As Turkey moves into the second week of its post-coup purge, efforts to detain potentially disloyal members of the military have expanded broad, with the top generals serving in Turkey’s force in Afghanistan arrested today at the Dubai Airport, with officials claiming they are suspected of “links to the attempt to overthrow Erdogan.”
The two, including Maj. Gen. Mehmet Bakir, who was the commander of the Afghan force, were arrested with the cooperation of the United Arab Emirates, and are being sent to Turkey to face the allegations. A NATO spokesman, however, assured that the Turkish involvement in Afghanistan would be unaffected by the arrests.
Details are still scant on exactly what Maj. Gen. Bakir and Brig. Gen. Sener Topuc are supposed to have done, and it’s unclear how they could’ve played a serious role in the coup whilst in Afghanistan. They are among 143 generals who have been arrested over the failed coup.
Adding to intrigue surrounding the Afghanistan connection, pro-Erdogan newspaper Yeni Safak claimed that the coup was masterminded by US Gen. John Campbell, who was in charge of NATO’s Afghan occupation until March. Campbell says he was baffled by the charges, and Fox News’ Geraldo Rivera says Campbell couldn’t have masterminded the coup because they were having a beer together at the time.
The Yeni Safak paper has been publishing a growing number of articles in recent days claiming US involvement in the coup, though so far Erdogan hasn’t publicly echoed those allegations.
WTF….. Why. No acknowledgement HERE of the Sibel Edmond’s EXPOSIVE charge that this Turkey coup was a CIANATO opp. She is saying that the coup was directed on “WhatsApp” and she claims to have the actual communications utilized. Further, she claims that 2 billion US $ were laundered through UBD. and an African country (Nigeria?)…. and distributed to the participants.
Maybe Sibel has been scammed by bellingcat, however these accusations demand attention and to be debunked or distributed more widely.. This botched coup will need to be disected carefully… Perhaps staying mum until all these claims are totally vetted by others is the best policy. I myself believe the truth will out. Though I’m not sure waiting in silence for OTHER to do the werk and report on their progress…… is the best way forward and policy…..
Has anyone tried to stop you from discussing Ms. Edmonds’s charge here?
No Thomas, not exactly, but I didn’t mean to imply that I was being gaged as I believe your question inferes. What I was and am trying to say, is that I believe that AW.C is missing an opportunity and to a lesser extent shirking a duty to the antiwar cause by taking an all to casual approach ie not proactive enough, concerning these bombshell revelations that NATO is/was involved in an attempt to take out the democratically elected leader of A NATO MEMBER STATE… Yes, time will tell if the Boiling Frogs revelations are true. Perhaps I should hedge my bets a bit. I do not believe all the charges Sibel and crew have made, neither do I dis-believe them. But finding out the hated truth of the coup events is my TOP priority beyond my daily survival. So you can be sure I will be working night and day on this quest…..until the unalloyed truth is found: Whereas, was the US and or NATO involved to ANY degree in this failed pustch in Turkey.
Yeah Thomas, I did take a bit of a personal shot at you in an earlier comment on this coup after an article by Jason. That comment also contained a link to boilingfrogs latest updates on the coup. So, no
It concerned a late night exchange a hat Angela had with Sibel Edmonds in comments to an article by Justin. Angela was going off on poor Sibel saying her journalism was sub literate and worse.. very personal stuff. You joined in and by my reckoning more or less took Angela’s side. I tried to defend Sibel as it seemed to be two on one to me… So from that exchange I gathered that Sibel was and probably is…. not too well thought of here. That comment was deleted. So, no, no one tried to stop me discussing the coup…… but someone did delete my comment with important timely info on the coup, and a link to someone very very knowlegeable on just these sort of intrigues, and a Turkic languages speaker too…. and an audacious whistle blower too… All in all… a very valuable find relevant to the coup… I’m not angry or anything, but I do believe your no written rules governing comments, is an indulgence of sloth and the site, even the antiwar movement writ large would be better off with a less capricious trigger for deletions. Sometimes, those of us who comment wonder why our hard work just vanished into the either… I don’t want to end here without acknowledging all the wonderful work that has been done, and continues to be done here by the staff, and Mr. Raimondo’s steady hand guiding the site through some of the hardest times ever for dissenting opinion and actions… Keep up all YOUR good work.
MvGuy,
I vaguely recall the incident you are talking about, but I don’t recall my role in it precisely the way you do.
I do not know why Antiwar.com and Sibel Edmonds’s fans (and possibly Ms. Edmonds herself) don’t seem to like each other much any more. My recollection is that whatever happened in that respect happened before I had much, if any, role at all at Antiwar.com.
And keep in mind that my role is not editorial as such even now — I moderate comments and make sure our commentaries go out on social media; administrative stuff like that. I’m not going to express an opinion on Ms. Edmonds or her work, or on why Antiwar.com might or might not find that work interesting worthwhile, because I don’t have the knowledge to express an INFORMED opinion.
Here’s the opinion I AM going to express: Whatever is going on there will not be changed or otherwise resolved by exchanges in the comment section. Not to say that comments on it are unwelcome or will be 86ed, but rather that if you hope to actually accomplish something, it will probably be done via private communication with the people who actually make editorial policy decisions at Antiwar.com (from my specific perspective, those people are Eric Garris and Angela Keaton, although a couple of others with whom I don’t frequently interact probably also weigh in).
Yes, the coments won’t per se undo NATO, but in this case, the true provenance of this coup is entirely AOL in the MSM….. so in order to get the snowball rolling down the mountain we need to get it rolling by generating interest…. Thank you for replying to my comment. Yeah it was Angela did all the nasty stuff as I remember it. I may actually have the entire exchange in the hard drive memory. As I said, I have no current specific beef with you, and I am like minded with you on at least 90% of what you express and do. Also I admire your antiwar dedication and work.
I Think if this coup really was a NATO job, that it could wreck havoc on NATO solidarity… Still, I see NATO as a grand welfare/influence buying scam which will never die quietly, as long as it continues to have a blank check from U.S. taxpayers. So I’m now expecting it gone anytime soon. Have a nice evening…..
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