"Turkish nationalist group defiant after attack on US Navy " Topic

…sailors-

"The ultra-nationalist Turkish group behind a shocking, videotaped attack on three U.S. Navy sailors in Istanbul said Thursday it is proud of the assailants and that they acted in solidarity with Syrians and Palestinians.

Turkish police detained and then released 12 members of the Turkish Youth Union (TGB) in connection with Wednesday's attack, which left none of the Americans injured but drew swift condemnation from the Pentagon and the U.S. Embassy in Ankara. In the attack, in the city's historic Eminönü neighborhood, a throng of young men surrounded the sailors, taunting and jostling them, spattering them with red paint and pulling bags over their heads in a tactic the TGB favors to express anti-American sentiment before chasing them down a street.
"The bags we put over the American soldiers are for the nations of Palestine and Syria," a statement from the TGB, a fringe group with scant membership or support inside Turkey, said…"
Full article here
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Amicalement
Armand

Detained and let go with no charges. It seems Arab conspiracy theories have infected the Turks as well. I wonder if this continues whether U.S. tourist dollars will dry up.

I feel bad for the legacy of Ataturk. What he fought to prevent is sadly coming true.

Yeah, the Turks continue to be less that "effective" allies for the US or NATO … I saw the footage. The Pentagon was glad the sailors did not become aggresive and just ran away … realizing these were young sailors not SEALs and not trained in ground combat. But could be radar or commo operators, or cooks etc. … All important jobs … but not generally good in a fistfight. The Pentagon's reactions generally reflects the overall US govenment's predilections worldwide. Passiveness, limited to no reactions to threats, etc., etc. … And many of our enemies see and know that. However, back in my distant youth. When I was a young 2LT in the 101, being deployed to Panama for the second time, '81 IIRC. My CO and I, off duty, wearing civies, were in front of the US Embassy. Two local youths with knives attacked us. They obviously could see were, "Yankees" and military. Our short hair, leaner, dared I say muscular builds, etc. … I guess they thought the knives may give them an edge. Well my CO was a Black Belt and I had hand to hand combat training. Some given to me by him. Well … while he was pulping the one's face. I just picked up the other one and threw him into traffic. But [damn!] he was not hit and just ran away. As the other one did after he quickly became tired of being used as a punching bag … We laughed about it and went to get a couple of beers. I guess today we'd may have been reprimanded for defending ourselves and trashing a couple of local youthful thugs. Now in my old age , being overweight and walking slowly with a limp from arthritis. Yesterday, while coming home from a check up at the VA clinic. I stopped at a 7-11 type store in what many consider a "bad" area of town. Well as I walked around an aisle I saw a young black man pointing a pistol, looked like a Beretta, SIG, etc. at the horrified clerk saying, "hurry up", etc. … I rapidly decided discretion being the better part of valor. I quietly retreated to the stock room in the back, hid like a little girl and called 911 on my cell. He was not there long and got about a whopping $120. USD And the police were there within minutes. No arrests, we gave statments and no one was hurt. It's Hell getting old …

I know the feeling Legion.

Glad to hear you and others are okay.

Today, the Turks say they will take action against the thugs, but their actions yesterday seem to indicate otherwise, since they were released without charges, or anything else.

My guess is today's statements are for PR spin, and their hoping tourism doesn't tank because of this.

I know the feeling too my friend!. (smile)

Amicalement
Armand

This is not a good trend but will not alter the course of how the United States and NATO deals with Turkey as they country is too important strategically.

A U.S. backed and recognized Kurdistan would change things.

In order to *meaningfully* back Kurdistan, with heavy weapons and supplies, the US would need geographic access to Kurdistan via one or more major seaports and land routes.

Our choices for partner host nations there are: Syria, Turkey, Iraq or Iran.

None of these governments actually wants a strong, independent, US-backed Kurdistan, hence the current impasse.

The only other way would be for the US to invade one of these states and seize a seaport and highway to Kurdistan. At that point, we've bought ourselves a whole 'nother bag full of venemous snakes to hold onto.

I wish it was possible to partner more effectively with the Kurds, but I don't see how to go beyond the limits of Iraqi cooperation.

I'd choose Iraq. It is already a failed nation. It is nothing more than an amalgam state cobbled together by the British Empire in the 20th century.

Yeah Irv, sad but true. Logistics is a bitch.

Colonise and dictate, worked well for Rome until it started using 'foreign' troops.

"A U.S. backed and recognized Kurdistan would change things."

The KRG is pretty close to the Turks already; they've finalised a lot of trade deals and the Turks are the only neighboring country allowing the Kurds to export their oil through their territory.

The Kurds have never done anything for the U.S. that wasn't in their own interest.

I'm not sure the Kurds would be much use reining in the Turks.