "Crisis", Gives Trump Chance To "Reconsider"

Following yesterday"s news that the White House had radically changed its strategy involving Syrian military intervention, and that it had decided to provide weapons to Kurdish militants in the region, we were curious to see just how livid Turkey would be when it inevitably responded to Trump"s announcement. One day later we got the answer when the Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik was quoted by Reuters that the U.S. decision to provide weapons for Kurdish militants in the fight against ISIS "is a crisis" and warned it would not benefit the United States or the region.

Isik also said that Turkey should not be expected to support any potential operations in Syria involving "terrorist groups" which leaves open the question whether Turkey would prevent the US from using the critical for the region Incirlik air base, which is also ground zero for many US combat missions involving ISIS.  As expected, Turkey urged the United States on Wednesday to reverse the decision, saying every weapon supplied to the YPG militia constituted "a threat to Turkey".

The decision to supply arms to Kurds would have “consequences” and a potentially “negative result” for Washington, warned Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim warned on Wednesday.

“We cannot imagine [the US] making a choice between our strategic-level partnership and a terrorist organization,” Yildirim said, quoted by the Sabah daily. “The US administration still has a chance to consider Turkey"s sensitivities of highest level on the PKK. If the decision is taken otherwise, this will surely have consequences and will yield a negative result for the US as well.”

Turkish Foreign Minister Cavushoglu also chimed in telling reporters that “if we support the territorial integrity of Syria, we should take lessons from the mistakes we made in Iraq and abstain from making any wrong moves. YPG and PKK are the same entity, there’s no difference between them,” Cavushoglu said, according to NTV broadcaster. “Every weapon which gets into their hands represents a threat to Turkey.”

A third warning came from Turkish Deputy PM Nurettin Canikli who told local TV station A Haber  that “we cannot accept the presence of terrorist organizations that would threaten the future of the Turkish state. “We hope the US will put a stop to this wrong and back down from it. This policy will not be beneficial to anyone; you can’t be in the same sack as terrorist organizations.”

Meanwhile, as Turkey was slamming Trump"s decision, the Kurds were praising it, saying it was a “historic” move that greatly expands the group’s capabilities to “fight terrorism.” By now everyone is aware that YPG is a US ally in Syria which Ankara perceives as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), considered a terrorist group in both Turkey and the US.

Responding to the Turkish laments, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said he was confident the United States would be able to resolve tensions with Turkey the decision. “We will work very closely with Turkey in support of their security on their southern border. It"s Europe"s southern border, and we’ll stay closely connected,” Reuters quoted Mattis on Wednesday.

It remains to be seen just how willing Turkey is to "resolve" tensions: an answer will emerge in the next few days when Erdogan is expected to fly to the US. Should he cancel this trip, the answer will be clear. Also, don"t stand below the Turkish Lira when any such news hits.

5 Arrested After Egyptian Police Bust Staged Photo Shoot Of "Wounded Aleppo Children"

Readers who have been following the crisis in Aleppo have seen media reports of videos and photos allegedly originating from innocent children victims, pleading against the advance of the Assad forces. And while there have been various accusations that these clips, like the infamous "chemical attack" YouTube clip from 2013, were staged, such reports were promptly slammed by the mainstream media as "fake news" and roundly ignored. However, if one ever needed a reason to be skeptical of claims, photographs, and/or videos coming out of the region, and the MSM"s appeals to readers emotions based on fabricated facts, Egyptian authorities have just provided it.

Egyptian police arrested five people in Port Said, Egypt for making staged "wounded children" photos, which they were planning to use to misrepresent on social media as photos of destruction and injured people in Syria"s Aleppo, the Egyptian Interior Ministry said on Monday. The group also made fake videos that purport to show the wreckage of air strikes in Aleppo.

The shooting team, which included the photographer"s assistants and parents of the children, was detained in the Egypt"s province of Port Said," the Ministry said on Facebook.

According to the Ministry, the police witnessed the shooting process, which was taking place near the vestiges of a building destroyed as illegal under the decision of the local authorities. A girl standing in a white dress covered in "blood" that later proved to be paint, drew attention of a police officer driving by. The girl held a teddy bear covered in the same "blood" and had her arm "bandaged".

The Facebook statement said the videographer, his assistants, and the parents of two children who appear in the footage were detained after a trail led police to them at a building site awaiting demolition. The five have reportedly admitted they were planning to distribute their footage on social media, which was supposed to show an eight-year-old girl in a white dress and bandages, covered in red stains while holding a teddy bear.

“A 12-year-old boy is also interviewed about what life is like under intensive Russian-backed Syrian government air strikes,” reported
The Independent

The photographer also admitted that he was going to publish these photos on social media as pictures of Aleppo.

To be sure, this one instance does not mean all footage coming out of the region is fake. It also does not mean every claim made by Russian, Syrian, and Iranian officials about the conflict is true in comparison. Still, the fact remains that journalists aren’t going to rebel-held areas for fear of execution. Instead, they rely on the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is run by one anti-Assad dissident in Coventry, England. So-called Syrian activists and the shady group known as the White Helmets make up the rest of the reports in Syria, even though they both have also been largely criticized and discredited.

Also troubling is the willingness of the conventional media to accept most of these reports at face value without ever questioning their authenticity.

The fact the mass media disproportionately focuses on Aleppo while turning a blind eye to the horrendous crimes being committed in Yemen courtesy of the United States, the United Kingdom, and an inexperienced Saudi-led coalition indicates the media’s concerns for human rights in Syria are disingenuous, as the AntiMedia correctly notes.