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TURKISH FALSE FLAGS AND THE INVASION THAT ALMOST WAS
The People's Voice
June 26 2014
June 26th, 2014
By David Boyajian
Turkey seems fond of so-called 'false flag' operations. In 1955,
for example, the Turkish government covertly bombed its own consulate
in Thessaloniki, Greece and blamed it on Greeks. The following day,
Turkey stage-managed massive anti-Greek riots in Istanbul that killed
over a dozen Christians and caused hundreds of millions in damage.
Fast forward to March 2014. A leaked audiotape caught Turkish officials
plotting to stage 'false flag' military attacks on their own territory
and blame them on Syrians. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu,
General YaĆ~_ar Gurel, and Intelligence chief Hakan Fidan planned
to use the attacks as an excuse to invade Syria. The title of this
article could easily apply to that plot.
To close observers of the Caucasus, however, it could also describe
a failed covert Turkish plan to attack Armenia two decades ago and
turn the geopolitics of the region upside down.
In October 1993, two years after the USSR had splintered, an ethnic
Chechen Muslim named Ruslan Khasbulatov - the Speaker, believe it
or not, of the Russian Parliament - led a coup against beleaguered
Russian President Boris Yeltsin. According to American, French, and
Greek officials, Khasbulatov and Muslim Turkey had a secret agreement.
If his coup succeeded, Khasbulatov would order Russian troops to
withdraw from Armenia, where they helped guard the latter's border with
Turkey. That would pave the way for Turkey to invade the landlocked
Christian nation of just three million inhabitants.
History tells us that Turkey has always wanted to overrun Armenia.
Doing so would create a path to Turkic-speaking Muslim Azerbaijan, the
Caspian Sea, and, eventually, Central Asia. It's called pan-Turkism.
In 1993, of course, Azerbaijan was losing its war with Armenians over
the ancient, majority-Armenian province of Karabagh. Azerbaijan was,
therefore, eager for Turkey to attack Armenia, and Turkey was ready
to help Azerbaijan turn the tide.
The Plot Fails
Harkening back to the Armenian genocide, Turkish President Turgut Ozal
had threatened to teach Armenia "the lessons of 1915." Tansu Ciller,
Turkey's prime minister, warned Armenia that she wouldn't "sit back
and do nothing." Turkey was massing forces on Armenia's western
border and supplying Azerbaijan with weapons, military advisors,
and paramilitary forces. Chechen militants and Afghan Mujahideen were
already fighting alongside Azeris.
A successful Turkish attack on Armenia - Russia's only military
partner in the Caucasus - would have all but destroyed Russian
influence in the region. That, in turn, would have increased the
likelihood that Chechnya, and much of the Muslim North Caucasus,
would eventually escape the Russian Bear's grip. For a native-born
Chechen like Khasbulatov, it would all be a dream-come-true.
But bombarded by Russian tanks, Speaker Khasbulatov, V.P. Alexander
Rutskoi, and hundreds of rebel parliamentarians and supporters
surrendered the Parliament building on October 4, 1993. The coup and
the plot to invade Armenia had failed.
The Secret Pact
The Khasbulatov-Turkish pact was first revealed by Leonidas T.
Chrysanthopoulos in his book Caucasus Chronicles (London: Gomidas,
2002). He was Greece's ambassador to Armenia from July 1993 to February
1994. Chrysanthopoulos, now 68, has served as ambassador to Canada
and Poland, and was recently Secretary General of the 12-country,
Istanbul-based Black Sea Economic Cooperation organization.
France's ambassador to Armenia, Mme. France de Harthing, told him that
"French intelligence sources" confirmed that "the Turkish incursion
into Armenia would take place immediately after Khasbulatov would
have withdrawn the Russian troops from Armenia." "This information,"
wrote Chrysanthopoulos, "was later confirmed to me by my United States
colleague," Ambassador Harry J. Gilmore.
As a "pretext," Turkey would claim to be targeting Kurdish PKK militant
bases, which in fact have never existed, in Armenia. Such a "pretext"
is similar, though not identical, to a 'false flag.'
The Turkish strike would be "incursions of a limited nature," though
it's unclear what "limited" meant. More likely, as Turkey wouldn't
find any PKK, the aim was to forge a permanent corridor across Armenia,
link up with Azeri forces, and cleanse Karabagh of Armenians.
The U.S. and France have never, as far as is known, publicly denied the
existence of the Khasbulatov-Turkish plot. Moreover, Chrysanthopoulos
gives no indication that any country tried to talk Turkey out of its
deal with Khasbulatov.
Is any of this relevant today?
NATO Ambitions
Yes, because current Turkish, American, and NATO policies in the
Caucasus strongly echo the 1993 Khasbulatov-Turkish plot. For two
decades, the West has been trying to penetrate and dominate the
Caucasus - Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia -and eventually cross
the Caspian Sea into energy-rich Central Asia.
One piece of the plan has already been partially implemented:
constructing oil and gas pipelines from Azerbaijan through Georgia
and Turkey.
NATO's remaining goal: absorb the entire Caucasus. NATO would thereby
threaten Russia from the south, just as it now pressures Russia
from the west with its absorption of much of Eastern Europe (and,
NATO hopes, Ukraine).
Georgia and Azerbaijan are inclined to eventually join NATO. Armenia,
however, is not, though it has excellent relations with NATO and the
West. Armenia has little choice but to ally itself with Russia because
the former faces an ongoing existential threat from NATO member Turkey,
the 1993 plot being one example.
Armenia is the Caucasus's linchpin. Had the Khasbulatov - Turkish
quasi-'false flag' operation against Armenia succeeded, Russia would
probably have lost, and NATO would have gained, the entire Caucasus.
New provocations, including 'false flags,' by Turkey and NATO cannot,
therefore, be ruled out.
Turkish, American, and NATO leaders must also be interrogated as to
whether their policies in the Caucasus are leading to peace or war.
-###-
The author is a freelance journalist. Many of his articles are archived
at Armeniapedia.org
http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/TPV3/Voices.php/2014/06/26/turkish-false-flags-and-the-invasion-tha
The People's Voice
June 26 2014
June 26th, 2014
By David Boyajian
Turkey seems fond of so-called 'false flag' operations. In 1955,
for example, the Turkish government covertly bombed its own consulate
in Thessaloniki, Greece and blamed it on Greeks. The following day,
Turkey stage-managed massive anti-Greek riots in Istanbul that killed
over a dozen Christians and caused hundreds of millions in damage.
Fast forward to March 2014. A leaked audiotape caught Turkish officials
plotting to stage 'false flag' military attacks on their own territory
and blame them on Syrians. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu,
General YaĆ~_ar Gurel, and Intelligence chief Hakan Fidan planned
to use the attacks as an excuse to invade Syria. The title of this
article could easily apply to that plot.
To close observers of the Caucasus, however, it could also describe
a failed covert Turkish plan to attack Armenia two decades ago and
turn the geopolitics of the region upside down.
In October 1993, two years after the USSR had splintered, an ethnic
Chechen Muslim named Ruslan Khasbulatov - the Speaker, believe it
or not, of the Russian Parliament - led a coup against beleaguered
Russian President Boris Yeltsin. According to American, French, and
Greek officials, Khasbulatov and Muslim Turkey had a secret agreement.
If his coup succeeded, Khasbulatov would order Russian troops to
withdraw from Armenia, where they helped guard the latter's border with
Turkey. That would pave the way for Turkey to invade the landlocked
Christian nation of just three million inhabitants.
History tells us that Turkey has always wanted to overrun Armenia.
Doing so would create a path to Turkic-speaking Muslim Azerbaijan, the
Caspian Sea, and, eventually, Central Asia. It's called pan-Turkism.
In 1993, of course, Azerbaijan was losing its war with Armenians over
the ancient, majority-Armenian province of Karabagh. Azerbaijan was,
therefore, eager for Turkey to attack Armenia, and Turkey was ready
to help Azerbaijan turn the tide.
The Plot Fails
Harkening back to the Armenian genocide, Turkish President Turgut Ozal
had threatened to teach Armenia "the lessons of 1915." Tansu Ciller,
Turkey's prime minister, warned Armenia that she wouldn't "sit back
and do nothing." Turkey was massing forces on Armenia's western
border and supplying Azerbaijan with weapons, military advisors,
and paramilitary forces. Chechen militants and Afghan Mujahideen were
already fighting alongside Azeris.
A successful Turkish attack on Armenia - Russia's only military
partner in the Caucasus - would have all but destroyed Russian
influence in the region. That, in turn, would have increased the
likelihood that Chechnya, and much of the Muslim North Caucasus,
would eventually escape the Russian Bear's grip. For a native-born
Chechen like Khasbulatov, it would all be a dream-come-true.
But bombarded by Russian tanks, Speaker Khasbulatov, V.P. Alexander
Rutskoi, and hundreds of rebel parliamentarians and supporters
surrendered the Parliament building on October 4, 1993. The coup and
the plot to invade Armenia had failed.
The Secret Pact
The Khasbulatov-Turkish pact was first revealed by Leonidas T.
Chrysanthopoulos in his book Caucasus Chronicles (London: Gomidas,
2002). He was Greece's ambassador to Armenia from July 1993 to February
1994. Chrysanthopoulos, now 68, has served as ambassador to Canada
and Poland, and was recently Secretary General of the 12-country,
Istanbul-based Black Sea Economic Cooperation organization.
France's ambassador to Armenia, Mme. France de Harthing, told him that
"French intelligence sources" confirmed that "the Turkish incursion
into Armenia would take place immediately after Khasbulatov would
have withdrawn the Russian troops from Armenia." "This information,"
wrote Chrysanthopoulos, "was later confirmed to me by my United States
colleague," Ambassador Harry J. Gilmore.
As a "pretext," Turkey would claim to be targeting Kurdish PKK militant
bases, which in fact have never existed, in Armenia. Such a "pretext"
is similar, though not identical, to a 'false flag.'
The Turkish strike would be "incursions of a limited nature," though
it's unclear what "limited" meant. More likely, as Turkey wouldn't
find any PKK, the aim was to forge a permanent corridor across Armenia,
link up with Azeri forces, and cleanse Karabagh of Armenians.
The U.S. and France have never, as far as is known, publicly denied the
existence of the Khasbulatov-Turkish plot. Moreover, Chrysanthopoulos
gives no indication that any country tried to talk Turkey out of its
deal with Khasbulatov.
Is any of this relevant today?
NATO Ambitions
Yes, because current Turkish, American, and NATO policies in the
Caucasus strongly echo the 1993 Khasbulatov-Turkish plot. For two
decades, the West has been trying to penetrate and dominate the
Caucasus - Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia -and eventually cross
the Caspian Sea into energy-rich Central Asia.
One piece of the plan has already been partially implemented:
constructing oil and gas pipelines from Azerbaijan through Georgia
and Turkey.
NATO's remaining goal: absorb the entire Caucasus. NATO would thereby
threaten Russia from the south, just as it now pressures Russia
from the west with its absorption of much of Eastern Europe (and,
NATO hopes, Ukraine).
Georgia and Azerbaijan are inclined to eventually join NATO. Armenia,
however, is not, though it has excellent relations with NATO and the
West. Armenia has little choice but to ally itself with Russia because
the former faces an ongoing existential threat from NATO member Turkey,
the 1993 plot being one example.
Armenia is the Caucasus's linchpin. Had the Khasbulatov - Turkish
quasi-'false flag' operation against Armenia succeeded, Russia would
probably have lost, and NATO would have gained, the entire Caucasus.
New provocations, including 'false flags,' by Turkey and NATO cannot,
therefore, be ruled out.
Turkish, American, and NATO leaders must also be interrogated as to
whether their policies in the Caucasus are leading to peace or war.
-###-
The author is a freelance journalist. Many of his articles are archived
at Armeniapedia.org
http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/TPV3/Voices.php/2014/06/26/turkish-false-flags-and-the-invasion-tha