69 million page views

Washington and the Turkish octopus there

Reader comment on item: Kastelorizo - Mediterranean Flashpoint?
in response to reader comment: a shame

Submitted by Ianus (Poland), Feb 25, 2012 at 11:09

myth wrote :

>I read about Kastelorizo here first. I find it hard to understand that Greece has not yet asked the EU for support on the matter while negotiating with the EU. A shame the EU has not offered it.<

What can the EU - an empire without an army, a giant with feet of clay - offer ? Just words! When in January 1996 the Imia crisis erupted, on the 15th of February the European Parliament adopted a resolution "On the provocative actions and contestation of sovereign rights by Turkey against a Member State of the Union" where it is said clearly what the EU really can do on such occasions, namely "deplore","stress", "call for compliance" and "instruct" and explicitly admit "the failure of the European Union and its member States in this crisis" :

[ " The European Parliament

A. having regard to Turkey's provocative military operations in relation to the isle of Imia in the Eastern Aegean ......

C. having regard to Turkey's official statements making territorial claims and contesting the sovereign rights of an EU Member State,

D. whereas the islet of Imia belongs to the Dodecanese group of islands, on the basis of the Lausanne Treaty of 1923, the Protocol between Italy and Turkey of 1932 and the Paris Treaty of 1947, and whereas even on Turkish maps from the 1960s, these islets are shown as Greek territory,

E. whereas this action by Turkey forms part of a broader policy of questioning the status quo in the Aegean,

1. Gravely concerned by the dangerous violation by Turkey of sovereign rights of Greece, a Member State of the European Union and by the build-up of military tension in the Aegean;

2. Deplores the fact that Greece and Turkey appeared to be on the brink of hostilities and calls for an immediate stop to all actions which endanger peace and stability in this area;

3. Stresses that Greece's borders are also part of the external borders of the European Union;

4. Calls for compliance by Turkey with international treaties, and in particular the OSCE, which insists that all disputes be settled by peaceful means in accordance with international law;

5. Deplores the failure of the European Union and its Member States in this crisis, to take effective action within the framework of the common foreign and security policy;

7. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Government of Turkey, the Parliament of Greece and the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. "]

At that time the crisis was ended not by an impotent and belated resolution of an impotent entity that "deplores", "stresses","calls for compliance", "instructs" and admits its own failure but by a blunt and brutal phrase by Assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke "Whoever shoots first will have big problems with Washington!!!"

The shameful thing about this brusque denouement after a 48 hour-long confrontation around Imia is that it actually solved nothing but simply put off the real issue until later. Bullying and threatening America humiliated the victim and didn't punish the provocateur and aggressor. Greece had to remove its flag from its own, internationally recognized territory while the Turks despite breaking international law went unscathed. Instead of being punished for starting the row they continue to call the Greek territory a "disputed grey zone" and are waiting for a better occasion to try their luck again. What happened corresponds roughly the pattern of events in the wake of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974 which makes the suspicion that also on this occasion the US supported the Moslem aggressor fairly obvious.

Now the opportunity for Turkey to strike again will come when enough politicians in Washington (where - to paraphrase Bismarck's saying - the map of the world is spread ) are bought by Turkey and people already bribed to work for Turkey and when the final message to the Greek and Turkish forces deployed around Kastelorizo, Imia or Gavdos is going to change to be "Whoever shoots at our staunch Turkish allies will have big problems with Washington !!!".

It goes without saying that in Washington it is not not only Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that has accepted dirty money from the Turks to boost her career. The most potent and effective tool Turkey uses to corrupt and bias America is the American Turkish Council (ATC) which came to the public attention when its long standing dirty dealings with senior US officials, business people and top military and cultural elites were suddenly revealed by whistle blower Sibel Edmonds and her colleagues. Needles to say, all were in due course gagged, hushed up and played down by the US government. Especially refined methods were used to silence Sibel Edmonds who had too much first hand knowledge on what was going on between the ATC and the US power elite .

The best analytical description of the ATC I know of is as follows :

"While the ATC is an Association in name and in charter, the reality is that it and other affiliated Associations are the US government. Theirs is the voice that matters and is the one that is heard on television and radio networks through the mouths of news-readers, senators, congressmen, presidents and military leaders. It is in and through such Associations that US political, economic and military policy is made and the American public subsequently 'educated' to support policies that are not, and could not, be debated in public because of their illegality, audacity, complexity and, arguably, necessity."

Stanton likens the ATC to the "game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon [which] is based on the premise that the famed actor Kevin Bacon is the center of the entertainment universe and that any actor or actress can be linked back to him within six degrees. Replace Kevin Bacon," Stanton says, "with ATC leaders and/or members, and you are sure to find that any corporation, military leader, government official, former politician, and even actor can be linked back to the ATC within six degrees. The ATC is an extraordinary group of elite and interconnected group of Republicans, Democrats and corporate/military heavyweights who are spearheading one of the most ambitious strategic gambits in US history...

In fact, he continues, in "2004 the ATC was led by Bush family insider LTG Brent Scowcroft , USAF (Ret.) who served as Chairman of the Board. George Perlman of Lockheed Martin was the Executive Vice President and Marise Stewart of Textron the Vice President. Executives from every major US and Turkish corporation are members. Among them are Mars (candy),Coca Cola , Atlantic Records, Shell Oil, ExxonMobil ,Pfizer ,General Dynamics Northrop Grumman, Hyatt and Phillip Morris. Dozens of retired US Flag officers, ex-ambassadors and representatives sit on the ATC Board of Directors...Counted amongst ATC's hundreds of members are think-tanks "like the Eisenhower Institute, CSIS, Brookings Institute, and the American Enterprise Institute. Among member universities are "Georgetown University, the University of Washington and the University of Chicago." Other members include "the Livingston Group (Bob Livingston, ex-Congressman), the Cohen Group (William S. Cohen ex-SECDEF) and ex-Congressman Stephen Solarz. All three are paid big-bucks by the Turkish interests to work on their behalf in the halls of the US Congress and the Pentagon".

It's worth bearing that in mind whenever we hear of incessant Turkish provocations, territorial claims, "freedom flotillas", threats, aggressions, bullying, genocide denials,Turkish inroads into Northern Iraq,persecutions of Kurds by the Turkish army and police, Turkish drug and human trafficking, and other criminal activities and yet nothing happens to bring the culprit to account. Washington falls adamantly silent while the EU issues resolutions that "deplore, stress, call for compliance and instruct" which are hardly worth the price of the paper upon which they are written.

The secret is simple enough. Too many important people in Washington where the real power is concentrated are interested in the uninterrupted flow of Turkish cash to their own bank accounts and those of the corporations and lobbying groups they represent to really bother about such antiquated things as justice,international law or decency. That they are also very interested in using Moslem Turkey as their battering ram and/or Trojan horse to re-shape Eurasia according to their new global US strategy as described in Brzezinski's "Grand Chessboard" is also obvious enough. The temporary benefit seems to be mutual. Turkey is allowed to play her favorite historical role of a thug in the region and to be secure from retaliation she pays protection money to the world policeman while the world policeman is happy to have things done to achieve his strategic goals and promote his interest through the Turkish thug.

>Greece enjoys a quasi-colony-status now.<

All smaller EU member-states enjoy that status too. The EU is after all nothing but a corrupt hyper-bureaucratic autocracy. The bigger EU members enjoy roughly the same status in relation to a bigger empire.

> In return the EU, that is mainly us the Germans and France, should offer substantial protection.Greece itself is forced to cut budgets, including the defence budget.<

I am afraid that, like its US model, Germany is more interested in selling to Turkey its military and other industrial equipments and products and in appeasing the numerous Turkish Fifth Column on her own soil than in defending a victim of Turkish jihad. And France with its aggressive Moslem minority will rather think twice before it openly sides with a Christian country against a Moslem aggressor who enjoys full support by the US at that.

Dislike (2)
Submitting....

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

Submit a comment on this item

Reader comments (70) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
10Kastelorizo is just a sign [583 words]AlexandrosFeb 27, 2012 11:47193708
3Florida of Europe [292 words]MozereFeb 28, 2012 10:26193708
6other benchmarks [45 words]the Grand Infidel of KaffiristanFeb 28, 2012 20:27193708
4Not exactly [724 words]AlexandrosFeb 29, 2012 06:19193708
14"Wounds which a mentally sterile Asiatic horde inflicted on Christian civilization still bleed after 500 years " [2725 words]IanusFeb 29, 2012 16:47193708
4A question or two [417 words]IanusFeb 29, 2012 17:47193708
3Answers to Ianus, hope to hear more opinions and from others [1445 words]AlexandrosMar 1, 2012 11:41193708
2regional cooperation [322 words]MozereMar 1, 2012 12:22193708
9Additional reply to Mozere comments [1856 words]AlexandrosMar 2, 2012 08:05193708
6Wrong side repenting and apologizing [902 words]IanusMar 11, 2012 12:07193708
1Islamic civilisation [635 words]MozereMar 13, 2012 11:57193708
3The so salled "Islamic civilisation" [59 words]Young MCMar 13, 2012 18:39193708
7"Islamic civilization" = the Skull Tower of Nis and the Skull Cathedral of Otranto [864 words]IanusMar 13, 2012 19:26193708
1Answers to both Ianus and Mozere. [444 words]AlexandrosMar 15, 2012 10:51193708
3Sackcloth and ashes while the hungry wolves are howling around [749 words]IanusMar 16, 2012 18:38193708
1Ianus [350 words]AlexandrosMar 18, 2012 07:28193708
4A prominent former board member of the American Turkish Council [2050 words]IanusMar 21, 2012 16:37193708
"Moved" was describing the action [14 words]AlexandrosMar 23, 2012 18:43193708
7Those who didn't manage to "move" [538 words]IanusMar 24, 2012 11:15193708
2Not what i meant [298 words]AlexandrosMar 25, 2012 05:13193708
6The Turkish massacres of Phocea 12.06.1914 [763 words]IanusMar 28, 2012 17:16193708
1I would suggest another book [70 words]AlexandrosMar 29, 2012 03:46193708
Thanks [99 words]IanusApr 1, 2012 16:30193708
2Not so easy! [209 words]Pantelis GiannopoulosJun 25, 2012 14:00193708
6EU Turkish Arranged Marriage Plans [263 words]RebeccaFeb 25, 2012 23:24193650
Give them blank cheques [69 words]MozereFeb 27, 2012 00:39193650
4Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo - a strategic bridgehead for the Second Ottoman Invasion of Europe ? [564 words]IanusFeb 27, 2012 18:23193650
3a shame [69 words]mythFeb 23, 2012 16:35193593
steady on [203 words]MozereFeb 25, 2012 05:24193593
4Washington and the Turkish octopus there [1584 words]IanusFeb 25, 2012 11:09193593
10Recidivist Turkey [1225 words]IanusFeb 26, 2012 18:12193593
Who is a cheat? [344 words]MozereFeb 27, 2012 02:31193593
16The slave hunters' state of the Crimean Tatars and a second disciple of Ataturk [1422 words]IanusMar 1, 2012 15:09193593
1Slavery [279 words]MozereMar 2, 2012 07:37193593
5Adampol (aka Polonezkoy) an moribund ethnographic zoo in Turkey and Nazim Hikmet vs. Ataturk's police state [1142 words]IanusMar 3, 2012 08:10193593
17Tripolitsa or from Lord Byron to Mozere the Turk [2270 words]IanusMar 4, 2012 17:30193593
4Islamic slavery then and now [1588 words]IanusMar 16, 2012 14:54193593
1Kastelorizo an Italian name [31 words]MozereFeb 20, 2012 08:44193512
1Criminal Minded State Propaganda [17 words]Young MCFeb 21, 2012 14:17193512
1Continental shelf [199 words]MozereFeb 22, 2012 06:12193512
23An outpost against Turkish jihad [1265 words]IanusFeb 22, 2012 11:16193512
5Bellicosity and Misleading Propaganda [275 words]Young MCFeb 23, 2012 09:36193512
7Islands have a full right to continental shelf [1199 words]IanusFeb 24, 2012 08:18193512
3Islands do not have an automatic right to EEZ [278 words]MozereFeb 26, 2012 04:08193512
3Continental Shelf and Mozere's "Vikings" [430 words]Young MCFeb 27, 2012 12:15193512
7Tyrkjaránið - An Ottoman slave-hunting raid in Iceland 1627 [1574 words]IanusFeb 27, 2012 16:48193512
4more details [62 words]the Grand Infidel of KaffiristanFeb 27, 2012 21:57193512
p.s. [18 words]the Grand Infidel of KaffiristanFeb 27, 2012 22:25193512
Law applies to everybody equally [143 words]MozereFeb 28, 2012 06:49193512
1Islands and constructed EEZ claims [461 words]Young MCFeb 28, 2012 11:51193512
7Turkey has implicitly admited to be a thug. [805 words]IanusFeb 29, 2012 13:56193512
6The biggest mosque in Kosovo to be built by the (Islamic) Republic of Turkey [167 words]IanusFeb 29, 2012 17:13193512
1Turkey can't pick and choose the territory it claims as and when it discovers oil and gas [377 words]Francis WilsonDec 25, 2012 08:14193512
10Imia [1045 words]IanusFeb 17, 2012 15:28193427
1game of interests [98 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
athinagorasFeb 17, 2012 09:06193421
8Another Crusade? = ... damn the locals [378 words]Kali SimpsonFeb 10, 2012 09:40193269
7Turkification through extermination [580 words]IanusFeb 17, 2012 10:43193269
1Dear Ianus - you say tomato, I say potato. [416 words]KaliFeb 17, 2012 21:50193269
11Clarification on EEZ map [220 words]HamiltonAFeb 9, 2012 19:55193256
4eerily similar to the 1970s and 1980s [192 words]JohnFeb 9, 2012 04:56193244
15Just a remark! [67 words]Jim Pap.Feb 8, 2012 08:09193200
re transport info [36 words]annmarieJul 31, 2013 20:45193200
1Kastelorizo - Mediterranean Flashpoint [119 words]JudithFeb 7, 2012 21:40193186
1reason for war [116 words]havasFeb 12, 2012 08:31193186
2"Not too different..." - In Your Dreams! [51 words]Young MCFeb 12, 2012 19:08193186
2The Reasons Are Plenty - Which One is the Most Tempting [206 words]M. ToveyFeb 13, 2012 13:44193186
26Israel, Cyprus and Greece are natural friends and allies [179 words]Andrew M.Feb 7, 2012 19:36193175
1Greece [95 words]Lujack SkylarkFeb 8, 2012 19:30193175
Remember the Name Kastelorizo; You Heard It Here First- Kudos Dr. Pipes [43 words]M. ToveyFeb 7, 2012 18:18193172
3Diaspora [79 words]NickLlewellynJul 26, 2012 11:29193172

Follow Daniel Pipes

Facebook   Twitter   RSS   Join Mailing List

All materials by Daniel Pipes on this site: © 1968-2024 Daniel Pipes. daniel.pipes@gmail.com and @DanielPipes

Support Daniel Pipes' work with a tax-deductible donation to the Middle East Forum.Daniel J. Pipes

(The MEF is a publicly supported, nonprofit organization under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code.

Contributions are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law. Tax-ID 23-774-9796, approved Apr. 27, 1998.

For more information, view our IRS letter of determination.)