Operation Featherweight: Month 29, Week 5, Day 2.

In 1994 Recep Tayyip Erdogan became Mayor of the Turkish city of Istanbul. He represented the Islamist Welfare Party (RP).

At a Welfare Party rally in 1997  Erdogan recited a poem by famous Turkish poet Ziya Goklap. However Erdogan changed the words to instruct his Islamist followers that; "The mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets and the faithful our soldiers" in a call for his holy Muslim army to overthrow the secular Turkish state.

Obviously this call for armed insurrection and religious warfare did not go down well with the secular Turkish state. So Erdogan was sent to prison for 10 months and the Welfare Party was disbanded.

Upon release from prison Erdogan formed the Islamist Justice & Development Party (AKP) who are sometimes known simply as; "The AK." In the 2002 the AKP won a large Parliamentary majority. However due to his conviction for inciting violence and racial hatred Erdogan was unable to take up the post of Prime Minister.

So the AKP simply made Abdullah Gul Prime Minister. Gul's one task as Prime Minister was to quash Erdogan's conviction allowing him to take over as Prime Minister in early 2003. Erdogan then set about pursuing a Neo-Ottoman strategy. In short he wants to re-establish the Ottoman Empire - the last Islamist Caliphate.

In early 2011 the people of Egypt overthrew the dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak. Egypt hat always been extremely important to the Ottoman Empire. It was the defeat of the Egypt based Mamluk Empire in the 16th century that allowed the Ottoman Empire to expand across the entire Middle-East, North Africa (MENA) region.

So Erdogan leapt at this opportunity to realise his dream of a new Ottoman Empire by installing the puppet regime of Islamist Mohamed Morsi in power in Egypt. Unfortunately for Erdogan in July 2013 the Egyptian people decided that they didn't want to be part of a new Ottoman Empire so overthrow Morsi just as they'd done with Mubarak.

Since then Erdogan has been sponsoring Islamist terror groups - particularly the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant's (ISIL) Sinai Province - to wage a low intensity armed insurrection and religious war in the hope of overthrowing Egypt's secular state. I say "low intensity" but it's got to the point where I now barely read the reports of terror attacks in Egypt. There are just some many of them and the strategic analysis is always the same.

Obviously control of Turkey and control of Egypt isn't much of an empire. So while he was trying to install the Morsi regime in Egypt Erdogan has also been trying to bulldoze his way through Syria and Iraq. He has done this by sponsoring Islamist terror groups - specifically ISIL and the allied Army of Conquest/Jaish al-Fatah (JAF) coalition - to wage religious warfare in the hope of overthrowing both the nominally secular Iraqi state and the secular Syrian state.

On August 25th 2016 (25/8/16) Erdogan even went so far as to send regular Turkish troops to illegally invade and occupy Syria. Specifically a roughly 100km (60 mile) wide area between Azaz/Kilis and the Euphrates River. The purpose of this invasion was to preserve supply lines running between Turkey and ISIL to the south-east and the JAF to the south-west. As such this area has become known as; "Garvaghy Road."

Erdogan's dreams of empire hit a small snag in August 2014 when he exceeded the term limits on Prime Minister's laid out in the Turkish constitution.

So Erdogan simply stepped down as Prime Minister and took up the ceremonial role of President. Erdogan then appointed Ahmet Davutoglu as Prime Minister. However in May 2016 Davutoglu made the mistake of disagreeing with Erdogan so Erdogan simply replaced him with the much more obedient Bilial Yidirim.

In taking on the role of President Erdogan's plan was always to change the constitution to make the President rather than the Prime Minister head of Turkey's executive branch. And presumably scrap Presidential term limits while he's at it.

This plan hit another little snag in June 2015 when the Turkish people rejected the AKP in the General Election leaving it without the Parliamentary majority it needed to change the constitution.

However fortunately for Erdogan US President Barack Obama decided to swoop in and side with Erdogan against the Turkish people. He gave Erdogan permission to start bombing Kurdish anti-ISIL forces in northern Iraq. This ended the ceasefire with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) or more accurately their armed wing the People's Defence Forces (HPG).

As I'm sure Americans who remember the aftermath of the September 11th 2001 (11/9/01) terror attacks will know moving Turkey to a war footing allowed Erdogan to silence all opposition to him. Wrapped in the flag and soaked in the blood of the martyrs the AKP went on to secure a small majority in the new election that Erdogan held in November 2015.

On July 15th 2016 (15/7/16) Erdogan's dreams of empire hit another tiny little snag in the form of a popular uprising against his dictatorship. This pitted the Turkish military who are loyal to the constitution against the Turkish police who are loyal to Erdogan.

However once again US President Obama swooped into side with Erdogan against the Turkish people. Just as the intifada reached a critical stage the US broadcaster CNN gave Erdogan airtime - or more accurately Facetime - to re-establish his rule over the long suffering nation.

I'm sure those who are familiar with recent Turkish and Egyptian politics will know that the Rihanna single; "Sledgehammer" is dedicated to the preservation of the Erdogan regime.

On November 8th (8/11/16) Erdogan's dream's of empire hit a much more substantial snag.

US Presidential term limits meant that Erdogan's main protector Barack Obama was forced to stand down. What made matters much worse is that US voters decided not to give the job of President to Obama's designated successor; Hillary Clinton.

I can't speak for incoming US President Donald Trump but I think it is unlikely that he will extend the same level of support and protection to Erdogan as Obama did. After all Barack Obama seems so enamoured with Erdogan that Michelle Obama is probably feeling quite jealous.

In a possible sign that a great a dark cloud is beginning to lift from the continent on November 24th (24/11/16) the European Parliament voted to suspend talks with Turkey over its plans to join the European Union (EU). There have also been some rumblings from the US Army Corp of Engineers regarding occupation camps and legal easements.

Starting to worry Erdogan has embarked on a campaign to find out where he stands in the Donald Trump era;

On November 29th (29/11/16) a fire tore through a school dormitory in the town of Aladag in Turkey's Adana province. I covered this in detail here; http://watchitdie.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/operation-featherweight-month-29-week-3_10.html

However the summary version is that Adana is one of the main ports at which Erdogan has been stuffing irregular migrants/refugees onto boats to Europe as he works with ISIL and the JAF to ethnically cleanse the new Ottoman Empire. The spectacle of the fire brought back memories of very serious Islamist terror attacks in Chibok in Nigeria, Garissa in Kenya and Peshawar in Pakistan.

As such the fire was intended as a threat to the EU. Either give Erdogan exactly what he wants or he will once again flood Europe with irregular migrants/refugees. Hidden amongst them will be Islamists terrorists under instruction to carry out mass casualty attacks on the scale of the Paris Massacres, the Nice Massacre or the Brussels attacks.

On December 10th (10/12/16) Erdogan staged a bombing against police officers at the Besiktas football stadium on the European side of the Bosporus Strait. Again I covered this in detail here; http://watchitdie.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/operation-featherweight-month-29-week-4.html

However the summary version is that apart from being a threat to Russia that Erdogan would close the Bosporus Strait this was again a threat to Europe. Either give Erdogan exactly what he wants or expect Islamist terror attacks.

After all three days before the Brussels attacks Erdogan gave a speech on the shores of the Bosporus marking the 100th anniversary of the Canakkale/Gallipoli campaign. On the subject of terrorism Erdogan said; "Brussels will be next."

On December 12th (12/12/16) Erdogan's dreams of empire came crashing down around his ears. Backed by Russia the Syrians finally managed to liberate the northern Syrian city of Aleppo from the Army of Conquest.

This is the equivalent of a very large road block being placed across Garvaghy Road. With Aleppo City liberated Erdogan is no longer able to supply Army of Conquest positions south of there. I guess that makes the northern neighbourhoods of Aleppo City; "Drumcree's Church of Ascension."

Since then Erdogan has been engaged in something of a mad scramble. What he's been trying to do is forcibly transfer Aleppo City's civilian population to an area to the south-west around Idlib City which is under Army of Conquest control. This area has been designated; "The Sudetenland."

In the Sudetenland Erdogan is trying to build a particular camp controlled by the regular Turkish military for the civilians who have been forcibly transferred from Aleppo City. Although the exact location has not yet been selected let alone the camp actually built it has already been designated as; "Long Kesh."

Russia and to a lesser extent Syria have said that they are okay with Erdogan's plan to transfer some of Aleppo City's civilians. They are even prepared to provide green buses to facilitate transfer. However in return they want Erdogan to release an equal or greater number of Syrian civilians already being held hostage within the Sudetenland - specifically in the villages of Foua and Kefraya.

As a result this is starting to resemble the sort prisoner for hostage swap deal that were so popular during that golden age of international terrorism - the 1970's. However as I've said it's probably best that absolutely nobody involved in this situation talks to the police.

I don't think it is possible for me to overstate the extent to which France has helped absolutely no-one with it's attempts to raise this situation at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

However there have certainly been some interesting noises coming from the UK.

At around 18:40 on 20/12/16 (UK date) I'll try and pick this up after dinner. But even if I do it seems unlikely that I'll be finished tonight.

Edited at around 20:35 on 20/12/16 (UK date) to add;


For example on Friday (16/12/16) the UK announced that it will be sending extra humanitarian aid to help the civilians of Aleppo City. However crucially it did not make clear whether this aid will go to the civilians who remain in Aleppo City or only to the civilians who promise to join Erdogan in the Sudetenland.

What Erdogan, France and the US have been trying to do is use humanitarian aid to coerce civilians onto the buses to the Sudetenland by telling them that they will allow those who remain to starve to death.

So you remember all those times people have stood up and accused the Syrian government of using starvation as a weapon of war? Well it's true. That is exactly what the people making those accusations have themselves been doing.

Fortunately over the weekend France and the US at least seem to have agreed to stop doing that in Aleppo City.

However I'm disappointed to report that while I've been writing this the Aleppo affiliate of the the International Committee of the Red Cross/Crescent (ICRC) have taken to Twitter via the current US Ambassador to the UN. They seem to be trying to taunt both me and the International Criminal Court (ICC) with the news that while they've forcibly transferred 25,000 civilians from Aleppo City they've only managed to secure the release of 750 hostages from Foua and Kefraya.

Also on Friday (16/12/16) the UK let it be known that it's airforce had unmanned drones in the skies over Aleppo City. That poses the obvious follow up questions of whether they were armed drones or unarmed drone and what other military assets the UK would be able to bring to bear on the situation.

This was of course all occurring against the backdrop of the riot at Her Majesty's Prison (HMP) Birmingham in, well, Birmingham, UK.

Apart from being a bloody good laugh that was intended as a discussion with what to do with the increasing numbers of ISIL & JAF prisoners being held at both the Qarrayah detention facility in Iraq and the Aleppo airport detention facility in Syria.

When I get around to it we will be talking extensively about the technical aspects of operating a prison such as the physical design of the building and what is known as; "The Regime." The prison regime covers things like how many prisoners there are in a cell, whether those prisoners are segregated from each other in any way, how many guards are on duty, etc.

However as the day started making like "Pierre the Famous French Fighter Pilot" (i.e going down in flames) much started be made of the fact that within the British prison system riot control teams are designated; "Tornado." This is the same designation given to the GR4 "Tornado" which functions as the UK airforce's main strike aircraft.

So I suppose if you were suffering from a guilty conscience you might get the impression that the British airforce was saying that it was prepared to conduct airstrikes to prevent the forcible transfer of civilians out of Aleppo City.

Of course if you were suffering from no conscience at all you would be David Cameron. And once again be desperate for the British airforce to act as ISIL's airforce.

So on Saturday (17/12/16) Erdogan staged yet another bombing. This time against a bus carrying airforce personnel in Keysari. This obviously created a spectacle that looked very much as if one of the buses leaving Aleppo City had been resolved by an airstrike.

Also Keysari is almost directly north of Adana. So this again served as a repeated warning to the EU. Either give Erdogan exactly what he wants or expect terror attacks.

However it also seemed very similar to the February 17th 2016 (17/2/16) bombing that Erdogan staged in Ankara.

At the time of that bombing the UK was discussing how to counter the extremist propaganda that was being distributed by both ISIL and JAF terrorists. The 1988 to 1994 UK broadcasting ban on the Northern Irish Troubles obviously played a large part in this discussion. Particularly its failings.

Monday December 12th (12/12/16) JAF terrorists in Aleppo City took to social media in a coordinated campaign to post tearful "Goodbye" messages in which they all claimed the were going to be murdered by the Syrians. On Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday those same terrorists were appearing live on TV across the western media. Not one journalist asked them the obvious question.

Being able to remember the Northern Irish Troubles I think that not only qualifies as; "Giving Voice to the Terrorist Cause" it firmly crosses the line into; "Taking the f*cking p*ss."

The 1988 to 1994 broadcasting ban was brought in as response to the Ballgawley massacre. Here 8 British soldiers were killed when their bus was bombed. The Ankara bombing obviously sought to recreate that.

Britain laughed full in Erdogan's face he tried to blame that attack on the PKK. Ever since then Erdogan has been desperate to know how we can tell that he's lying.

At around 21:45 on 20/12/16 (UK date) there may be a further short rally. However it may not be tonight.

Edited again at around 23:20 on 20/12/16 (UK date) to add;

On the domestic front it almost goes without saying that Erdogan immediately blamed the Keysari bombing on the PKK.

As I may have mentioned once or twice the PKK were formed as part of the great arc of resistance that stretched across the World during the golden age of terrorism. To counter this arc of resistance the NATO nations established their own network of terror groups under the "Gladio" movement. 

To counter the PKK and their armed wing the HPG in Turkey the NATO nations established the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and their armed wing; "The Grey Wolves."

You will notice in the staging of these bombing Erdogan always blames the PKK rather than their armed wing the HPG. This is a deliberate strategy to falsely convince the Turkish people that the predominately Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP) is the political wing of the PKK.

So almost as if it was a reflex honed over 30 years the moment Erdogan blamed the PKK supporters of the MHP - including members of the Grey Wolves - stormed the HDP offices in Keysari.

Keen to show that he is President of all the people Erdogan immediately ordered those MHP supporters to be arrested.

So in June 2015 there were four political parties in Turkey.

But it seems that only one of those political parties will be allowed to vote on this constitutional reform bill.

23:40 on 20/12/16 (UK date).