Turkey must move forward with the Afrin operation in Syria before U.S. and Israel-backed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorists make their move, a retired Turkish brigadier general warned, noting that the southern Turkish province of Hatay has been added to the maps of the planned terror corridor on Turkey’s southern borders.
Former General İhsan Başbozkurt, who served for years on the southwestern front, was present in the region during the start of the Syrian civil war and the events in Kobani.
Başbozkurt stressed that the turmoil raging in the region is the result of a hundred-year-old plan by the UK and Israel to seize its wealth.
“The goal is to create a 'greater Armenia', a greater 'Kurdish state' and finally a 'greater Israel state' along our southeastern borders, and by completing this plan it serves the game hatched by the U.S. and UK to protect Israel and secure the region. We have to say no to this. We’re no longer the Turkey of the past. There’s a new Turkey. We need to wipe their century-old maps and plans off the table,” said Başbozkurt.
Başbozkurt stressed that Turkey is the country that was most affected by Syria’s raging war and said, “They occupied Kobani right in front of our eyes. They turned it into a shooting range. They shot whatever old munition they found. They even tried new ones. Projectiles of all types, some we haven’t seen before,” noted Başbozkurt.
He emphasized that Turkey is ready to crown its past maneuvers it carried out in Syria with an operation in Afrin.
“Today, even Hatay is included in maps of the planned corridor. We need to do this before they do. Turkey has demonstrated its resolve. The target is Afrin. No need to wait. Turkey, Iran and Iraq carried out a joint operation in northern Iraq’s Qandil. Turkey must carry out its own operation in Afrin, which threatens the Amanos region, and save Syria from the presence of PKK terrorists,” He concluded.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States. The PKK has been conducting armed violence in the southeastern part of Turkey since 1984. More than 40,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the three-decade long conflict.
Başbozkurt indicated that the U.S. has realized that it can’t continue with the PKK/PYD terrorist organization in the region and that it’s currently searching for new allies, adding that this how the Saudi plan will come into play. “They are trying to enforce this ‘moderate Islam’ discourse. They’re trying to reestablish the broken ties between the region’s Arab population and Saudi Arabia due to the current regime. But it won’t happen. The Arabs of Raqqa will not accept the Saudis,” he noted.
The retired general, who took part in the Operation Shah Euphrates that moved the tomb of Süleyman Shah to Syria’s Eshme said, “Once peace is restored to Syria, it will be moved to Jaber Castle.”
“We evacuated 56 of our soldiers in Karakozak once they came under threat from two terror organizations and brought them along with the tomb of Süleyman Shah to Eshme. God willing, everything will calm in Syria and this time we will go to Jaber Castle. And we’ll return the tomb to its old mausoleum,” concluded Başbozkurt.
