We are going through a very interesting process. I don't know if we will ever again witness such a period in which international law is being trampled on and multilateral agreements are being ignored to this extent. Considering the position where things currently stand, our alleged allies are on the verge of opening irreparable wounds in ties.
THREATS AND FACTS
Turkey embarking on a cross-border operation in order to create a safe zone has placed it squarely on the U.S.’s agenda. After U.S. President Trump tweeted in support of Turkey, he later changed his tune after coming under immense pressure, making a statement saying he’s “done this before," and threatened to destroy Turkey’s economy. Then Congress member Lindsay Graham tweeted against Turkey saying "sanctions from hell" should be applied. While these events were unfolding, some voices such as “no to war” started to emerge from inside Turkey. This situation necessitated recalling certain issues and concepts. Firstly;
1. This is no war or invasion, it is a cross-border operation that Turkey has been forced to launch due to the regional policies of its allies (!).
2. The target of this operation is not Kurds living in the region, but the terrorists who inflict the most harm upon the Kurds themselves.
3. A terrorist is a terrorist. Changing the name of the PKK to YPG or SDF does not change this fact.
4. Turkey is a NATO ally and is NATO territory, which is under threat.
5. In this regard, NATO allies of the PKK / SDF /YPG backing Turkey is a matter of legal responsibility, not a whim.
6. According to the NATO Treaty, the United States or any other member cannot threaten to impose sanctions on a fellow member. This is against international law.
PENTAGON, CENTCOM AND OLIVER NORTH CASE
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization on the United States’ terror list. The fact that these terrorists change their names and that they wear U.S. armbands and camouflages instead of shalwars will not change this fact. All legal documents, including the U.S. Constitution, contain provisions on the attitude the U.S. must adopt regarding terrorist organizations. According to these provisions, no U.S. institution can provide weapons, assistance, training and intelligence to the PKK. The fact that the Pentagon and Centcom are currently doing all the aforementioned by changing the name of the PKK does not change the fact that this truth will eventually emerge and that those involved will have to face the law due to these criminal activities. I would like to remind the U.S. authorities who initiated this process of Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North. The real task of congressmen like Lindsay Graham is to launch an investigation into the Pentagon and Centcom, which deliberately and intentionally misled the U.S. Congress, rather than using it as fodder for domestic politics, and eliminating the logic behind fraudulent action, as in the case of Oliver North.
WHY DON’T THEY SPEAK UP AGAINST HILLARY CLINTON?
After first tweeting support of Turkey's cross-border operation, Hillary Clinton responded to Trump with a tweet. In her tweet, Clinton accused Trump of supporting two “authoritarian” leaders, Erdoğan and Putin, rather than U.S. interests, and betraying the Kurds and his oath to the presidency. Then came Trump’s tweet about destroying Turkey’s economy. Some political actors in Turkey rightly reacted against Trump. Why didn't the same officials react to Hillary Clinton, who called Erdoğan “authoritarian” with 52 percent of the popular vote? Why didn't they object to Clinton saying the issue involves them being terrorist organizations, not Kurds?
Turkey is bigger and more powerful than becoming fodder for U.S. domestic politics. The Turkish people are paying close attention to officials inside their country who take positions against those attempting to use Turkey as fodder for U.S. domestic policy.
UNHINGED ALLY, UNSAFE PARTNER
Let’s move on to the economic aspect of the subject. Late last year, I was met with interesting (!) criticism when I said in this column that the events in Turkey cannot be explained away by macroeconomics and that a speculative attack was primarily taking place. However, today I think Trump saying he will attack Turkey’s economy again "like I’ve done before,", is the best answer to those who try to prioritize their ideologies over technical information at every opportunity. Likewise, this threat of economic sanctions has also become the best answer to the criticism we got last week when we said “we need to be very careful” while discussing increasing trade volume with the U.S. to 100 billion dollars.
