For Nora with Love: OKAY... Erdogan... Turkey... Syria. Let's Go

by Scott Creighton

 

Last week Recep Erdogan, Turkey's President since 2014 and former Prime Minister from 2003-2014, made public his communications with Syrian President Bashar al Assad in which he urged the beleaguered leader to meet with legitimate members of Syrian opposition (not the HTS terrorists formerly known as al Qaeda) and make arraignments to step down after running the country for the past 24 years.

According to Erdogan, Assad refused in no uncertain terms.

Next thing we know, U.S. and Israeli backed terrorists serving as our proxy army, swept through the northern part of unoccupied Syria (the rest is held by Greater Kurdistan) and made their way, unfettered, to Damascus and Assad and his family reportedly fled to Russia (though I have yet to see a single interview showing Assad and his family to be alive)

In the wake of these historic events, we see a number of fake alt-left influencers running with the notion that 'Sultan Erdogan' of the 'neo-Ottoman Empire' worked with the al Qaeda terrorists to overthrow Syria and finally remove Assad which they have claimed was his intention for years.

Seems like the fake alt-left (you know who you are... Owen) blame Erdogan more than they blame the U.S. or Israel as if that is even remotely possible.

Is this true? No. Is it born of some semblance of historical accuracy? Yes. But is Recep Erdogan responsible or is something far older and more nuanced at play here? Grey Wolves? CIA? Gladio? Fidan?

Fidan? You ask. What the heck is that?

Hakan Fidan is the CIA's man in Turkey (one of many, turns out) and he's been the head of their CIA (National Intelligence Organization MIT) since 2010 and now is their version of Secretary of State (Minister of Foreign Affairs) since 2023 and is currently...  the man who will take Recep Erdogan's place at the head of the table if the fake alt-left get what their paymasters want... regime change in Turkey.

And oh by the way, he's a Kurd and a CIA asset and it's Fidan who's been whispering in Erdogan's ear all this time and doing our bidding in Syria, for which the fake alt-left then blames... Erdogan.

'Fidan was born to a Kurdish father from Varto and a Turkish mother from Denizli.^[3] He belongs to the Kurdish Hesenan tribe.^[4]

I mean, who better than a CIA-backed Kurd to hand over Turkey's contribution to Greater Kurdistan, right? And to think, the CIA got the gullible or complicit fake alt-left to cheer for it, right Owen?

Damn. Those CIA boys are slippery, ain't they?

Let's do this.

 

Trying to decipher Middle East politics is like trying to put together a 3,000 piece jigsaw puzzle in which all the pieces are 1. tiny 2. the same shape and 3. the image is an autostereogram.

In short, it's impossible.

So what most folks do is they take the pieces and since they all fit each other, they simply click them together to formulate whatever image they want to suit their needs.

What we have to do; we have to take the time to look carefully at what is happening so if we allow our eyes a bit of time to refocus, we can see the real picture behind the static.

It's a hand holding up a peace sign, by the way.

Turkey's intelligence agency has been around since 1299 or so. That's a long time. It's been remade and rebranded many times since then obviously, but for our purposes lets focus on post WWII and the creation of our stay-behind armies or Gladio or Counter-Guerilla for short.

'During the Cold War, an important asset was the Counter-Guerrilla, and the Grey Wolves; the paramilitary youth branch of the Nationalist Movement Party.^[2] Before the death of Counter-Guerrilla Alparslan Türkeş, the far-right paramilitary Grey Wolves were used to attack leftists.^[3]

The CIA also maintains a cadre of moles inside Turkey's National Intelligence Organization, as acknowledged in 1977 by its former deputy director—and CIA recruit—Sabahattin Savasman.^[4]

During the Cold War, the CIA set up a clandestine "stay behind" army network in Turkey. They were intended to conduct sabotage and espionage operations if required. Such networks were set up in many NATO European countries (the best known being Gladio), as well as in officially neutral countries in Europe; the network in Turkey was codenamed "Counter-Guerilla", elements of it were later accused of committing torture.' Wiki

The Grey Wolves have a long history of serving U.S. clandestine interests in Turkey and across the world. Their 'Turkmen' activities have been traced all the way to China and the Uygurs. 

'The Xinjiang conflict (Chinese: 新疆冲突, Pinyin: xīnjiāng chōngtú), also known as the East Turkistan conflict, Uyghur–Chinese conflict or Sino-East Turkistan conflict (as argued by the East Turkistan Government-in-Exile),^[13] is an ethnic geopolitical conflict in what is now China's far-northwest autonomous region of Xinjiang,' Wiki

'In 2008 the Ergenekon trials, a court document revealed that the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) armed and funded Grey Wolves members to carry out political murders' Wiki

The Grey Wolves are listed as a terrorist organization by several countries around the world but since when has that kept our clandestine intelligence services from working with them. and the Grey Wolves are still operating inside Turkey to this day with powerful friends in high places.

And that is part of the problem for folks like Recep Erdogan. You see, it's out terrorist Grey Wolves, along with some others, who have been doing our bidding in Syria lo these many years.

'Turkish ultranationalists have joined the fight in Syria as what some observers view as their government's secret weapon' al Monitor 2016

Here is the crux of the claim that Recep Erdogan has been arming Turkish militias to fight against the Syrian government. It comes from MEMRI TV  which is an Israeli run propaganda outlet famous for mis-translating various Arabic texts and videos to make them look menacing. However, pay attention because there is some truth to this:

'There is significant evidence of Ülkü Ocakları activity in the Syria War. Many of the group's members have been documented fighting there. These men are not simply members of the organization, but are endorsed, supported, and praised by the Ülkü Ocakları leadership, and are sometimes themselves among its leaders. They also have extensive connections with the MHP, which is part of the two-party coalition that governs Turkey, alongside President Erdoğan's AKP.

While there have been many Turkish military operations in Syria in recent years (against PKK and YPG), including several major incursions, these fighters (Grey Wolves) are not part of the Turkish regular military force: their military attire resembles that of guerilla fighters rather than that of a regular army; they have no insignia or emblems on their uniforms indicating affiliation with the Turkish military; no mention of them online indicates such affiliation; and there has been no official Turkish military operation in Syria's Latakia province, where much of their activity has been documented. Some other auxiliary forces in Syria, such as the Sultan Murad Division, which Turkey's national intelligence service, the Milli İstihbarat Teşkilatı (MİT), reportedly established in 2012 and which is trained in and has its salaries paid by the Turkish government...' MEMRI on Grey Wolves 2022

As expressed recently by our own Sec of Defense, Turkey had every right to be concerned about the instability of Syria and the rise of PKK/YPG terrorist influence in the Rojava region and they still have every right to confront that ongoing threat, inside Syria, against their national sovereignty.

But what's interesting here is how even an Israeli propaganda outlet needs to explain how these militia groups that everyone says Erdogan is funding and has been behind was actually funded by Erdogan but instead by their national intelligence services, then run by one Hakan Fidan.

Interesting.

In 2011, Recep Erdogan, then Turkish Prime Minister, told Assad he needed to step down from leadership in Syria. Hakan Fidan, having formerly been Erdogan's security head, was already the head of the national intelligence organization MIT. Erdogan's intel was being provided by Fidan and Recep therefore understood the events of the world thru Fidan's eyes.

This might explain why he cited a Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) report about Assad killing his own people when telling Assad to go when in fact the SOHR was just some guy in London making up propaganda to help regime change Syria. But did Erdogan know this or did Fidan report it to him as legitimate?

'Turkey bluntly told Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down for the sake of his people, tightening regional pressure on Damascus while the wider world condemned Syria's violent crackdown on protests in a vote at the United Nations. 

Activists said Syrian forces killed 21 civilians and five army deserters on Tuesday. Among those killed were four children shot dead by troops near a school in the central region of Houla and a 12-year-old killed at a protest in the eastern city of Deir al-Zor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. 

It was not possible to independently confirm the killings as Syrian authorities, who blame the unrest on "armed terrorist groups," have barred most independent media from the country. 

The United Nations says 3,500 people have been killed since the protests erupted in March, triggered by Arab uprisings which toppled the leaders of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.

"Without spilling any more blood, without causing any more injustice, for the sake of peace for the people, the country and the region, finally step down," Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday, in his first direct call for Assad to go.' Reuters Nov 2011

Assad was correct. The deaths were being caused by the U.S. backed and armed proxy army employed to regime change the country. Even Reuters can't pretend to confirm the killings as being done by the Syrian army. But they published the 'activists said' propaganda just the same.

Erdogan however believed his trusted head of the MIT since he had been with him for so long. Did Erdogan know about the terrorists being sent into Syria by the MIT and Fidan? That is unknown.

Other claims about Turkey running the FSA or now the SNA are even less evidence based when it comes to Erdogan.

The Free Syrian Army was formed early on inside Syria in 2011 by Syrian army deserters. They claim they were horrified by Assad's use of weapons against civilians but since that didn't happen (check Reuters again) more likely, they decided to side with who they thought were going to win for their own personal gain.

Erdogan neither created them nor ran them. 

They were reportedly armed by the U.S. through proxies in the Turkish military and then trained again by the U.S. in Turkey then allowed to run hit and run attacks on Syrian targets out of Turkey using the border as a safe haven.

This wasn't done by Erdogan, by the way, it was done by Turkish military leaders and Fidan.

'Turkey trained army dissidents on its territory, and a group of them announced the birth of the Free Syrian Army under the supervision of Turkish military intelligence. Most militants inside Syria now carry a "Free Army" logo, but beyond a name there is no coordination or organised political harmony.' The Guardian June 2012

'From the beginning of the war, Turkey trained defectors of the Syrian Army in its territory under the supervision of the Turkish National Intelligence Organisation (MİT), among whom emerged the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in July 2011. In May 2012, the Turkish National Intelligence Organisation (MİT) began arming and training the FSA^[90] and provided them with a base of operations' Wiki

Again, Turkish intelligence and Fidan.

Here's where it gets interesting.

' The appointment of Hakan Fidan, a known Erdogan loyalist, did not initially appear to indicate a major change. Strictly speaking, MİT was not within the ministry of defense. However, historically, almost all senior leadership had come from the military branches. However, Fidan had been preparing for the position and change in Turkish intelligence structure and focus. Indeed, his 1999 master’s thesis compared the Turkish intelligence community to that of the United States and the United Kingdom.¹⁸ Fidan began restructuring the MİT along the lines of his 1999 plan by and pushing MİT into the forefront of Turkish foreign policy, resulting in the 2012 establishment of a foreign operations department and absorbing the signals intelligence (SIGINT) role of the military.' Middle East Forum Fall of 2024

Under the leadership of Hakan Fidan starting in 2010, the Turkish national intelligence organization the MIT was once again remade... this time in the image of the Central Intelligence Agency with input and assistance from the agency itself.

'In 2011, the Syrian Civil War erupted and very quickly metamorphosed, in the words of the ex-director of the CIA, into “a Geopolitical Chernobyl” with various state and non-state actors locked in a deadly struggle.22 After Erdogan’s public appeal to Assad for reforms and reconciliation ended in a deadlock, Ankara decided to secretly support the rebels within the Free Syrian Army to overthrow the Assad regime...

This support for the rebels was done away from the public spotlight by the only agency that Erdogan could rely on for secrecy and efficacy: the MİT. Despite their best efforts, these clandestine ops were eventually documented and publicized by journalists who were later arrested' Middle East Forum Fall of 2024

When they claim Ankara decided to help terrorists regime change Syria, was it actually Recep Erdogan or more accurately maybe, was it the newly remade intelligence agency that was flexing it's newly acquired foreign policy muscle?

Was it Erdogan or Fidan?

Who was in charge? Who was pulling the strings? Erdogan? Fidan? Or maybe... then CIA Director David Petraeus?

'The United States’ top spy paid an unannounced two-day visit to Ankara to discuss deepening instability in Syria, the joint fight against terrorism and closer cooperation on pressing regional issues “in coming months.”  

David Petraeus, the CIA chief, held meetings with top Turkish officials both yesterday and on March 12, the Hürriyet Daily News learned. Petraeus met with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan yesterday and his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, head of the National Intelligence Organization (MİT), the previous day.  

An official from the U.S. Embassy said that Turkish and Amerian officials discussed “more fruitful cooperation on the region’s most pressing issues in the coming months.” Turkish officials said Erdoğan and Petraeus exchanged views on the Syrian crisis and anti-terror fight.' The Atlantic Council March 2012

Petraeus met with them separately. As if he didn't want the right hand to know what the left was doing.

And he met with Fidan first in order to send a not so subtle message to Recep... and Fidan.

Conclusion

Folks have been blaming the wrong man for Turkey's involvement in the Syrian terrorist regime change operation and the formation and training of the FSA.

Seems like the right man, Hakan Fidan, has positioned himself perfectly to ascend to the throne in Turkey once Erdogan is forced to step down... for things Fidan did.

'“A team that has been active since the establishment of the AKP argues that if Fidan succeeds in civilian politics, he will be advantageous. They say that Fidan's power in foreign policy and his silent diplomacy success will open this door, but that he should switch from the image of 'intelligence chief' to a civilian politician in the eyes of public,” she said. ' DuvaREnglish 2023

After all, he already has the support of the U.S. intelligence services and he is Kurdish (having once tried to secretly negotiate a deal with the PKK himself)

Who better to usher in Turkish Kurdistan or their contribution to the Greater Kurdistan project.

Hakan is currently taking a stern stance with Israel over their illegal invasion of Syria. An odd position for a man who has been working behind the scenes for so long to dismantle Syria's government and help replace it with the CIA's proxy army.

But it looks good to the Turkish people so he talks tough right now. Maybe trying to look like... a strong leader?

However you look at it, in the end, when your eyes focus and you can see the hand with the raised two fingers you have to come to a better understanding of this ancient jigsaw puzzle.

Unfortunately this hand isn't holding up a peace sign. It's proudly displaying two other fingers.

 

(hand symbol of the Grey Wolves)

In the end is the leader of a nation, say Rohan for example, to blame for the clandestine efforts of his trusted advisors? It is Grima Wormtongue or King Theoden to blame?

The buck stops with Erdogan and in the end it is he who must take responsibility. 

But we must also never forget those who poisoned his ear and seek to usurp his throne for their own nefarious intentions and greed.

Ignore the Wormtonues of the world at your own peril. 

Epilogue 

Not that long ago, a few years before the birth of this humble writer, a leader by the name of Kennedy came to finally understand his own Wormtongue named Dulles had lied and misled him on the Bay of Pigs and Cuban Missile Crisis so he dismissed him and promised break the CIA into a thousand pieces for the betterment of mankind.

They killed him for that and put Wormtongue in charge of the investigation.

Was the Prince of Camelot at fault? Would he have been if the crisis turned into WWIII?

That is for the reader to decide. But know, in the end, a JFK's eyes glazed over and refocused on the invisible hand in hiding and he saw the right one, the one we all see.

Lets hope Recep is blessed with that same wisdom.