Το τουρκικό Κοινοβούλιο ενέκρινε πολεμικές επιχειρήσεις στη Συρία

Η Τουρκία συνεχίζει να βομβαρδίζει τη Συρία. Εντωμεταξύ το κοινοβούλιο στην Άγκυρα συγκλήθηκε κεκλεισμένων των θυρών και ενέκρινε την πρόταση του Τούρκου Πρωθυπουργού Ρετζέπ Ταγίπ Ερντογάν που επιτρέπει τουρκικές στρατιωτικές επιχειρήσεις στη Συρία για ένα χρόνο, ανέφερε η ιδιωτική τηλεόραση NTV.

Σήμερα το πρωί στην Άγκυρα η αστυνομία διέλυσε με βίαιο τρόπο μια πρώτη συμβολική αυθόρμητη διαδήλωση ορισμένων αριστερών οργανώσεων όταν ξεκινούσαν οι στρατιωτικές επιχειρήσεις του τούρκικου στρατού κατά της Συρίας.Λίγες δεκάδες διαδηλωτών άρχισαν να φωνάζουν συνθήματα κατά του πολέμου Τουρκίας και Συρίας, όπως "Τούρκοι και Σύριοι είναι αδέλφια." Όταν πλησίασαν  την είσοδο του κοινοβουλίου η αστυνομία τους επιτέθηκε, εκδιώκοντας τους διαδηλωτές με κλομπ και δακρυγόνα. Η διαμαρτυρία κατεστάλη την ώρα που οι Τούρκοι  βουλευτές συμμετείχαν σε έκτακτη σύγκλιση της Βουλής για να αποφασίσουν αν θα έδιναν στον στρατό το πράσινο φως να επιχειρήσουν στο έδαφος της Συρίας,το οποίο στην πραγματικότητα είχε ήδη ξεκινήσει από χθες το απόγευμα και συνεχιζόταν  και το πρωί. Σε δημοσκόπηση που πραγματοποιήθηκε τις τελευταίες ώρες - μια στιγμιαία δημοσκόπηση - της τουρκικής εφημερίδας Hurriyet ,το 62% των πολιτών της χώρας είναι αντίθετο με την ένοπλη επέμβαση, ενώ μόνο το 38% τάσσεται υπέρ.

 

Erdogan's Gets War Powers

/Update/
The neocon Israel mouthpiece and supporter of the Syrian insurgents Michael Weiss just tweeted this:

Important to note: Turkish bill for authorizing force deployment was dated September 20. Erdogan knew trouble lay ahead.

The FSA insurgents captured the border crossing point Tal Abyad right next to the town Akçakale on September 19 to build a supply line for their attack on the city of al-Raqqa. A day later Erdogan prepares a bill giving him war powers. This certainly increases the suspicion that this was a false flag attack with the purpose of getting Erdogan war powers. /end update/
Turkey, led by its premier Erdogan, fell into a trap. Other countries applauded the insurgency in Syria and provided weapons and money to it. Erdogan joint them and delivered himself much support. But when the insurgency did not provide the expected immediate success no other country agreed to help Turkey with regular outside forces to overthrow the Syrian government. Meanwhile Turkey's economy got damaged, the influx of over 100,000 refugees brought increasing problems and the resurgence of the PKK in Turkey led to several spectacular attacks. The Turkish public continues to be against Erdogan's interventionist policy in Syria.
Before yesterday's mortar attack on the Turkish border village Akçakale Russia had warned of such a false flag incident:

Both Syrian and Turkish authorities “should exercise maximum restraint” since radical members of the Syrian opposition might deliberately provoke cross-border conflicts for their own benefits, Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said yesterday. The diplomat said Moscow has been worrying about the situation on the Syria-Turkey border.

Just a day later such a conflict happened. Someone launched mortars from Syrian territory onto Akçakale and killed five people in Turkey. Turkey responded with heavy artillery fire against Syrian Arab Army positions. Did the Russians knew what a false flag attack was in the making? As even the NYT remarked:

It was unclear if the mortar that struck Turkey was fired by government forces or by rebels fighting to oust the government of Mr. Assad

Still the Turkish government waxed about a violation of its sovereignty by the Syrian government. Just a few days ago Iraq had called on Turkey to leave the bases it has in northern Iraq since the 1990s. Turkey rejected that call. That and Turkish support for the insurgents in Syria tells you all you need to know about how Turkey really feels about sovereignty. Not being able to pull others into the conflict which the insurgents lack the manpower to see through and not willing to risk the loss of face a climb down from his position would entail Erdogan has chosen to escalate.
With a 320 to 129 vote the Turkish parliament just adopted a motion that gives war powers to the Turkish government. The core text:

This situation has reached a stage that poses serious threats and risks to our national security. Therefore, the need has developed to act rapidly and to take the necessary precautions against additional risks and threats that may be directed against our country. Within this framework, on the condition that the extent, amount, and time will be appreciated and determined by the government, I submit according to Article 92 of the Constitution a one-year-long permission to make the necessary arrangements for sending the Turkish Armed Forces to foreign countries and having it [TSK] mandated, according to the principle causes that will be designated by the government.

An opposition member in the parliament called this a license for a bigger war:

"This motion has no limits," İnce said. "You can wage a world war with [the motion]."

Indeed one wonders what the plural in "foreign countries" and "principle causes" mean. Will Erdogan order the invasion of Armenia? One also has to wonder how the Turkish military would perform in an all out war. Over 300 Turkish officers are in jail, including 71 former and active generals, for allegedly planing a coup. More are likely to be indicted. What Turkish officer will show any initiative when any act without an explicit written order may put him in danger of getting hauled in front of a court?
And how will the proverbial Arab street react when Turkey with openly neo-ottoman ambitions invades an Arab country?
War powers or not. In the end the big loser in this conflict might well be Erdogan himself.

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