Bharat Rakshak

love this guy putin...want to here stuff on similar lines from Modi someday...

but western media don't love him a bit ...
Western Media Calls Russia 'Hostile' for Outing Turkey's Dirty Oil Secret



http://sputniknews.com/politics/2015120 ... y-oil.html

On Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry held a briefing detailing the Turkish government's involvement in the trade of Daesh (ISIL) oil.

A day on, instead of starting their own investigations, much of the Western media has instead attacked Russia for presenting the evidence, suggesting that the revelations were 'hostile' and 'confrontational'

At Wednesday's Defense Ministry briefing in Moscow, Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov presented Russian intelligence materials, including photographs, satellite imagery, and detailed maps outlining exactly how "industrial quantities" of oil from Daesh-controlled territories in Syria and Iraq find their way into Turkey, and then on to third countries.

Undoubtedly the most sensational moment in the briefing was Antonov's statement that Turkey's top political leadership, including President Erdogan and his family, are directly involved in the trade of dirty oil.

In the course of his briefing, the deputy defense minister preempted the skeptics by recommending that journalists use the Defense Ministry's findings to continue their own investigations into the shady affair, adding that Turkey should allow journalists "access to the places we showed journalists today."

With independent analysts saying that the briefing's disclosures were an "important first step," which may be followed up with the release of further evidence and an investigation by the UN Security Council, much of the Western media, unfortunately, seems to want to see the fruits of the Russian investigation die on the vine.

The reaction of The Washington Post and The New York Times, amounting to a rehashing of an article by The Associated Press, was blunt, blaming "Russia's top military brass" for "sharply raising the stakes in Moscow's spat with Ankara" through their "bluntly-worded accusations" against the Turkish president.

Deputy Defense Minister Antonov, AP continued, "didn't provide any specific evidence to back up the claims of personal involvement of Erdogan and his family in the oil trade with the IS." Moreover, the Turkish president, the article recalled, had already vowed to resign if Moscow's accusations were proven to be true.

The AP piece cited a spokesman from the US State Department, who "categorically rejected Russia's allegations" (naturally, before really even having a chance to look at them). "We never said oil smuggling from ISIL is not a problem," the spokesman said, but "there is no Turkish government complicity in some operation to buy illegal oil from ISIL. We just don't believe that to be true in any way, shape or form."

For its part, Bloomberg also quickly took to Erdogan's defense, suggesting that the investigation was a sign that Russia was "intensifying its attacks on Turkey," and citing the commentary of a Turkish defense attache who had attended the briefing, who said that "that he had expected a military briefing, rather than 'political accusations'."

Foreign Policy went a step further, trotting out a Harvard expert on Russian energy geopolitics who suggested that the allegations were really just a sign that "Putin's regime, [first] with Ukraine and now Syria, has greatly revamped Russian nationalism."

Other US outlets, including USA Today and Voice of America, focused on Washington's response to the Russian briefing, citing the reactions of the White House, the State Department, and US military commanders, who rushed to defend their allies in Ankara. Col. Steve Warren, anti-ISIL coalition spokesman in Baghdad, emphasized that "the Turks" were actually "great partners" in fighting Daesh.

Across the pond, in the UK, media reaction was generally more of the same. The Guardian headlined their article "Russia Steps Up Hostility Against Turkey With War Room Briefing," sarcastically suggesting that the briefing indicated that "Turkey may have replaced the US as Russia's rhetorical enemy No 1," again instead of focusing on the actual evidence.

The BBC, for its part, also made clear to stick up for their NATO allies, with their article on the briefing headlined "Turkey's Erdogan Says Russia IS Oil Trade Claims are 'Slander'."

Ukrainian Interior Ministry advisor Anton Gerashchenko

The Financial Times again went a step further, suggesting that the revelations are really just another component of the anti-Turkish propaganda which has emerged in the Russian media following the downing of the Russian Su-24. The business newspaper cited the commentary of Ukrainian Interior Ministry advisor Anton Gerashchenko, who suggested that the Russian media's anti-Erdogan campaign was reminiscent of the anti-Kiev campaign it had carried out earlier.

Incidentally, the newspaper forgot to mention that Gerashchenko, a rather smarmy figure in his own right, had earlier called on Ukrainian social media users to publically disclose any information they had on the Russian pilots operating in Syria, in order that terrorists might locate the servicemen and their families and take revenge.

der Spiegel
German intelligence officials criticize the political role of Saudi Arabia. The country is increasingly destabilizing THAT CONDITION in the Arab world, writes the BND in an analysis.


The Federal Intelligence Service (BND) warns of a destabilizing role of Saudi Arabia in the Arab world. "The current cautious diplomatic stance of senior management members of the royal family will be replaced by an impulsive intervention policy", according to an analysis of the German foreign intelligence service.

Especially the role of the new defense minister and son of King Salman Mohammed bin Salman, the German foreign intelligence service provides critical. The economic and foreign political power concentration on the Vice Crown Prince 'harbors latent risk that he in trying to establish itself in the lifetime of his father in the line of succession, overwrought ". With expensive measures or reforms he could draw the ire of other royal family members and the general public in coming. In addition, there was a risk that he "the relations with friendly and most of all Allied countries in the region overused".

King Salman and his son Mohammed wanted to "profile leader of the Arab world" than to write the BND analysts. They tried "to expand with a strong military component and the new regional alliances" the foreign policy agenda of Saudi Arabia.

Less confidence in the US

In the analysis it comes to the position of Saudi Arabia as a "Sunni regional power in the field of tension between foreign policy and domestic political consolidation paradigm shift" in competition with Iran.

Confidence in the USA as protective and regulatory power in the region go back, writes the BND. That is a key reason for the regional power struggle with Iran. It'll riads relationship with Tehran marked "by a high, reinforced by mutual mistrust and religious-ideological enmity" threat perception. The strategic rivalry between the two countries affects it massively in the region. The states tried especially to exert influence in Iraq Syria, Lebanon, Bahrain and.
With its military deployment in Yemen wanted to prove that it was ready to "enter into military, financial and political risks to regional policy not to fall behind" unprecedented Saudi Arabia, analyzes the BND. The country participates since the end of March at an international coalition to support the Yemeni government against rebels - and also flying air strikes in Yemen.

Saudi Arabia wants to mainly settle the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad, writes the BND. This is the influence of Iran and Syria's support for the Shiite Hezbollah from Lebanon be pushed back.

kev / dpa

How Russia is smashing the Turkish game in Syria

https://www.rt.com/op-edge/324563-isis- ... key-syria/

So why did Washington take virtually forever to not really acknowledge ISIS/ISIL/Daesh is selling stolen Syrian oil that will eventually find its way to Turkey?
Trends

Because the priority all along was to allow the CIA – in the shadows – to run a “rat line” weaponizing a gaggle of invisible “moderate rebels”.

As much as Daesh – at least up to now – Barzani mob in Iraqi Kurdistan was never under Washington’s watch. The oil operation the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) runs to Turkey is virtually illegal; stolen state-owned oil as far as Baghdad is concerned.

Daesh stolen oil can’t flow through Damascus-controlled territory. Can’t flow though Shiite-dominated Iraq. Can't go east to Iran. It’s Turkey or nothing. Turkey is the easternmost arm of NATO. The US and NATO “support” Turkey. So a case can be made that the US and NATO ultimately support Daesh.

What’s certain is that illegal Daesh oil and illegal KRG oil fit the same pattern; energy interests by the usual suspects playing a very long game.

What these interests are focused on is to control every possible oil asset in Iraqi Kurdistan and then in “liberated” Syria. It’s crucial to know that Tony "Deepwater Horizon" Hayward is running Genel, whose top priority is to control oil fields that were first stolen from Baghdad, and will eventually be stolen from the Iraqi Kurds.
...

Singha wrote: German intelligence

LOL! German intelligence is only propaganda and fake criticizing Saudis. They are the slaves of Anglo-American power and Merkel goes whichever way the powers behind the scene ask her to. NSA probably has a nice secret file on Merkel. Remember how after NSA spying on Merkel's phone came out there was a little drama about "Merkel so upset"! These are for dumb public consumptions. Everybody knew who is behind Arab Spring and ISIS.

hey everyone with 4 seaworthy planes wants to show themselves as a world pawa and member of the coalition. so the germans , danes, dutch, belgians too will soon join the party in the desert. even ukraine might send a few.

this is just so much noise since only the khan has the assets to really make any sort of difference among the hunting troop. rest are the drum beaters, sipahis, cooks, porters and masseurs.

Everyone who knows this is preclude to the change in world order wants to be in the game on the side of winners and secure their safety.

They are playing white and have initiative.
A draw is a loss to them.
A loss is probably an impossibility as black is not playing for it either. Only blunder /mis-step will create those possibilities.

But as long as it is chess, putin/iranians can play and defend and pigeons can do what they do best.

Turkey has reached the remarkable feat of angering all its neighbours.
Greece, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Armenia and finally Russia.

With a swollen head, thanks to newfound love for the book, you sure can achieve a lot.

Putin Talks Tough With Turkey
Allah Punished Turkey By Depriving Them Of Intelligence, Says Putin

MOSCOW:
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said Allah punished the Turkish leadership when they shot down a Russian warplane.
“Only Allah, most likely, knows why they did this. And evidently Allah decided to punish the ruling clique in Turkey by depriving them of their intelligence and reason,” he said.
Putin vowed that Turkey’s leadership would be made to regret the downing of the warplane as Moscow announced a halt to talks on a major gas pipeline project.

Russia has accused Erdogan and his family of personally profiting from the oil trade with Islamic State, which controls a large chunk of Syrian territory, including a number of oil fields.
“We know for example who in Turkey fills their pockets and allows terrorists to make money from the stolen oil in Syria,” Putin said.

Erdogan has furiously denied the allegations against him and his family and said Turkey had proof that Russia was, in fact, involved in trading oil with IS.

War of words; Turkee punching above its weight due to NATO "umbrella" ?

“We will not rattle our sabres. But if someone thinks that after committing heinous war crimes, the murder of our people, it will end with (an embargo on) tomatoes and limitations in construction and other fields then they are deeply mistaken,” Putin said.

Immediately after the speech Russia’s energy minister Alexander Novak announced the suspension of talks between Ankara and Moscow over the major TurkStream pipeline project.

Next chapter likely to follow

Bhurishrava wrote:Turkey has reached the remarkable feat of angering all its neighbours.
Greece, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Armenia and finally Russia.

With a swollen head, thanks to newfound love for the book, you sure can achieve a lot.

We live in a similar neighborhood buddy although under vastly different circumstances.

Russia Parachutes Military Equipment to PYD
http://www.basnews.com/index.php/en/new ... lw.twitter

A

LEPPO — A Russian military transport aircraft has parachuted tons of military equipment to Democratic Union Party (PYD) forces near Aleppo.A statement by the Local Coordination Committees of Syria (LCCS) confirmed that, on Wednesday, a Russian military aircraft dropped five tons of standard arms and ammunition for the PYD forces, north of Aleppo.The Russian military support for the Syrian Kurds comes after a Russian warplane was downed by Turkey last week and tensions between Moscow and Ankara escalated in the area.Russian manoeuvres for greater influence in the Syrian civil war by supporting Kurdish players, will anger Ankara greatly. The supplies will support Kurds in their efforts to connect Kobani and Afrin in northern Syria, by taking control of areas around the A’zaz district.Syrian Kurdish parties, supported by both the US and Russia, have proven their effectiveness in the war against Islamic State (IS) and other radical Islamist groups.Turkey accuses the PYD of affiliation with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), and claims that international military support to Syrian Kurdish parties will be used against Turkey by the PKK.

Iraqi President: Peshmerga Won’t Participate in Raqqa Liberation
http://www.basnews.com/index.php/en/news/iraq/246601

PARIS – Iraqi President Fuad Masum says that it is not in the interest of Iraq to remove Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar Abadi from power in the current situation.In a meeting with journalists in Paris on Thursday, Masum said that deploying US ground forces to Iraq requires cooperation with the Iraqi government, not the parliament. The Iraqi parliament has previously discussed approved the agreement between Iraq and the US.Masum believes that there is no difference between the US-led international coalition and that of Syria, Russia, Iraq and Iran. It was due to Masum’s request that the main headquarters of that coalition was put in Baghdad.He went on to say that liberating Raqqa in northern Syria is in the responsibility of the Syrian people and the Kurdish Peshmerga forces should not deploy there.“The Peshmerga and other Iraqi forces are responsible for liberating Mosul, not Raqqa,” said Masum.Following the liberation of Sinjar in northern Iraq by the Peshmerga, Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani told a French journalist that Peshmerga forces are ready to free Raqqa too, if the international coalition arms them.

So Russia airdrops 5 tons of ammo to PYD/PKK. US air drop 5 tons of ammo to PKK/moderat rebels.

Talk about adding fuel to fire. It's advisable to do it when you are not active in region but represented by proxies. But here Russia is deep into action, US may soon be dragged into it (wait for new Pres).

How can they be sure these won't be used against them sometime in future? Is this a tactical mistake?

turkish dominos

ypd in nw corner needs help. FSA and nusra is attacking .
them. isis is attacking all three. their manpower and ammo is less. their main troops are near kobane and have to make trip via turkey perhaps without arms to enter syria nw again. in between is isis in syria so they have to come via turkey.

perhaps these arms are to give these reinforcements something to fight with. they need all help to hold out

On the one hand Obama reminds Putin about 80s involvement in afghanistan as recent/"fresh" memory but he forgets his own involvement in afghanistan and iraq in the last decade, totally destroying two countries, millions of casualties, and thousands of american dead bodies with nothing positive to show as achievement and on the other hand you have this:


Obama says additional U.S. forces will help "squeeze" Islamic State - Dec 03, 2015

My Kurd friend tells me their is some kind of treaty/ agreement expiring in 2023 which will give legal right to Turkey to shut down Bosphorous's porous pathway to Russia. Do not know if its true.

Singha wrote:ypd in nw corner needs help. FSA and nusra is attacking .
them. isis is attacking all three. their manpower and ammo is less. their main troops are near kobane and have to make trip via turkey perhaps without arms to enter syria nw again. in between is isis in syria so they have to come via turkey.

perhaps these arms are to give these reinforcements something to fight with. they need all help to hold out

YPG is in severe trouble in the NW part, specially in Afrin. They need the weapons and they need fresh legs. That whole axis in and around Azaz is cluster **** and will go up in smoke.

FSA or US backed rebels have attacked YPG. ISIS (Daesh) have attacked FSA. SAA is heading in from south though still some distance away and the RuAF is busy with its bird droppings.

On the Turkmen side north of Latakia, there is a split in the Turkmen groups. Some Turkmen have openly come out pro Syria and are opposed to Turkish backed groups which have a lot of Turkish infiltrators.

The British error back in WW1 is that they tried to take the Dardanelles from the sea. Mines and shore batteries ended that. Wonder what happens if thousands of black balaclava -clad vodka-couriers appear on both sides of the Bosporus...

there is no expiry clause in the montreux convention unless its superceded or modified again. it has a lot of delicate checks and balances.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreux_ ... he_Straits

A number of highly specific restrictions were imposed on what type of warships are allowed passage. Non-Black Sea state warships in the Straits must be under 15,000 tons. No more than nine non-Black Sea state warships, with a total aggregate tonnage of no more than 30,000 tons, may pass at any one time, and they are permitted to stay in the Black Sea for no longer than twenty-one days.

Although the treaty is often cited as prohibiting aircraft carriers in the straits,[12] there is no explicit prohibition on aircraft carriers in the treaty. However, the tonnage limits in Article 14, which apply to all non-Black Sea powers, would preclude the transit of modern aircraft carrying ships. In the case of non-Black Sea powers, these terms make it impossible for transit any modern ships carrying aircraft through the straits without violating the terms of the convention.

By contrast, Black Sea powers such as the USSR were able to transit aircraft carrying cruisers through the straits under other terms of the convention. As with non-Black Seas powers, the Montreux convention does not explicitly forbid a Black Sea power from transiting aircraft carriers through the straits, and the tonnage limits in Article 14 also apply to Black Sea powers as well as non-Black Sea powers. However, under Article 11, Black Sea states are permitted to transit capital ships of any tonnage through the straits. Annex II specifically excludes aircraft carriers from the definition of capital ships, but limits the definition of carriers to ships that are designed primarily for carrying and operating aircraft at sea and specifically excludes other ships that merely are able to operate aircraft.[13]

The result of this is that by designing its aircraft carrying ships such as Kiev and Admiral Kuznetsov to have roles other than aircraft operation and by designating those ships as "aircraft carrying cruisers" rather than "aircraft carriers" the Soviet Union was able to transit its aircraft carrying ships through the straits in compliance with the convention, while at the same time the Convention denied access to NATO aircraft carriers, which are not covered by the exemption in Article 11.[14][15][16]

Under Article 12, Black Sea states are also allowed to send submarines through the Straits, with prior notice, as long as the vessels have been constructed, purchased or sent for repair outside the Black Sea. The less restrictive rules applicable to Black Sea states were agreed as, effectively, a concession to the Soviet Union, the only Black Sea state other than Turkey with any significant number of capital ships or submarines.[11][17] The passage of civil aircraft between the Mediterranean and Black Seas is permitted, but only along routes authorised by the Turkish government.[18]

The terms of the Convention were largely a reflection of the international situation in the mid-1930s. They largely served Turkish and Soviet interests, enabling Turkey to regain military control of the Straits and assuring Soviet dominance of the Black Sea.[18] Although the Convention restricted the Soviets' ability to send naval forces into the Mediterranean sea – thereby satisfying British concerns about Soviet intrusion into what was considered a British sphere of influence – it also ensured that outside powers could not exploit the Straits to threaten the Soviet Union. This was to have significant repercussions during World War II when the Montreux regime prevented the Axis powers from sending naval forces through the Straits to attack the Soviet Union[citation needed]. The Axis powers were thus severely limited in naval capability in their Black Sea campaigns, relying principally on small vessels that had been transported overland by rail and canal networks. Auxiliary vessels and armed merchant ships occupied a grey area, however, and the transit of such vessels through the straits led to friction between the Allies and Turkey. Repeated protests from Moscow and London led to the Turkish government banning the movements of "suspicious" Axis ships with effect from June 1944 after a number of German auxiliary ships were permitted to transit the Straits.[19][20]

The passage of US warships through the Straits also raised controversy, as the convention forbids the transit of non-Black Sea nations' warships with guns of a calibre larger than eight inches (203 mm). In the 1960s, the US sent warships carrying 305 mm calibre ASROC missiles through the Straits, prompting Soviet protests. The Turkish government rejected the Soviet complaints, pointing out that guided missiles were not guns and that such weapons had not even existed at the time of the Convention's agreement so were not restricted.[25]

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which entered into force in November 1994, has prompted calls for the Montreux Convention to be revised and adapted to make it compatible with UNCLOS's regime governing straits used for international navigation. However, Turkey's long-standing refusal to sign UNCLOS has meant that Montreux remains in force without further amendments

if the west wants , Turkey will fold without firing a shot. all their prosperity , weapons and chutzpah is built on easy access to american arms and easy access to EU exim market, knock off even one of these legs and they will sign whatever the "west" wants.

Singha wrote:if the west wants , Turkey will fold without firing a shot. all their prosperity , weapons and chutzpah is built on easy access to american arms and easy access to EU exim market, knock off even one of these legs and they will sign whatever the "west" wants.

amreki deep state has full control over turki, just like over paki

raheel sharif's recent pilgrimage to the states was sheer matha tekoing to the deep state onlee, na??

yeah...they keep a permanent pair of tongs gently wrapped around the gonads of such all-lies

OT, Raheel's visit to US was to lobby for extension, but from Cyril Almeida's article it appears he got a cold reception

Singha wrote:yeah...they keep a permanent pair of tongs gently wrapped around the gonads of such all-lies

those are for diplomatic soirees and banquets, saar. Genteel stuff onlee, generally used to move the nuts about here and there as delicate reminders.

these are for normal business and the pakis respond well to it

I am a paan supari eating dharmik desi...I only keep these antique adikitta/adikotta handy. No squeeze just cut into fine supari slices:

AoA!!! WTF, so much help for the kind Turkish warriors.

The handyman thread for Levant crisis now extending to the Bosphorous

Paul wrote:OT, Raheel's visit to US was to lobby for extension, but from Cyril Almeida's article it appears he got a cold reception

I have a very strong feeling that tentative and very preliminary feelers were put out about a military coup in pakiland and to gauge the possible direction of winds that may blow thereafter and also an initial read of the amreki support in tangible terms.

something like this, as a possibility, has been building up slowly and the open manipulation of the paki media and public opinion by the paki army, lionizing raheel shariff's role in recent events, the hanging of the paki school kids killing terrorists, after conviction by the army courts are all pointing to the active marginalization of the civilian elected govt.

Remember that nawaz was not very happy about this visit by raheel.

there will not even be mild disapproval this time. the world has got used to it and business will continue as-is on all fronts.
infact the PA might be more willing to act upon "bad taliban" than civilian govt.

Singha wrote:there will not even be mild disapproval this time. the world has got used to it and business will continue as-is on all fronts.
infact the PA might be more willing to act upon "bad taliban" than civilian govt.

i worry that inexperienced BJP might jump the gun and start a palaver with the paki army jehadis, in case of a coup.

raheel is very frustrated with the extremely tough position that the Modi govt has taken and the heavy retaliatory firing from us is showing the paki army in a very poor light. Talk from the paki boder is spreading inland and not in a nice way too. radio chatter along/across the border is also not so complimentary to the PA. Some vet groups are in knowledge of the current happenings in a very general way.

we should also delay significantly, any recognizance of a new paki govt, in case it actually happens.

four cornered fight in north aleppo

the Nusrah/FSA trapped in that imminent pocket are likely to run across the turkey border, loop back west and enter near Idlib from the turkish side. their days of being lord of the manor in that region are over......YPG for their own survival will have to join or truce with SAA because ISIS is strong and eating the green pocket alive from the backside.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_eye/2015 ... f_the.html

Obama and Saudis could be best shield for Nawaz against coup. Salman will remember PA not coming to Yemen for support. and Obama is not too adventurous on the FP front. Nawaz is Saudis man....why it would change?

For Raheel to get support from Saudis for coup, he has to come to an understanding with Saudis for troop support in Yemen, become more overt againt Iran etc.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35001377

The German government has publicly rebuked its own foreign intelligence agency after the BND suggested that Saudi Arabia's foreign policy was becoming more "impulsive".

"The published assessment does not reflect the position of the German government," a spokesman said.
Saudi Arabia was an important partner "in a crisis-ridden world" and had great significance "especially on the way to peace in Syria", the spokesman insisted.

Shia news on twitter supports Pakistan army stand against Takfiris. SHia link with Pakistan is not broken...far from it it very much alive and flourishing

+++++++++++++

My speculation is Musharaff could be influencing Raheel to go against Nawaz. They have a direct connection.

Paul wrote:Shia news on twitter supports Pakistan army stand against Takfiris. SHia link with Pakistan is not broken...far from it it very much alive and flourishing

+++++++++++++

My speculation is Musharaff could be influencing Raheel to go against Nawaz. They have a direct connection.

in the present paki milieu, a polite hint to the judiciary from raheel, would have them instantly declaring musharaff's birthday as a national holiday. if something is happening about musharaff, it's because someone wants it to happen.

amreki interests may also be mixed up here.

IS has to face new threat ..
flesh eating disease ravages ISIS

Large numbers of Islamic State fighters have become ill with a deadly flesh-eating disease known as Leishmaniases.

Medcins Sans Frontieres, those noble Frenchies who slandered the Assad government forces regards the sarin attack on The Ghouta, were initially trying to fight the deadly diseases. They eventually got up and left (not even moolah from the vicious Vichy Fabius could make them hang around the filthy vermin)

''Leishmaniasis disease is a very contagious spread by parasites and the bite of certain types of sand flies. It leaves human flesh with wide open sores, different forms can cause skin ulcers, enlarged spleen and liver as well as creating other complications for the host of the disease as well as those around them.''

http://therisenpeople.com/2015/12/03/de ... opulation/

Sultan Erdogan is going to open a new canal in 2023. Thats what will make the Montreux convention irrelevant. At least that is the plan.

http://www.todayszaman.com/national_pm- ... 42170.html