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NATO’s Southeastern Spearhead: Turkey’s Military Aggression in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Caucasus Signals Proxy Conflict With Iran
The past week has witnessed reports of increased Turkish military activity in Iraq and Syria as well as its intruding itself deeper into the war in Yemen. In all three cases Ankara has pitted itself against forces that are or can be seen to be pro-Iranian: Shiite parties in northern Iraq, the government of Syria and the Houthi-led government in Yemen.
Direct tensions between Turkey and Iran have been increasing since last year over the above three nations as well as the Turkish-directed attack on Nagorno-Karabakh by Azerbaijan (Turkey and Azerbaijan identify themselves as “one nation, two states’) and its aftermath.
By Gwynne Dyer
(Our World Today)
Following in the path of 31 other countries including Germany, France, Italy, Canada, Russia, and Brazil, the United States has at last ‘recognized’ the Armenian genocide. Not that the United States ever denied it, but it officially avoided the word ‘genocide’ for 106 years for fear of angering the Turks.
But there are hidden depths here, because Israel still refuses to accept the word ‘genocide’ about the Armenian massacres. Every year since the 1980s a resolution is introduced in Israel’s parliament demanding that Israel also call it a genocide, and every year it is rejected. Why?
The Economist on infamous “macabre” Azeri park | ARMENPRESS Armenian News Agency
11:52, 30 April, 2021
YEREVAN, APRIL 30, ARMENPRESS. Both past and present haunt relations between Turkey and Armenia, The Economist’s editorial board wrote in an article, stating that the two countries don’t show any sign of reconciling.
“A century ago, Ottoman troops committed an Armenian genocide. A few months ago, Turkey helped Azerbaijan defeat Armenia in a war,” the article says.
Noting that despite some Turkish official circles have been talking about a possible “new-era” in the Armenia-Turkey relations, their actions prove otherwise.
The Economist quoted Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan’s earlier interview where he said that the re-opening of the borders with Armenia from the Turkish side would de-escalate tension. He had also noted that Armenia is ready to establish relations with Turkey without preconditions.
14:19 • 30.04.21
The genocide a century ago is just one source of contention
Both past and present haunt relations between Turkey and Armenia. A century ago, Ottoman troops carried out a genocide of Armenians. A few months ago, Turkey helped Azerbaijan defeat Armenia in a war. For decades, the border between Turkey and Armenia has been closed.
Yet in December Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, held out hope of “a new era” in Turkish-Armenian relations. The unlikely setting was a military parade in Azerbaijan celebrating victory over Armenia. Using Turkish arms, Azeri forces had just recaptured parts of Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave populated and controlled by ethnic Armenians, and some adjacent districts that had been occupied by Armenia for three decades. Army convoys rolled past Mr Erdogan and the Azeri president, Ilham Aliyev, displaying the wreckage of Armenian tanks, as well as the Turkish drones that had pounded them into the ground. Mr Erdogan hinted that Arm
What a dictator really looks likeI was struck by Jean Liepold’s letter in the Forum, (Tuesday April 27 “President Joe Biden is acting like a dictator.”) As I recall from my reading of history, a dictator is someone who will try to do whatever is.