Turkey using Ankara blast as pretext for Syria war: Activist

Press TV has interviewed Eric Draitser, founder of stopimperialism.com in New York, to discuss the remarks made by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, saying he had "no doubt" that the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) carried out the recent bombing in the capital, Ankara.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: How do you feel now that it is the day after Turkey immediately pretty much blamed Syrian Kurdish forces, even the Syrian government and even to an extent Russia?

Draitser: Well it is laughable, it is disingenuous and utterly cynical but I suppose it is far for the course for President Erdogan to say that because in fact what he is doing is the same thing that he has done with previous attacks in Ankara and elsewhere in Turkey, namely using this as a pretext to justify an undoubtedly, illegitimate and criminal war that he is waging in Syria. Turkey’s position has been, I think, quite obvious now for a long time including its central role in fomenting the war in Syria, including its now open war against the Syrian Kurds and all of this is of course illegal under international law.

This is precisely what the Russians are arguing. This is precisely why Russia is now bringing it before the UN Security Council. The news of the day is that this is now going to become a UN issue and it is going to be very interesting to see exactly where the United States and its allies on the Security Council position themselves on this issue. Are they going to stand behind their NATO ally which is undeniably acting like a criminal regime?

We should be very careful also to make assumptions about the identity and the true narrative of who carried out the attack in Ankara. It certainly seems to me quite interesting, quite timely and coincidental how each time Turkey finds itself with its back against the wall politically, you have a very convenient attack inside of Turkey to then justify the policies, the aggressiveness, the belligerence of Erdogan and his government and again we see the same thing playing out.

Now it should be noted and I want to just stress this very carefully for listeners and for viewers; Turkish intelligence has been directly involved in staging a number of incidents, including those leaked reportings of Turkish intelligence discussing how to create a false flag inside of Syria to justify their incursions into the country. This is documented. Turkish media has outed this publicly. Why are we not asking these questions in the West and why is this relegated to the realm of conspiracy theory when in fact we know that documented history shows Turkish activity in that regard?

Press TV: So let’s talk about the United States because obviously Erdogan went after the US very specifically because he said their weapons went into Daesh hands eventually through the Syrian Kurds. The US says it supports Syrian Kurds, Turkey calls them terrorists, where will the US side do you think?

Draitser: Well the US has put itself in a precarious position here because it cannot openly break with a NATO partner at the same time. The United States …, look, let’s be honest about it. The United States, the neo-cons as well as the neoliberals, the imperial establishment, they care very little for the plight of Kurds, they care very little for Kurdish self-determination or any of this. What they care most about is the fact that the Kurds of Syria are increasingly looking to Moscow to back their position. They are increasingly looking to Vladimir Putin for a major alliance and for backing them in not only the war but also in the post-war political landscape. That is what Washington is particularly fearful of and that is why I think there are certainly certain corridors in Washington who are deeply concerned about Erdogan’s increasingly erratic positions and the fact that Erdogan is essentially forcing the US political establishment to choose sides here and to side against the Kurds who are an important ally.

So in fact the United States really sees that one of its principle allies in the region -Turkey - is in fact working against its own interests when it comes to trying to pry the Kurds away from the Russians. There is a geopolitical context to all of this and that is of course completely missing from the Western narrative where it is overly simplified and where Turkey is presented as a victim when it is clearly and unmistakably an aggressor just like the United States.  

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