Posted on 12/13/2021 7:28:47 PM PST by SunkenCiv
Turkey’s Defence Minister Hulusi Akar criticised a statement by Syria's so-called People's Assembly that claimed Turkey's Hatay province as Syrian territory.
Akar’s remarks came during military inspections together with top commanders of navy, ground and air forces in the southern Hatay province.
Turkey has dismissed as "meaningless" a statement by Syria's so-called People's Assembly, which claimed the Turkish province of Hatay as belonging to Damascus.
“We hear some reckless and meaningless statements about our province of Hatay,” Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said on Friday.
Akar’s remarks came during military inspections together with top commanders of navy, ground and air forces in the southern Hatay province.
"We do not have our eyes on anybody's land," he said, adding that one could learn from history what happened to those who had eyes on Turkey’s territory."Unlawful statement"On Thursday, the Foreign Ministry said “We strongly reject the impertinent and unlawful statement targeting the territorial integrity of our country, which has been made by the regime’s so-called People's Assembly, which is devoid of democratic legitimacy and under no circumstances represents the Syrian people.”
Stressing that such statements were "signs of the delusional impasse of the regime" persecuting its own people for years, the ministry affirmed that Turkey had perseverance and determination to respond to contemptible aspirations against its homeland and national interests.
A recent bulletin published by the assembly claimed that Hatay is Syrian territory, stating that the regime would do everything in its power to take the territory.
(Excerpt) Read more at trtworld.com ...
In a recent document published by the People's Assembly, Syria claimed Turkey’s Hatay province. Syrian President Bashar Assad made his intentions clear as he once more set his sights on the border province, with the bulletin claiming that Hatay province is Syrian territory. Turkey strongly criticized this statement.Syria claims Turkey's southern territories: Turkish army is alarmed | December 7, 2021 | Mahanology
(dreadful robotic narration)
backstory:
Syria’s “Lost Province”: The Hatay Question Returns
EMMA LUNDGREN JÖRUM
The Hatay region, located on the coast north of Latakia, was originally a part of Syria, but Turkey annexed the region in 1939. While Hatay has made a forceful comeback in Syrian media, nothing suggests that the new rhetoric is indicative of a deeper change in the view that has quietly guided Syrian policy ever since 1939.
January 28, 2014
https://carnegie-mec.org/diwan/54340
[this next one, I couldn’t quite nab the text before the paywall came down, due to the old slow machine I’m using]
In Turkey’s Safe Zone in Syria, Security and Misery Go Hand in Hand
Turkey was widely criticized when it sent forces into Syria, but today its soldiers stand between millions of Syrians and potential slaughter at the hands of President Bashar al-Assad’s forces.
By Carlotta Gall
Published Feb. 16, 2021
Updated Aug. 27, 2021
AFRIN, Syria — In a tented camp on a hilltop above the city of Afrin, 300 Syrian families struggle to keep warm in the rain and mud. Displaced three times since they fled their farms near Damascus seven years ago, they survive on slim handouts and send the children out to scavenge.
“The situation is very bad, rain comes into the tent,” said Bushra Sulaiman al-Hamdo, 65, lifting the ground sheet to show the sodden earth where her bedridden husband lay. “There’s not enough food, there is no assistance organization, no drinking water.”
Let them fight to the death for this.
L
Turkey and Syria squabble over territory while 300 poor and destitute people need help from anybody.
I thought organizations such as UNICEF or the United Nations were supposed to help such people, no matter where they were located. Perhaps forces in these two nations will not allow any outside help to reach them.
I am sad for the fate of these people, but at the same time, I’m glad the USA has no Dog in that fight. We don’t have to stick our nose into every single conflict.
Does Hatay have unmined precious minerals or some other natural resource that hold the promise of immense potential wealth? There must be more to this than just a p*ssing contest over dry dead acreage.
https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Hatay_State
(”Greater Syria” is the overriding policy of the Assad dynasty; they’ve managed to alienate literally all their neighbors, to the advantage of their Russian “ally” and the Iranian occupation; if they’d carve out a Kurdish state and recognize its claims to the Kurdish area of Iraq and Turkey, and back the Armenian claim to Nagorno-Karabakh, they’d have two landlocked contiguous allied states, neither of which likes the Turks; but the Assad dynasty won’t do anything like that)
How Syria Changed Turkey’s Foreign Policy
FRANCESCO SICCARDI
SEPTEMBER 14, 2021
Summary: In a bid to gain political ground at home, Ankara has launched multiple military operations in Syria. These have laid the groundwork for a more aggressive, nationalist foreign policy with profound implications for relations with the United States, Russia, and the EU.
https://carnegieeurope.eu/2021/09/14/how-syria-changed-turkey-s-foreign-policy-pub-85301
(the EU sucks, as always)
A new Gaza: Turkey’s border policy in northern Syria
Asli Aydıntaşbaş
Senior Policy Fellow
Policy Brief 28 May 2020
https://ecfr.eu/publication/a_new_gaza_turkeys_border_policy_in_northern_syria/
(Erdogan isn’t going to live forever, that’s the biggest problem; the Middle East is a continually intractable mess, and when Erdogan dies, it will get even worse; doesn’t matter what I or you think of Erdogan)
In new Syrian operation, Turkey faces a Gordian knot
Any Turkish action in areas under Kurdish forces’ control would likely draw a reaction from Russia, the US, or both, analysts say.
By Umar Farooq
Published On 4 Nov 2021
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/11/4/in-new-syrian-operation-turkey-faces-a-gordian-knot
The territorial shakeout and drawing of borders as the colonial system imploded was chaotic, at best. Those two world wars (really just one, parts I and II) are what ended the European colonial empires.
I saw a report today that Erdowan is in political trouble because of very large consumer inflation. For example, double the price of flour or bread. And in the US we are bitching about 6%. Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy!
We’ll be at double before you know it, but to watch the nooooz you’d think we are all delighted with our rulers.
First, we need to make sure neither side runs out of ammo.
Hatay sounds like Hatti, a bronze age country that used to exist within present-day Turkey’s borders. Coincidence?
Good catch. I dunno. Sometimes a banana is just a banana, though. There are just so many sounds we can make, and meanings assigned to homophones are highly variant. :^)
Here’s something from the wiki-wacky:
> Settled since the early Bronze Age, Hatay was once part of the Akkadian Empire, then of the Amorite Kingdom of Yamhad. Later, it became part of the Kingdom of Mitanni, then the area was ruled by a succession of Hittites and Neo-Hittite peoples that later gave the modern province of Hatay its name.
> The Neo-Hittite kingdom of Palistin was also located here.
The statement was just for domestic political consumption. Syria has no military ability to do anything against Turkey.
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