İZMİR - Drawing attention to the war that Turkey has been waging in the Federated Kurdistan Region for 7 months, retired pilot Bahadır Altan said, "NATO's 2nd largest army could not get the desired result against a force that has no air defense force against it, and despite the support of the KDP."

 

Turkey's offensive policies towards the Federated Kurdistan and Northern and Eastern Syria are getting tougher as Turkey could not get any results. Videos of chemical weapons attacks on Zap, Avaşîn and Metina regions, HPG statements and developments in Rojava show that Turkey is heading towards a stalemate of war. In addition to the fact that Heyet Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led by Al Nusra, took control of Afrin, artillery fire continues on the Rojava line. The process that continues with the approval of the USA and Russia is putting the Middle East into a new process together with the rebellion in Iran.

 

Altan stated that although most of the society in Turkey does not want war, they think it is neccessary and that Turkey is fighting "terrorism", Altan told that the people in Turkey does not feel the effects of the war in their bones. Noting that the people in Turkey are not aware of the possible crimes against humanity and the ones that have already been committed, Altan said: “The government is afraid people will be aware of their crimes. Undoubtedly, there is no evidence based on very concrete research. It is an independent committee that will ensure this. This is what Sebnem Korur Fincancı pointed out. But they can't even tolerate it. Because with the ripple of guilt, they want to silence everyone thinking that the society may react when they learn the truth. In the 7-month war in Northern Iraq, NATO's 2nd largest army could not get the desired result against a force that had no air defense forces and despite the guidance and support of the KDP. The AKP government wants to achieve a great 'success' on the way to the elections and use it for their survival. It couldn't do that. I think they can do anything and commit any crime in this situation."

 

Bahadır Altan

 

THIRD WORLD WAR

 

Pointing out that this may have different consequences, Altan said that all wars are waged as a result of the attitudes of countries that invite foreign interventions to their internal problems. Pointing out that the issue that led to the disintegration of Syria was Assad's policies in Northern Syria, Altan said, "The incident in which the coalition forces were involved in the war was the result of Assad's chemical attack, which resulted in the death of 80 people. Damascus was hit with 105 missiles right after that. Iraq as well. Saddam committed a massacre in Halabja using chemical weapons. He then attacked his southern neighbor. As a result, Iraq was divided by world intervention. In such countries, the superpowers are waiting for the situation to mature, even encouraging them, by condoning the attacks and massacres of the governments. Turkey's attacks have such a meaning. The developments in the Ukrainian war show that the 3rd world war is at our doorstep. Turkey completely handed over the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant to Russia. Now, under the pretext of protecting the power plant, a radar is being built and no one can enter or control the area. We can say that the S-400s will also be deployed and used for this purpose. What this means is that Turkey offers Russia a base on the Mediterranean coast like the Incirlik Air Base it gave to the USA, which is exactly what makes the country a conflict zone for the superpowers.”

 

DEMOCRATIC SOLUTION APPROACH

 

Altan said that all these developments make it necessary for Turkey to solve its own problems in a democratic way, but there is a government that does the opposite and believes that it will solve the problems with war. “This is our biggest misfortune,” said Altan, and continued: “This is not just about the what is being said about the use of chemical weapons or tactical nuclear weapons. For example, retired Lieutenant General Erdoğan Karakuş said on television that the land forces had these weapons. There are nuclear warheads in Turkey within the framework of NATO. We know this too. All this strengthens the possibilities that the 3rd world war will be in Turkey, again in the form of a proxy war and large enough to cover the Middle East. For this reason, there is a need for an understanding that will solve the problems through negotiations through democratic means, that will not allow foreign interventions, and that will help the country develop economically again with peace. Unfortunately, on the contrary, Turkey is governed by an AKP-MHP policy that wants to stay in power at all costs. As the whole world sees the attacks abroad, they don't care if Turkey is getting lonely and the country is going to war."

 

SAME APPROACH IN ROJAVA

 

Stating that the same understanding is also experienced in Rojava, Altan underlined that artillery fire and drone attacks continue in this region where ground operations are not allowed. Altan said, “Cannonballs play a role in the military sense; the artillery fire is not as precise as a laser guided weapon. It can also hit the regions around the determined coordinate. Because the cannonball travels by following a long flight path. It is also affected by the wind. If you declare an area to be completely hostile, you will fire that area recklessly. This is how civilians and children who had a picnic in Iraq lost their lives. Houses in villages are bombed. The security corridor is such an issue. If you declare everyone there as terrorists, you will slaughter all the people there. In Afrin, which is also under the control of Turkey, the HTS organization took control using the FSA gangs. Turkey watched the conflicts between these gangs and only mediated, perhaps consciously allowed it. Clearing the forces that previously stopped ISIS there and handing over the region to gangs like Al Nusra means creating an Islamist terror corridor that could cause much more trouble for Turkey."

 

POSITION OF THE OPPOSITION

 

Emphasizing that the opposition is on the side of the government against all these, Altan pointed out that this increases the aggression of the government. Reminding that Şebnem Korur Fincancı's statement demanding that the allegations be investigated, the CHP made a statement saying that no Turkish soldier has ever done anything wrong, Altan said: "What you are protecting here is not the Turkish soldiers, but the wrongdoings of the government. Because the army defined as Mehmetçik no longer exists. The army is no longer made up of people doing traditional military service. Since the 2000s, the professional army has been adopted, the compulsory military service has been reduced to 6 months, and there is now an army of mercenaries. Therefore, it is necessary to be suspicious of a government that has risked everything to stay in power and pumps unrealistic information to the public on every issue. But the Nation Alliance thinks the same as the government, as if the AKP-MHP were only telling the truth on this issue. This will not solve any of Turkey's problems. It is not possible to solve any of the problems of the people in Turkey, where the Kurdish issue, which is Turkey's most fundamental problem, has not reached a democratic solution through peaceful means."

 

'LET'S STEP UP THE DEMAND FOR PEACE' 

 

Altan said, "The gravity of the situation is better seen when examples of artillery and chemical weapons are combined with the lawlessness in domestic politics." Altan continued, "A science women and journalists were arrested. Do you think a government violating its own laws will obey the war laws outside? Society needs to think about this. We need to spread the need for peace to all segments of society so that governments do not turn to such crimes and wars end. Peace cannot be achieved without the pressure of society. If we wake up when a third world war, in which nuclear weapons will be used, it will be too late. We have no choice but to step up the demand for peace, which will put a stop to this aggressive attitude of the government, which has already drawn the war to our country."

 

MA / Tolga Güney