Normally I stay far away from the rumor mill. Typically, most rumors turn out to be false.
However, actions in Turkey suggest at least some substance to this rumor. Moreover, it’s entirely believable. First let’s tune in to what Bloomberg reports (which I also commented on yesterday).
Please consider Turkey Blocks YouTube After Syria Incursion Plans Leaked
Turkey defended its decision to block YouTube after a leaked recording of a meeting where top officials discussed a possible military incursion into Syria appeared on the site.
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu today equated the leak to an “attack on Turkey’s borders” in an interview with NTV television. Davutoglu said he had chaired the meeting with the head of national intelligence and other military and diplomatic officials to discuss how to respond to threats by Islamist militants against an enclave of Turkish territory inside Syria. Some sections of the tape were “doctored,” the foreign ministry said in a statement yesterday.
The leaked tape is the latest in a series of recordings posted anonymously on the Internet since December, some of them allegedly from a police investigation, which have embroiled Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a corruption scandal and led to the departure of four cabinet ministers. It comes before weekend local elections, where Erdogan is seeking a victory that he says will lay to rest the allegations of graft.
Under fire since the corruption investigation burst into the open in December, he has purged dozens of prosecutors and thousands of police, as well as imposing media curbs. Yesterday’s YouTube shutdown follows similar measures against Twitter last week. The government says some of the recordings were assembled by montage.
What We Know
The above is what is claimed by Erdogan and discussed by Bloomberg. We do know that Erdogan tried to shut down Twitter (but failed), and he did shut down YouTube.
He also called the leak an act of treason and refused to let media even discuss the allegation. What follows is the rumor.
Turkey Transcript
Here is the alleged Turkey Transcript involving a plot to invade Syria.
Select Quotes
Hakan FİDAN: But hear me out, we know how to put two and to together. Now, we know that what happens there has no real strategic value for us, besides the political outward appearance and whatever. Now, if we are going to enter a war, let us plan this beforehand and do it. Now, I..
Yaşar GÜLER: That’s what we’ve been saying since the beginning.
THE FIFTH SCREEN
Hakan FİDAN: Now, what I can’t accept is this: we are accepting the risk of using weapons for the sake of the Tomb of Suleiman Shah. It’s 10 acres of our country’s land and we are accepting to risk a war for it, for the *thing* of our 22-28 soldiers over there, for God’s sake, how many kilometers of this country’s land lie on the Syrian border? And we don’t risk a war for for thousands of kilometers of land and the lives of millions of people? That’s not logical! If we are going to use weapons, let’s do it from the beginning. If these guys pose a threat..
THE SIXTH SCREEN
Ahmet DAVUTOĞLU: Keep this between us, but the Prime Minister told me on the phone that in this conjuncture, we count this (the proposed false flag attack on the Tomb of Suleiman Shah) amongst our options.
Hakan FİDAN: Commander, if we really need a reason, I’ll send 4 guys to the other side, I’ll get them to launch 8 rockets at empty places. That’s no problem! If we need a reason, we can produce it. The thing is to show a mutual will for that. We are exerting a will for war here, and nevertheless we are making the same mistake as we always do, the mistake of not being able to think properly.
Feridun SİNİRLİOĞLU: I’ll tell you this, it’s 10 acres of land. 10 acres of land is a very strong casus belli in the international jurisprudence, also for justification if we do this operation against the ISIL, we’ll have the entire world behind us. Have no worries about that.
THE SEVENTH SCREEN
Feridun SİNİRLİOĞLU: We need justification, justification.
Hakan FİDAN: I told you, I can produce justification if need be. Justification is no problem.
THE EIGHTH SCREEN
Ahmet DAVUTOĞLU: Many a times I’ve had amicable conversations with Kerry, he asked me precisely about whether we’ve agreed on a final decision on this strike..
….
This is translated by Doğukan Piyale. I am probably putting my life at risk, but the State never runs out of assassins, so if I’m going to die, I’m going to die anyway. I just wanted to serve the international community and my people by letting everyone know about these warmongering bastards.
Entirely Believable
I do not know whether that is an accurate translation of a real tape or not. But the fact is, it is entirely believable.
Moreover, shutting down YouTube, and then banning media discussion of the tape, while calling its release an act of treason, lends further credence to the rumor.
True or not, that something of this nature could be so easily believable says a ton about the corrupt state of global politics.
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com