Moon of Alabama Brecht quote
February 17, 2016
Today’s Attack In Ankara Could Be A False Flag Incident

In March 2014 tape recordings of a meeting between the Turkish then Foreign Minister Davutoglu, the chief of the Turkish intelligence MIT Hakan Fidan and others leaked to the public. They talked about a false flag attack on Turkey to be used as a justification form a Turkish attack on Syria. The new was mostly ignored by the "western" main stream media. As I wrote about the tape:

The major points from my view:

  • Turkey has delivered 2,000 trucks of weapons and ammunition to the insurgents in Syria.
  • There are plans for false flag attacks on Turkey or Turkish property to justify an attack from Turkey on Syria.
  • The Turkish military has great concerns going into and fighting Syria.
  • The general atmosphere between these deciders is one of indecisiveness. Everyone seems to be unclear what Erdogan wants and is waiting for clear orders from above.
  • Shortly before the meeting the U.S. military presented fresh plans for a no-fly zone over Syria.

Consider those 2014 plans for a false flag when reading this just-in news:

At least five killed in huge explosion in car bomb attack in Ankara"

A big explosion that officials said was an "act of terrorism" took place in the Turkish capital of Ankara, killing at least five people and injuring another 10.

Ankara Governor Mehmet Kılıçlar said the officials believe the explosion was caused by a car bomb.

News reports say buses carrying military personnel have been targeted. The explosion took place as the buses were arriving at a military lodging facility in downtown Ankara, according to reports.

Ömer Çelik, a spokesman for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), wrote in Twitter that the explosion was an "act of terrorism."

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said the authorities have received information about the blast and were looking into it. Davutoğlu was scheduled to depart for Brussels for a visit later this evening but he canceled the trip and headed to the presidential palace to attend a last-minute security summit.

The attack was near a Turkish military headquarter in Ankara. The announced numbers of wounded and killed are still increasing by the minute.

Turkey will likely blame the Turkish Kurdish PKK for this incident and will extend the blame to the Syrian Kurdish version of the PKK, the YPG. But if this is not a Turkish stage-managed false flag attack it is more likely an Islamic State terror attack than one by the PKK.

Michael Horowitz @michaelh992
#ISIS released the latest edition of its magazine in Turkish, specifically targeting the Turkish military #Turkey
6:58 AM – 26 Jan 2016

As to what follows from this incident consider also this:

Saud Al Tamamy @Saud_AlTamamy

Saud Al Tamamy Retweeted قناة الإخبارية

For the second time in less than 24 hours: a phone call between King Salman and President Erdogan.

MK Bhadrakumar, who was India's ambassador in Turkey in 1998-2001, reminds us that disagreements between Turkey and the U.S., like the ones we have seen during the last weeks, are not necessarily what they seem:

Although Washington and Ankara appear to be preoccupied with a verbal brawl over christening Syrian Kurds as “terrorists” or not, there is a long history of the two NATO allies working in tandem while dissimulating difference of opinion to mislead outsiders.

Turkey has a consistent record of making defiant noises but ultimately falling in line with Washington’s guidelines. Such situations can be multiplied. Thus, it is entirely conceivable that the open support voiced by German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday for Turkey’s proposal to create a ‘no-fly zone’ in Syria would have enjoyed some measure of American approval.

Turkey's Prime Minister yesterday said they would not give up on the Azaz pocket and the city of the same name currently held by CIA/Turkey/Saudi sponsored terrorists against the Russian supported Syrian Kurds.

The hectic communications over the last days, the likely fall of Azaz to Syrian Kurds and this "terror attack" in Ankara lets me assume that we will very soon witness a serious escalation by Turkey and its allies against Syria and its allies.

Comments

2000 fighters allowed 2 enter #Syria from Turkey acc. to the terrorist org Jabhat al-Shamiya http://reut.rs/1Q2QHKw pic.twitter.com/rjPnD0xuLl

Posted by: brian | Feb 18 2016 12:07 utc | 101

Explosion at Turkish cultural center in Sweden hours after Ankara bombing
http://bit.ly/1SU3Msu
no injuries or deaths.

Posted by: Noirette | Feb 18 2016 12:29 utc | 102

The investigation by the Turks (c)would clearly establish the bomb design, explosives used and the detonator. There have been car bombs used where Saudis were tricked in delivery of “goods” and their car exlpoded by use of remote control. In this case, there was a military HQ nearby, with little observation of target/timing of personel movements, a person could easily have been tricked.
Map with location suicide bombing and Department of Defense and military training academy in Ankara.

Posted by: Oui | Feb 18 2016 12:33 utc | 103

Syrian Kurds (YPG) under attack from Turkey bombing raids, although not in a devastating way to invoke a revenge.
Turkish PM confirms shelling of Kurdish forces in Syria | The Guardian | (Feb, 13, 2016)
Turkey shells Kurdish forces in Syria for 4th successive day | RT |

Posted by: Oui | Feb 18 2016 12:33 utc | 104

Turkey bombs Kurdish headquarters northern Syria (Jan. 20, 2016)
Syrian Kurds accuse Turkey of attacking their forces | BBC News | (July 27, 2015)

Posted by: Oui | Feb 18 2016 12:33 utc | 105

@77 oui
Thanks for the help … but the first link is talking about Iraqi militia on 6 February and the second doesn’t seem to mention Iraq or Irais at all. The quote that pricked up my ears said … “on February 14 several Iraqi Shiite divisions, formerly supported by the US, joined forces with the Syrian government troops”, which sounded and still sounds like regular Iraqi army troops who had abandoned the former US masters.

Posted by: jfl | Feb 18 2016 12:58 utc | 106

DW reported last night that the local media was pushing the PKK angle while the govt held off. The opposition stressed Turkey’s involvement in Syria as the cause.

Posted by: curtis | Feb 18 2016 13:03 utc | 107

This would have been a Mumbai-style PSYOP, except Turkey is already reeling from huge losses in Russian tourism and trade, so they sacrificed some busloads of new recruits, just more useless mouths to feed, and won’t hurt the tourist trade like Bali.

Posted by: Chipnik | Feb 18 2016 13:17 utc | 108

Re 89:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MbD_KegM_mQ

Posted by: Emil Pulsifer | Feb 18 2016 13:33 utc | 109

Oh come on! What would the YPG gains by bombing turkish militaries while advancing on the Syrian ground? BTW what Assad would have gain by “gassing his own people” the very same day that UN inspectors were in Syria? And that bomb killing hundreds of lefties and Kurds in Turkey last year claimed by Isis, it was convenient to whom?

Posted by: jeanv | Feb 18 2016 13:34 utc | 110

Analysis is better than evidence in such cases as this where murky motives and shady cut outs mean that the perpetrator can never be sure he/she is actually working for plus of course Turkey’s security services have form for fixing the evidence to match Erdoga’s political needs. The bombing of the peace demonstration last year in which 114 people were killed being the most egregious example. At the time Erdogan on his back foot and about to go down the gurgler thanks to the trouncing he copped in the election, immediately blamed the PKK and began shooting raping and torturing PKK members along with supporters of the moderate but successful (and the cause of Erdogan’s political problems) Kurdish political movement.
The peace deal with the PKK which had held for years was instantly destroyed, The attacks by evil Kurds provided erdogan with an excuse to crack down on media outlets closing a couple and threatening any fishwrap radio or TV broadcaster who questioned Erdogan’s bullshit. Months later once Erdogan has won the second election, the truth emergesd that ISIS not the PKK blew away the peaceniks.
Analysis of the Ankara bombing also show that of all the likely suspects both the PKK and the YPG are the least likely and it is safe to say they are definitely innocent of this.
YPG are smart and pragmatic and there is no reason to believe they wouldn’t suicide bomb if there were an obvious tactical or political advantage.
There is no advantage to be gained from blowing up a handful of soldiers all that would do is give Erdogan an excuse and maybe even a mandate to do more than lob a few shells across the Turkey/Syria border.
There is simply no way in the world any of the major Kurdish military or political organisations had anything to do with this – the bombing disadvantages them all – politically and tactically.
The amerikans are well aware of this but it will be interesting to watch how they handle it – amerika has been in the avant garde of the school of pointing the finger at opponents blaming them for involvement in actions that simply make no sense from a political or militsry point of view.
I doubt the assholes in charge want to let people know that examining an action for who wins & who loses from it is a valid technique.

Posted by: Debs is dead | Feb 18 2016 15:17 utc | 111

Debs is dead says:
The amerikans are well aware of this but it will be interesting to watch how they handle it
i hope you’re not suggesting that the ‘amerikans’ are beyond suspicion in all this subterfuge. i mean, the cia is, after all, the world’s foremost and deadliest terrorist organization with a long history of car bombings. an operation like this latest one would mesh perfectly with their general anarchy in the region and would be a piece of cake for them to pull off.

Posted by: john | Feb 18 2016 16:05 utc | 112

Syrian Democratic Forces Established – Oct. 15, 2015
Origins of the Syrian Democratic Forces: A Primer by Aaron Lund
Attacks on Syrian-Kurdish positions: NATO needs their NATO-partner Turkey committed to a peaceful solution in Syria

Posted by: Oui | Feb 18 2016 16:06 utc | 113

Final resolution of the Democratic Syria Congress released
Following the decision to establish Democratic Syrian Assembly to serve as the political representative in Syria of Syrian Democratic Forces (QSD), participants have determined that the Assembly will be comprised of 42 people to operate in the coming period.
The final resolution of the Democratic Syria Congress was made public at a press conference after the congress, read by Wheat Wave Movement (Teyar Al-Qemih) member Salih Al-Labwani.
The final resolution said that; “Democratic Syria Congress was organised and successfully finalized with the participation of Syrian opposition groups and representatives of all social circles under extraordinary conditions as Syria has been turned into a bath of blood and violence, and become the main scene of the dominance competition of international and regional forces, in the face of which terrorist forces have engaged in various bargains over this tragedy.
The political and societal circles participating in the congress have achieved a consensus on forming a political power by the name of Democratic Syria Assembly (MSD) with an aim to fulfill their duties and responsibilities in the current historic period, lead the Syrian revolutionary democratic movement to a right course, and end the present fragmentation, bloodshed and the darkness the country is being dragged into.
All the forces that have merged under the roof of the Congress have united their will in order for the forming of a democratic constitution to enable a production of solutions to the Syrian crisis through democratic peaceful discussion, dialogue and talk; to fight terror; to hold free and democratic elections required by the current process in Syria; to secure the faith, culture and identities of all Syrian peoples; and to achieve social consensus on the basis of their democratic will.
Participants declare through the political consensus approved by the Congress that the present despotic mindset has first degree responsibility for the current situation in the country; that this mindset goes against the multicultural, multi-faith, multi-ethnic and pluralist reality of the Syrian society; and that this despotic mindset will be hindered through the development of a pluralist society based on a common land and free life recognising all peoples and their cultures.
The Congress participants have announced that they will undertake the representation in political arena of the Syrian Democratic Forces (QSD) that is comprised of youths from all Syrian peoples, has defeated terrorist forces and cleared a large part of Syrian lands of gang groups owing to their resistance at the cost of martyrs.
The Congress also called attention to the issue of migration and decided to find a way out against migration and ensure the return of immigrants. With its fertile geography and rich economy, our country Syria has the infrastructure to attain a dignified life for all the components in Syria. Determination has been manifested to develop this structure on the basis of an equal and fair sharing.
As Democratic Syria Assembly, our working principle has a moral character which is not grounded on the reflexes and methods of any political party in Syria.
Democratic Syria Assembly will treat the relations between Syria and neighboring countries on the basis of respect, work for peace, calm and common life, and continue its struggle in accordance with international conventions.
Democratic Syria Assembly announces that its establishment is a moral responsibility and is no counter reflex against any political circle or method in Syria. Democratic Syria Assembly will give its struggle in line with international laws.
MSD is a political, national and democratic project produced for all social and political structures that fight for the recovery of the country from the current situation and give an effort to build an alternative democratic system aiming a change.

Posted by: Oui | Feb 18 2016 16:06 utc | 114

Don’t believe it was a false flag, just the Kurds way of saying “Thank you for the artillery”. Sometimes KISS is the best explanation.

Posted by: Lefty | Feb 18 2016 16:08 utc | 115

Link to article on past Turkish false flags:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-02-17/gov-officials-admit-turkey-has-repeatedly-carried-out-false-flag-terror
We all know that Turkey supports ISIS for economic gain for the Erdogan clan and do almost anything to save that relationship and the Syrian Turkmen gangs that support this looting operation.

Posted by: Krollchem | Feb 18 2016 16:54 utc | 116

Syrian rebels say reinforcements get free passage via Turkey todays zaman
pl at ssr covers it via the nyt here.
what does erdogan have to say about all the terrorist acts this gang of thugs he and sa support? are they some sort of act of benevolence towards the syrian people? does he think he has the freedom to turn syria into a shit-hole and that none of it will come back to bite him in the ass?
furthermore.. why don’t all of these warmongers providing instruments of death realize once and for all what they are doing… solving shit with weapons of death has to be the last resort of a scoundrel, not the first resort of anyone with a modicum of intelligence.. erdogan is definitely a scoundrel of the first order..

Posted by: james | Feb 18 2016 17:56 utc | 117

Color me completely confused. This is a good thing because it indicates chaos within the Imperial alliances. My hunch is many small and large factions and factions within factions are scrambling for power and loot without a central “idea” or policy. One good thing for this confusion is that it is turning off Americans to the whole MENA mess because Americans don’t like complicated stories and here there are no “good guys” even U.S. forces seem ambiguous. The Merkel idea shows her to be what many of us suspected all along as one of many CIA assets in the German power structure–remember the CIA was highly focused on East and West Germany.

Posted by: Banger | Feb 18 2016 18:01 utc | 118

“The Geneva based Turkish Rights and Freedom Observatory cited sources inside Turkey as blaming Erdogan’s intelligence services for staging the two recent attacks, one on an army convoy. The rights group stated that Erdogan’s open alliance with Saudi Arabia and his rapid move toward embracing extremist views has alienated key members of Turkey’s military.”
source – http://www.veteranstoday.com/2016/02/18/rights-group-erdogan-murdering-his-own-blaming-kurds/

Posted by: ALberto | Feb 18 2016 18:08 utc | 119

“Brussels (VT) – Dr. Riccardo Baretsky of the European Center for Information Policy in Brussels today announced that Turkey’s claims that recent attacks, killing dozens in Turkey, were done by PKK or even YPG Kurdish groups is baseless.”
ibid

Posted by: ALberto | Feb 18 2016 18:10 utc | 120

Just a reminder, Erdogan’s friends in Azaz are the same ones who were proudly showing severed heads of alawites and chiites in June 2015: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3114916/Rebel-fighters-proudly-parade-severed-heads-defeated-ISIS-enemies-Syria-descends-shocking-barbarism.html
And 2 days ago Western medias were crying over the same poor little “moderate rebels”. Now to protect them we will let Erdogan create his buffer zone?

Posted by: jeanv | Feb 18 2016 18:23 utc | 121

It is beginning to appear that Ergodan is headed for a Mussolini like finish. Benito II finito.

Posted by: ALberto | Feb 18 2016 18:32 utc | 122

Moment of deadly Ankara blast caught on CCTV (VIDEO)
Blast could just as well have been detonated by remote control!
Map with location suicide bombing and Department of Defense and military training academy in Ankara.

Posted by: Oui | Feb 18 2016 18:40 utc | 124

Yesterday, a confidential letter from senior Saudi commanders to Prince Muhammad bin Nayef–the Crown Prince, first Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Interior of Saudi Arabia—was leaked out in social websites.
In this epistle, the Saudi generals pleaded with the Crown Prince to abort any probable Saudi interference in Syria due to Kingdom’s military debacles and inability to defeat the moderate strength of Yemeni revolutionaries let alone to intervene in Syrian quagmire.
The letter signed by ten outstanding Saudi generals read as follows: “We, the military experts of Saudi Arabian Royal Army with our unwavering loyalty to the faith ,King and fatherland ; hereby declare that all military goals indented for Operation Decisive Storm are not fulfilled due to professional incompetence of our forces and the Middle-East’s complex situation.”
source – http://www.veteranstoday.com/2016/02/18/saudi-senior-army-commanders-sending-forces-to-syria-shall-entail-serious-repercussions-for-the-kingdom/

Posted by: ALberto | Feb 18 2016 18:41 utc | 125

re 124
I checked out the Arabic original of the letter, and it looks Ok to me. However it is from generals and not from princes of Al Sa’ud. It is the princes who decide. Indeed a written letter from generals suggests lack of access to the paths of power. Unlike in the West.

Posted by: Laguerre | Feb 18 2016 19:11 utc | 126

Are you sure it’s a reliable source or repeating/propagating a troublesome origin?
Saudi senior army commanders: sending forces to Syria shall entail serious repercussions for the Kingdom | AWD News |
A few months ago …

Fabricated quotes attributed to Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal on Israel-Palestine go viral
An article from an obscure website falsely claiming that Saudi Arabian Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal had said that he would side with the Israelis against the Palestinians, went viral on social media before the prince released a statement on Thursday roundly denying the story.
The website, awdnews.com, citing the Arabic language Kuwaiti daily Al Qabas, quoted Bin Talal as saying,

    “I will side with the Jewish nation and its democratic aspirations in case of outbreak of a Palestinian Intifada (uprising) and I shall exert all my influence to break any ominous Arab initiatives set to condemn Tel Aviv, because I deem the Arab-Israeli entente and future friendship necessary to impede the Iranian dangerous encroachment.”

When searching Al Qabas newspaper on Wednesday evening, however, no such interview or quotes could be found. The story, nevertheless, was reported in a number of news outlets, all citing the non-existing Al Qabas article.

Posted by: Oui | Feb 18 2016 20:33 utc | 127

VT is a dubious source to say the least.. Would the generals in question accuse their own forces of incompetence to the crown prince? Wrong wording in my opinion..

Posted by: Lozion | Feb 18 2016 20:44 utc | 128

re 127

Are you sure it’s a reliable source or repeating/propagating a troublesome origin?

You misunderstand my point in 126. It looks genuine, but from people who have little power to influence policy. More a cry of desperation from those who find Saudi policy mad.

Posted by: Laguerre | Feb 18 2016 20:57 utc | 129

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/19/world/europe/turkey-car-bombing.html?_r=0
It looks like a very chilly Western reception for Turkey’s claim that the Ankara bombing was the work of YPG/PYD. If Turkey was seeking to use the bombing to gain support for bombarding the YPG, it has failed. IMO the continued bombardment removes any political incentive for YPG not to clean out the Azaz pocket.
Marea, through some process of skirmishes and “moderate” rebels switching sides, is now officially in ISIS hands. It is faced by YPG to the west and SAA to the south.

Posted by: Thirdeye | Feb 18 2016 21:54 utc | 130

re 130

If Turkey was seeking to use the bombing to gain support for bombarding the YPG, it has failed.

Erdogan is pretty mad these days. He’s lost support of the US, but also of the Turkish public. There’s no desire to go to war in Syria.

Posted by: Laguerre | Feb 18 2016 22:18 utc | 131

After much thought, I think that the black flag speculation is not as hasty as I have thought initially. The attack had a certain PKK fingerprint which is the care taken to target soldiers and not civilians, but PKK focuses on security forces in their region of activity, and while there were recent reasons for bloody retaliation, massacres of Kurds by the Turkish forces, PKK executed some attacks in the region as they usually do.
TAK is supposedly a splinter organization. As such, it could be a tool for deniability, but PKK hardly needs them as they PKK is whacked in any case, PYD theory is convincing only to AKP supporters, so either they are loose cannons or, quite probably, they are penetrated by the agents of Turkish deep state. If so, the actual terrorists may be genuine, but their leaders less so. The sporadic nature of the reported activity of TAK suggests that they are a tool that is occasionally activated. The idea that this attack could help Erdogan abroad would be foolish, but nevertheless, totally consistent with the thinking exhibited by AKP in the past, and the idea that it could help domestic popularity of the government can be very workable.
Given the total secrecy of the official Turkish investigation, the “deep state” could simply plant explosives on a bus, detonate remotely, suitably fragment the body of the “principal target” taking care that his ID would not be torn beyond recognizability, arrest prepared suspects (say, a gang engaged in vehicle theft, no lack of those), and make the announcement of a “splinter organization”. So far, we do not even know if the vehicle used in the attack was parked or rode next to the target bus, or if it was indeed on the scene.

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Feb 22 2016 10:33 utc | 132