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"We Have A Civil War": Inside Turkey's Descent Into Political, Social, And Economic Chaos

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Deflecting criticism surrounding Ankara’s anti-terror air campaign, Turkey’s foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu last week told state television that strikes against ISIS targets would pick up once the US had its resources in place at Incirlik which will supposedly serve as a hub for a new "comprehensive battle."

Turkey has had a difficult time explaining why, after obtaining NATO support for a new offensive campaign to root out "terrorists", its efforts have concentrated almost solely on the PKK and not on ISIS. As we’ve discussed in great detail (here, here, and here), and as the entire world is now acutely aware, Ankara’s newfound zeal for eradicating ISIS is nothing more than a cover for its efforts to undermine support for the PKK ahead of snap elections where President Tayyip Erdogan hopes to win back AKP’s absolute majority in parliament which it lost last month for the first time in 12 years.

Cavusoglu was effectively suggesting that the reason it appears as though Ankara is overwhelmingly targeting the PKK at the possible expense of efforts to weaken ISIS is because Turkey must wait for the US to show up first, at which point the "real" fight will begin with the possible assistance of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Qatar. In the meantime, the country is descending into civil war and for many Kurds, the frontlines are all too familiar. Here’s Al Jazeera

Located on the Tigris River just upstream from Turkey's Iraqi and Syrian borders, Cizre has been shaken by nocturnal gun battles between police and residents in recent days.

 

Its streets remain deserted after sunset, while families sleep in the innermost rooms of Cizre's squat, cinderblock homes to protect themselves from gunfire.

 

Hostilities have smouldered here since Turkey's government and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) abruptly ended a two-year ceasefire in late July, imperilling the hard-won gains of Kurdish politicians and reversing prospects for a historic peace deal nearly achieved in March.

 

Since July 23, Ankara has launched hundreds of bombing missions against the PKK's strongholds in northern Iraq, while the PKK has killed at least 18 members of Turkey's security forces in guerrilla attacks throughout the country's east.

 

Those attacks have put Cizre, a long-defiant bastion of pro-Kurdish sentiment, back on the front lines of a conflict that has cost more than 30,000 lives since 1984.

 

"They say war is coming, but it's already here in Cizre," said Rasid Nerse, a 26-year-old construction worker.

 


 

The ending of the ceasefire came less than two months after Turkey's Kurdish-rooted People's Democracy Party (HDP) scored a historic victory in national elections.

 

Though Kurdish deputies usually run for parliament as independents, the HDP cleared a daunting 10 percent electoral threshold to become the first pro-Kurdish bloc to formally enter parliament under its own name. 

 

Though the HDP has called on both sides to end the subsequent hostilities, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has attacked the political party, requesting last week that parliament strip Kurdish lawmakers of their legal immunity from prosecution.

 

Our citizens see the police as a threat to their security, not a provider of it said Kadir Kunur, HDP mayor of Cizre.

 

Ankara has ordered the detention of more than 1,000 HDP members in a national "anti-terror" probe that has focused on the PKK. 

 

The PKK is listed as a "terrorist group" by Turkey, the European Union and the US.

 

In Cizre, that crackdown has helped bring about the present security crisis.

 

As mourners returned to their homes after Nerse's funeral, many struggled past a series of makeshift walls and ditches that have recently been erected to encircle their neighbourhoods.

 

Armed members of the PKK youth wing (YDG-H) began setting up the improvised barriers on July 26, when 21-year-old resident Abdullah Ozdal was killed during a protest.

 

The vigilante youth group grew out of previous security crackdowns, which saw hundreds of Cizre youths radicalised while in Turkish prisons.

 

Operating at night and frequently armed, the YDG-H similarly encircled the town during anti-government riots across the region last year.

 

"Our citizens see the police as a threat to their security, not a provider of it," said Kadir Kunur, the town's HDP mayor. Kunur pointed to the dozens of bullet holes that pockmark the HDP's building in Cizre, remnants from one of many deadly raids police launched here in the early 1990s.

And more from Vice:

The trenches have been dug in Cizre. Several feet wide and paired with mounds of earth and torn-up building material, they appeared blocking roads in this Kurdish enclave in southeastern Turkey after Ankara launched an intensive air campaign against the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in July. 

 

Children play on them during daylight hours. But at night, when police move in, they're patrolled by groups of armed youths, who attempt to repel these official incursions in fierce clashes that have left at least one dead and many injured.

 

 

Cizre has spent years on the fringes of war. The unremarkable-looking town of just over 100,000 lies on the Tigris River, around 30 miles from the tripoint where Turkey meets conflict-ravaged Syria and Iraq, and violence regularly strays over the national boundaries. Now, the cycle of airstrikes and renewed PKK attacks on Turkish troops threaten a return to the three-decade-long struggle between the two sides that claimed more than 40,000 lives. And here, residents feel like they're at the heart of the fight.

 

"There's a saying, 'if there's peace, it will start from Cizre, and if there's war, it will start from here as well,'" the town's co-mayor Leyla Imret, 28, told VICE News recently. "And we can say we have a civil war in Turkey." 

While the most tragic consequence of the renewed violence will unquestionably be the human toll, there are real implications for the country's economy and indeed, the political uncertaintly (and the war that's come with it) threaten to undermine Turkey's investment grade credit rating. Although Moody's took no action on Friday, the risk of downgrade is very real. Here's Goldman:

Turkey's rating outlook has been "negative" since early 2014, which means there is a real (and arguably increasing) risk of a formal downgrade within the coming 6 months.

 

Our previous research on the impact of rating changes (from junk to IG status) suggest that a potential downgrade could result in a material widening in Turkey's CDS spreads, by as much as 60bp cumulatively (20-100bp range for +/- 1 standard deviation; Exhibit 1-2), with the first downgrade instantly prompting a c. 20bp widening. Of course, this estimate is based on a stylised econometric model, and it is possible that the downgrade could lead to a more significant market impact given that it is not widely anticipated by market participants.

 

 

And Barclays has more on the intersection of war, politics, and financial conditions in Turkey:

Heightened geopolitical risk arising from the terror attack in Suruc is no accompanied by rising domestic risks from the renewed terror attacks by the PKK. These have inflamed political rhetoric and already tense coalition talks between the AKP and CHP, raising significantly the risks of a snap election and political instability. It remains to be seen whether the heightened tension will push the AKP and CHP further apart or bring together the AKP and MHP.

 

Escalating security risks may work in favour of the AKP in a snap election: The argument is that the perception of rising internal and external threats (PKK and ISIS) could increase the electorate’s preference for strong leadership and hence a singleparty government. It is also possible that AKP may attract some votes from MHP as a result of adopting a tougher stance against PKK (including the use of military force), ramping up the rhetoric against HDP and abandoning the Kurdish peace process.

 


 

Risk of HDP remaining below 10% is low for now: We do not see a significant likelihood that the HDP would score below the 10% national threshold in the event of a snap election, barring possible turbulence in the party caused by a potential ban on prominent politicians or party closure. The migration of votes from AKP to HDP appears to be a structural shift and unlikely to reverse in the near term, considering AKP’s increasingly nationalistic rhetoric and its stance on the Kurds in Syria.

 


 

Economic implications of recent developments are negative: We think: 1) the risks to the sovereign rating outlook have risen; 2) downside risks to growth are higher; 3) the perception of higher rising political/geopolitical risks could increase dollarization; and 4) corporate sector’s FX mismatches will be exposed.

 

Risks to the sovereign rating outlook have increased: Turkey’s gross external financing requirement remains large at c.USD200bn (or 25% of GDP), regardless of the improvement in the current account deficit. Needless to say, any rollover of this debt and/or the extent of re-pricing not only depend on global financial conditions but also investors’ perceptions of Turkey-specific risks. This naturally ties into the sovereign ratings outlook and associated risks to Turkey’s IG status, which moved back into focus during the election. The rating outlook revolves around whether political risks, policy uncertainties and government effectiveness could discourage capital inflows, thereby exposing Turkey’s external vulnerabilities. Rating agency commentary has generally been negative since the elections, highlighting rising political uncertainty and likely delay in structural reforms.

As for what happens next, expect Washington and Ankara (who, you're reminded, both want Assad out of Damascus) to begin launching joint strikes against ISIS targets. Tragically, the plight of the Kurds in Turkey will fade into the background and Erdogan will be free to exterminate his political opposition with NATO's blessing. Once US missions from Incirlik become a regular occurrence, expect Saudi Arabia (which was hit with another suicide bombing this week) and Qatar to enter the fray and from there, the excuses to put American (and Saudi) boots on the ground will mount until eventually, a full scale invasion will be undertaken on the excuse that it's the only way to neutralize the ISIS threat.

On cue, Fox News reported on Friday that the US army is sending F-16s to Turkey, but perhaps more telling is the postioning of "a search-and-rescue team of elite Air Force pararescuemen, with their support helicopters and crews" which will stand ready to assist the Pentagon's "elite" troop of Syrian freedom fighters in case they, like their commander and deputy, are prompty captured by militants the second they set foot on Syria's (formerly) sovereign soil:

The U.S. Air Force is planning to send six F-16s from an undisclosed location in Europe to Turkey after the Turks agreed to allow manned flights from Incirlik Air Base and others last week. This would put U.S. jets only a 30-minute flight from ISIS targets in Syria.

 

The new jets are expected to arrive in the next few days. Strike missions against ISIS will begin shortly after their maintenance crews can get set up. Part of the mission of the new jets will be to support the fledgling U.S.-trained Syrian fighters.

 

Additionally, a search-and-rescue team of elite Air Force pararescuemen, also known as "PJs," with their support helicopters and crews will be moved into position after the fighters arrive. 

 

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Sat, 08/08/2015 - 10:20 | 6404527 clade7
clade7's picture

Who gives a fuck about Turkey?  Its not anywhere close to November...

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 10:26 | 6404542 Takeaction2
Takeaction2's picture

"Our citizens see the police as a threat to their security, not a provider of it," .........Hmm...sounds familiar.      

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 10:43 | 6404560 strannick
strannick's picture

America must be so happy.

NeoCons(/Libs) and the CIA love civil war

An iron fist smashing civilization to smithereens,  reducing the world to rubble. It's their vision for humanity.

(That will teach Putin to want a multipolar world, to love his country, to be a Christian.)

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 10:55 | 6404595 Money Counterfeiter
Money Counterfeiter's picture

Bankers do love debt. Nothing better than war to kill peasants and run up the debt.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 11:40 | 6404699 Latina Lover
Latina Lover's picture

l'll bet Victoria Nuland/Nudelman is creaming her panties, watching the chaos  in Turkey, and jealous that she can't directly participate.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 11:41 | 6404702 jefferson32
jefferson32's picture

Thierry Meyssan is the very first journalist (as far as I can tell) to have called 911 a false flag operation (except for Alex Jones). Here is a great article where he explains and predicts Turkey's civil war:

http://www.voltairenet.org/article188307.html

Have a look at his site voltairenet if you have the time, it's definitely worth it.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 11:44 | 6404710 Latina Lover
Latina Lover's picture

Turkey's economy is circling the toilet bowl, hence Erodgans one of many reasons to start a war.

 

BTW, the linked article is excellent.  Thank You.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 12:21 | 6404815 847328_3527
847328_3527's picture
Paris turning schools, hotels into housing for migrants

 

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/paris-turning-schools-hotels-into-ho...

 

" Yes we can! "

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 13:13 | 6404963 Bioscale
Bioscale's picture

It's similar everywhere in Europe.

Austria is turning sport centers into migrant houses, the government making 5 year contracts with the private owners, everythin paid by Brusel's money. The same is happening in other countries in Central Europe.

Deluting the white race and making huge money out of it and let pay the taxpayers later via debt for it, smells like other Rothschild's businesses in Europe.

The black aristocracy should be uncovered and hanged publicly on the squares everywhere in the world to avoid establishing the secret filth again..

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 14:47 | 6405241 Handful of Dust
Handful of Dust's picture

Formerly pleasant [and safe] towns have turned into migrant centers. I was in Bergan Norway last year and was stunned; their little downtown square was normally quiet at night in the past, but since the mass migration of MENA people thier little square was packed with migrants just standing around smoking drinking beer.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 23:45 | 6406207 TruxtonSpangler
TruxtonSpangler's picture

Going according to plan. Shame on Turkey for parking themsleves in such a strategic pipeline location. Compounded by being a NATO signatory. The Ghulenists love the developments. Ottomania!

Sun, 08/09/2015 - 03:44 | 6406437 cookie nookie
cookie nookie's picture

One thing's for sure.  Being a rag-head isn't easy.  Those people kill each other with reckless abandon. And it will probably get worse.

Sun, 08/09/2015 - 05:16 | 6406479 conscious being
conscious being's picture

What an awful link.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 12:21 | 6404816 Tarshatha
Tarshatha's picture

Agreed, good article.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 13:20 | 6404984 chunga
chunga's picture

The NSA spy machine has to have serious blackmail goods on all of Europe's leaders. Central to all these hotspots seems to be the not so hidden effort by NATO/USSA to hurt Russia by depriving them from selling gas. How much of it are they going to take?

I'm still also of the belier that Germany would have been fine with throwing Greece out of the EU were it not for direct intervention by Jacob "Jack" Lew. That would be one step closer to a NATO exit and we can't have that. Germany ate their USSA peas and then threw a tantrum by heaping on an extra helping of austerity, but still towed the line. What did Merkel hear when she broke out in tears while sitting with oBama and hOllande?

Then we've got China's stawk morket going down the tube with the explanation that "fundamentals matter" over there, but not here in the land of greenspan/bernake/yellin chronic QE bubble/fraud machine. The cynic in me says maybe there has been some covert intervention/tampering.

If they pay attention to this pRezidential election bullshit overseas, J6P from everywhere else has got to be scratching their heads over candidtaes 1 - 17 agree to the urgent need to "strengthen the military". For what reason? They seem to be fucking with everybody already w/o much resistence just fine as it is.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 16:04 | 6405410 techpreist
techpreist's picture

The NSA spy machine has to have serious blackmail goods on all of Europe's leaders.

Not 100% relevant, but the reason gay marriage passed in Iowa back in the day, was because some activsts snapped pics of some state officials in gay bars/bathouses, and told them to support them or have the pics mailed to every church leader in their district.

As a politician you are 'above the law' right up until there's a chance you step out of line.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 16:44 | 6405487 chunga
chunga's picture

That makes me think of Snowden hiding from the eye of sauron in russia somewhere.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 14:35 | 6405212 ebworthen
ebworthen's picture

And wasn't the U.S. "protecting the Kurds" from Saddam?  And aren't the Kurds our "allies" against ISIL?  Or were we protecting them from the "dictator" Assad of Syria who is the only one protecting Christians and Jews from ISIL?

What the hell do we have to do with any of that, other than growing poppies for the CIA and selling and expending munitions for the M.I.C.?  Warnings of George Washington about "foreign entanglements" and Dwight D. Eisenhower about the dangers of the Military Industrial Complex completely ignored.

Just make sure you go out to Chipotle for lunch, then the Apple store, then go see a movie of re-hased heroes that celebrate "Amurika" while burning a lot of gasoline and never thinking of the insanity that is the New Rome, Mordor on the Potomac.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 18:51 | 6405751 Nobody For President
Nobody For President's picture

Its about oil motherfucker - OIL. (And a pipeline through Syria...)

This is not rocket science or huge conspiracies - it's about OIL.

Sheesh.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 19:50 | 6405843 thamnosma
thamnosma's picture

Really?  What oil did we get out of Iraq?  Most went to China as far as I know.  This is about chaos.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 15:14 | 6405313 Macon Richardson
Macon Richardson's picture

Please! I'm tring to eat and you bring up the image of Victoria Nudelman's knickers. The only image more disgusting is the Hildebeast's knickers.

Gaak! I'm completely off my food now!

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 23:37 | 6406163 DC Exile
DC Exile's picture

LOL. Although, I have a hard time imagining Nuland/Kagan wearing panties. Or having the ability to cream anything.

Maybe peeing -- with delight -- her Adult Depends?

And as a side note, I kid you not, did you know Snuggies makes an actual Adult "Baby Diaper?" I mean like an actual baby diaper. Waist sizes 28" to 48". You can order in bulk off their website (check out this baby's hairy legs & torso): 

https://snuggiesdiapers.com/en/diapers/waddler-case-large

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 11:42 | 6404700 jefferson32
jefferson32's picture

dup

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 11:01 | 6404614 doctor10
doctor10's picture

Libya, Egypt redux.  'Cept this time its Turkey/Syria

Sun, 08/09/2015 - 05:28 | 6406488 conscious being
conscious being's picture

They must have a playbook and call these out by the numbers. Nice catch. The neighbor, following NeoCon orders, helps to destabalise their neighbor and then the contradictions/ chaos/ stress that causes internally makes the Neocon puppet blow-up. Go long RandMcNally. People are going to need new maps.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 11:42 | 6404707 techpreist
techpreist's picture

No need to worry, it's contained in subprime!

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a2sR53w7DoDY

Now, with countries instead of counties!

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 10:23 | 6404533 Oh regional Indian
Oh regional Indian's picture

What a pox Vulcan loosed upon the earth, one of the fallen ones...

For all those people who hold the dream of Solly's NEW temple in Heru Salem, remember that the original architect walked into molten fire to meet Vulcan...

Who is possessed and who is dis-possessed is a hard tell in this time of jumbled history...

Most people here seem fine taking their parents inheritance (homes, money, jewellery etc., going back to their great great grandfaters even), but not their collective sins, the ugly side of the same inheritance...

Stuck in hypocrisy we are...

 

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 10:53 | 6404592 toady
toady's picture

Huh?

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 10:53 | 6404593 negative rates
negative rates's picture

You feel okay? You can't pass anything down after more than 10 years since the begining of time almost, there are people who have degrees to prevent you from doing so, the chain of corruption is so long it's never been done before, nice pipe dream though.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 18:52 | 6405753 Nobody For President
Nobody For President's picture

ORI, dial back the meds a bit.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 10:28 | 6404549 chunga
chunga's picture

Pipelines are very dangerous!

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 10:31 | 6404555 Peter Pan
Peter Pan's picture

There are prophecies foreseeing the breakup of Turkey as well as the coming out of many millions of crypto-Christians who have kept their faith but who await the right moment for an uprising.

Time will tell.

Until then....more complexity and another powder keg.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 10:31 | 6404556 miker
miker's picture

There will come a time when holding all of this mess together wil not be possible.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 10:32 | 6404557 Pliskin
Pliskin's picture

And there you go folks, the people who can make or break Turkey (Or ANY country)  Goldman said..."."  Barclays said ..."."

 

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 13:12 | 6404962 sun tzu
sun tzu's picture

Join the military or CIA to help your ZioCon bankster overlords destroy the world.

 

Uncle Shlomo need you!

Sun, 08/09/2015 - 08:01 | 6406588 MSimon
MSimon's picture

Too late. Uncle already has you.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 10:32 | 6404559 CheapBastard
CheapBastard's picture

They're going to feel some Blowback they go sticking those nose where it don't belong.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 10:37 | 6404563 Pliskin
Pliskin's picture

Erdogan killed in a style similar to Gadaffi (Fucked up the ass with a sword)

Assad killed in a style similar to Gadaffi (Fucked up the ass with a sword)

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 10:47 | 6404583 bigmikeO
bigmikeO's picture

If muslims or liberals are involved, your society will eventually be reduced to a pile of steaming shit. That's what they do best.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 10:51 | 6404589 clade7
clade7's picture

One need look no farther than Detroit to give credence to your post...

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 10:58 | 6404605 toady
toady's picture

Detroit was Muslim and black.  The liberal was just a side effect of the black.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 10:50 | 6404588 NoWayJose
NoWayJose's picture

Why not fight your own people - especially since you are also fighting the Kurds, and ISIS, and any other terrorist group the U.S. can invent.

And whatever happened to that terrorist group in northern Syria that Obama said was more dangerous than ISIS? The one nobody had ever heard of?

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 11:02 | 6404616 Pliskin
Pliskin's picture

"And whatever happened to that terrorist group in northern Syria that Obama said was more dangerous than ISIS? The one nobody had ever heard of?"

Ahh, those guys, oh yeh, they turned out to be 'cool', they we're actually very moderate, so we armed and funded them.

Don't worry about it dude, .gov's got it all under control.

What about that Bobbi Christina toxic cocktail though, eh?

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 11:10 | 6404634 toady
toady's picture

I believe that terrorist group in northern Syria is called Turkey. Why else would the US work with them? 

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 10:52 | 6404590 NoWayJose
NoWayJose's picture

Turkey is full of the ancient ruins of once great cities and civilizations. Now we know why.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 11:06 | 6404600 Allen_H
Allen_H's picture

Release the kraken !  (insert loony laugh here), And Turky deserves a good payback, the fucking scum terrorists.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 11:05 | 6404622 Monetas
Monetas's picture

Erdogan is a war criminal .... he denies the Armenian Genocide .... while commiting his own against the Kurds !

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 11:06 | 6404623 DonutBoy
DonutBoy's picture

If we are successful in removing Assad, who will rule Syria?   No one.  Syria will break-up into feudal regions run by various factions of ISIS, Hamas, and generally whatever group can do the most killing in any particular area.  It will be a more violent country then it is now.  In this process of destroying the Syrian state we'll turn a blind-eye towards Ergodan's violence against internal political opposition, and allow him to strike the Kurds with American money and weapons.  This will help cement his position as the dictator of Turkey as he steers it away from a modern democracy back to an autocratic Islamic state.  We have it completely inverted.  We're so caught up in our own rhetoric we can't see what's on the ground.  I wish Henry Kissinger was back.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 11:11 | 6404630 Allen_H
Allen_H's picture

In other words, jewMerikunt gangs, we all know this(okay, not all, not the fucking pathetic sheep, hard to believe people do not know the reality, that they could be so oblivious, it always fuck me over when I start speaking to somebody.)

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 11:10 | 6404632 Monetas
Monetas's picture

Assad was more tolerant of the religious minorities !

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 11:12 | 6404641 Allen_H
Allen_H's picture

He is very, he is not religious himself, but believes people are free to be what they want.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 12:11 | 6404795 roisaber
roisaber's picture

That was the one big thing... Assad may have persecuted everybody, but nobody in particular. Then America's Salafist crazies get unleashed and kill every Christian, Yazidi, and Druze that they can catch.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 13:57 | 6404829 Allen_H
Allen_H's picture

Bull, Assad did not persecute anybody, just more western filth. Don't try your pathetic ameriKunt troll/sock-puppet tactics. Stupid fucks.

Don't try your bullshit here mother-fucker.

Sun, 08/09/2015 - 06:05 | 6406511 conscious being
conscious being's picture

Gaddafi was such a bad man. Here's his crime sheet. Youtube Libya Truth.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 11:18 | 6404649 toady
toady's picture

It's a MIC wet dream. So many factions to arm, all on the endless American tax payers credit card!

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 11:18 | 6404650 shovelhead
shovelhead's picture

Relax.

Those random lines drawn in the sand are almost 100 years old anyway.

Time for some new ones. The question is who gets to draw them.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 11:08 | 6404627 Monetas
Monetas's picture

Erdogan and Obama .... hanging from lamp posts .... sigh !

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 12:32 | 6404841 Pliskin
Pliskin's picture

Erdogan and Obama .... hanging from lamp posts by their testicles .... sigh !

Fixed!

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 11:08 | 6404631 shovelhead
shovelhead's picture

It might not be too long before Erdogan, like his buddy Assad, wished he had handed out some EBT cards instead of going all Joe Stalin on his own folks at home.

These things have a way of getting out of hand if you don't read the tea leaves right.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 11:15 | 6404646 Allen_H
Allen_H's picture

Kunt, it is obvious you do not know what you talk about. Buddies ? WTF Kunt !

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 11:27 | 6404671 shovelhead
shovelhead's picture

Buddies in the sense that both assholes are pretty much the same if you don't bother to count the individual puckers.

To me, assholes are assholes, why bother?

Like you.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 11:51 | 6404715 Allen_H
Allen_H's picture

They are FAR from the same, Kunt ! They about as close as positive and negative, because of Turkeys leanings. Should I go on ? I do mean the fucking jewKunt leanings, enacted by the terrorist USSA.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 12:09 | 6404780 Allen_H
Allen_H's picture

You can tell Satanyahoo to take his poker out of your asshole then.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 12:10 | 6404789 Volkodav
Volkodav's picture

Ignorant post. You are wrong. They nothing the same.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 11:32 | 6404686 jmc8888
jmc8888's picture

Chickens come home to roost.

They let these psychos on their soil and helped them out.  They let them stage attacks from their soil. 

The dirty secret is... they did it to themselves and they got what they wanted... except the inevitable blowback, which was easily foreseeable.

Whoops.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 11:41 | 6404703 frankly scarlet
frankly scarlet's picture

so much for Turk Stream....

Sun, 08/09/2015 - 06:09 | 6406516 conscious being
conscious being's picture

You never know, Ukraine Stream might be coming back on line with new management. That would solve a lot of problems.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 11:45 | 6404714 johnqpublic129
johnqpublic129's picture

To bad there arent another couple of million Armeians around.  Turkey took care of them.  Are they now doing the same with Kurds?

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 11:48 | 6404723 Brazen Heist
Brazen Heist's picture

Turkey will always take advantage to have a go at the Kurds. IS is just the excuse.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 12:02 | 6404760 jack stephan
jack stephan's picture

Europeans generally hate migrant turks, but some I met saved my narrow ass one night. 

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 12:08 | 6404781 roisaber
roisaber's picture

Stabbing the best people in the Middle East (the Kurds) in the back yet again.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 12:37 | 6404847 silverer
silverer's picture

Unlike the Armenians (of the past), the Kurds are ready.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 14:59 | 6405282 falconflight
falconflight's picture

Just to keep things clear, as much as I sympethize with the Kurds, they were the Ottomam's loyal enforcers regarding the Armenian Problem.

Mon, 08/10/2015 - 03:22 | 6409013 Charming Anarchist
Charming Anarchist's picture

Just to keep things cool, as much as I find a multi-cultural world to be both a blessing and a curse, I will never blame people for the crimes of their fore fathers. 

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 12:10 | 6404787 At120
At120's picture

Why do the Turks hate the Kurds so much?

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 12:30 | 6404837 Allen_H
Allen_H's picture

You have a lot of catching up to do. Good luck. 

Sun, 08/09/2015 - 06:18 | 6406521 conscious being
conscious being's picture

Because when the Ottoman Empire broke up after WW I, Europeans, drew new map lines to inspire instability. For example, Khurdistan wound up in 4 different new countries. The Turkish government is opposed to "Khurdish self-detetmination", because they would loose a big chunk of Turkey. They are pretty nasty about forcing Khurds to accept Turkish rule.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 12:35 | 6404856 Totentänzerlied
Totentänzerlied's picture

http://mazamascience.com/OilExport/output_en/Exports_BP_2015_oil_bbl_TR_...

I am shocked, shocked! that yet another worthless energy debtor in terminal overshoot is collapsing in on itself. Shocked.

 

Shocked.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 13:09 | 6404949 PrimalScream
PrimalScream's picture

"There will come a time when holding all of this mess together wil not be possible."

WINNER for Comment Of The Day.

That time is approaching faster than most people want to admit. Not that you would ever know it, by the policies that are in operation today. 

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 13:11 | 6404956 PrimalScream
PrimalScream's picture

"Europeans generally hate migrant turks, but some I met saved my narrow ass one night. "

OK Buddy, you get MY VOTE.

I want to hear that story. 

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 13:26 | 6404977 SameAsItEverWas
SameAsItEverWas's picture

Uh Oh!  Please don't make it impossible for me to have the best Turkish baklava delivered to my door in just three days from Karaköy Güllüo?lu :

https://www.baklavasiparisi.com/

Hopefully the site being off-line has nothing to do with the supposed civil war.

There were  five different 1-kg packages and the 11+ pounds of baklava cost $180 delivered.  There is simply nothing else that can touch them for quality.  The first thing you notice is the butter, which is like the fresh country butter I remember from Ireland.  And then there's the nuts, which are fragrant like no nuts I've ever had before.

Despite the fancy box, US Customs opened the outer box but didn't sample the treats, though with the huge discretion they have, they could be sorely tempted to take a nibble every now and then.

Search for: karakoy gulluoglu photos

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 13:41 | 6405061 Allen_H
Allen_H's picture

Fucking stupid troll distraction post. Kunt ! Turks are fucking terrorists ! How hard is that to understand dickface ?

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 15:59 | 6405402 Bunghole
Bunghole's picture

Greeks make better baklava.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 17:12 | 6405546 SameAsItEverWas
SameAsItEverWas's picture

À chacun son goût.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 17:32 | 6405582 Allen_H
Allen_H's picture

Who gives a fuck, fuck your taste in life.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 17:11 | 6405543 avenriv
avenriv's picture

I am sure you suffered in a turkish jail.

then normally you hate them, understand...

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 17:11 | 6405544 New_Meat
New_Meat's picture

Most newbies are able to control their demanding urge towards an ad hominem attack until at least 14 weeks as a member.

I guess that they aren't makin' 'em like they used to.

- Ned

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 17:21 | 6405564 SameAsItEverWas
SameAsItEverWas's picture

http://www.karakoygulluoglu.com/en/baklava/history

 How Do We Understand The Best Baklava

  • Baklava Recipes
  • About Baklava

    The History of Baklava

    Almost all the peoples of the Middle East, Eastern Mediterranean, Balkans, Caucasia; Turks, Arabs, Jews, Greeks, Armenians, Bulgarians introduce baklava as their national dessert.

    THE NATIONALITY OF BAKLAVA

    Almost all the peoples of the Middle East, Eastern Mediterranean, Balkans, Caucasia; Turks, Arabs, Jews, Greeks, Armenians, Bulgarians introduce baklava as their national dessert. When we consider that all of these regions once belonged to the Ottoman Empire, it is possible to think of Baklava as an Ottoman dessert. But because Ottoman is mostly equivalent with ‘Turks’, especially Greeks and Arabs don’t like this qualification.

    Does the history of baklava go back to Byzantine ?

    Greeks claim that Turks had borrowed Baklava from Byzantine . Professor Speros Vryonis in trying to prove this claim asserts that baklava is very like the dessert kopte or kopton (koptoplakous) very much liked during the Byzantine period. According to Charles Perry ,one of the defenders that Baklava is not from Byzantine but from the Middle East, kopteom is not a pastry but is a kind of confection. Walnut, nut, almond or poppy mixed with honey is placed between two layers of mastic made up of ground sesame and boiled honey. Sula Bozis a Greek from ?stanbul in his book named ‘ Kitchen Culture’ tells about a Byzantine dessert (kopti) made by placing grounded nut ,sesame, and honey between two thin layers of dough.
    He came across this recipe in the old notebooks from Greeks in Istanbul. If kopte which is a basically a sesame mastic confection has been transformed into a pastry made of sheets of dough , it might then have been transformed into baklava made of many, many thin sheets of dough. But then we have to explain how thin sheets of dough entered into Byzantine culinary culture.

    Is baklava a discovery of nomad Turks ?

    Professor Speros explains that the nomad tribes were very poor in culinary culture and they fed on what they got from the herds they had , the vegetable and fruit they could find and the simple bread baked on sheet of metal. It is known that the nomad Turks couldn’t bake bread the way we can and ate the thin layers of dough they bake on portable metal sheets . Even today in many parts of Turkey they eat thin layers of dough as home made bread.

    The Turks who have the thin layers of dough as their basic food might have developed layered desserts by placing certain things between the layers to enrich the dough. It is highly probable that Turks had devised desserts made of layered dough by using cream and honey as an ingredient placed between the layers and this might be considered as the origin of baklava.
    Charles Perry considers the traditional pahlava of Azerbaijan as the evolution of the thin layered of dough cooked on sheets of metals in the plains of the Central Asia into the classical baklava. The Pahlava of Baku is a dessert prepared by placing nuts and peanuts between 8 layered dough not thinner than the home made macaroni. Perry stating that Azerbaijan is on the migratory route from Central Asia considers baklava as the product of the contact between migratory Turks and settled Iranians.

    Baklava is like the combination of an Iranian dessert made of dough filled up with nuts and peanuts and baked in ovens with the thin layered bread of the Turks. Though this is considered to be an assumption it looks more rational than the claims of the Greeks.

    Baklava and the history of baklava during The Ottomans
    Whether baklava came from ancient Greek or from Byzantine or whether from the nomadic times of Arabs and Turks , it is clear that what we now define as classical baklava had taken its elaborate form during the Ottoman period.
    The oldest reports about baklava is Topkap? Palace kitchen notebooks from the Fatih period. According to this report baklava was baked in the Palace in 1473. Evilya Çelebi has written that in the middle of the 17th century he as a guest in the mansion house of the esquire of Bitlis has eaten baklava.

    In the ‘Surname’ written by Vehbi it is reported that in the circumcision ceremony of the Sultan’s four sons in 1720 all the guests had been offered baklava.
    From these records we know that baklava which was well known in every part of the Ottoman empire was consumed more in the mansion houses, ceremonies and the banquets.
    It can be said that baklava has been elaborated from a simple pastry into a dessert which needed skill in order to please the dignitaries and the rich people. Some researchers like Bert Fragner from Bamberg University claim that the culinary tastes in the Ottoman Empire has been shaped according to the tastes and preferences of the ?stanbul high society.
    It is known that in places and mansion houses to be a master of baklava was a reason for being preferred as a cook and that it was very important that the layer of dough was very thin. In the 15th century records baklava is referred to as ‘rikak baklava’. Rikak is the plural of the Arabic word rakik which means thin. The word thin might have been used to mean the layers of dough. Describing baklava as ‘rikak’ brings to mind the possibility that formerly thick layers of baklava was used. And if this is the case ,then we might say that baklava gained its perfect taste in the Ottoman kitchen.

    In the old mansion houses the cook nominees had to cook pilav and baklava to test their abilities. The master cook could be understood from the way he cut the dough. If the pieces are thin enough and the exact size of the tray ,then the skill of the cook was admitted.
    According to the book about the cultural roots of Turkish people ,Burhan O?uz writes that in the old mansion houses the cook was supposed to fit 100 thin pieces into the tray when making baklava. It was a matter of pride and joy for the family to have a cook who can make such thin pieces. Baklava was brought to the owner of the house for inspection before it was put into oven. The owner threw a gold coin perpendicularly onto the tray and if the coin could reach the tray then the cook was successful. Then the gold coin was given to the cook as a tip. If this show was done in front of the guests and the cook was not successful, the owner felt embarrassed.

    It would be reasonable to conclude that making of baklava has been seen as a mastership on its own because of the importance given to baklava in these old mansion houses. Sula Bozis writes that in the 19th century the masters from Sak?z who belonged to a guild were invited to roll out baklava dough. In the Istanbul encyclopedia by Re?at Ekrem Koçu there were people in the kitchens especially to roll out dough for baklava and börek. These people nearly spent a life to be master in rolling out dough; no exaggeration but in one tray of baklava they could lay 40 sheets of dough as thin as a rose leaf. There were more famous kitchens than the kitchen of the Palace. For example during the reign of Sultan Mahmud 2 the mansion house of Dürrizade Efendi , a Muslim theologian , had achieved a great reputation.
    Again according to Re?at Ekrem Koçu at the old mansion houses kidney fat was the favorite fat used for making baklava. And the filling was always nut. Peanut and cream as a filling was used later on. Ekrem Koçu also reports that at the mansion houses baklava was well roasted and nothing was added onto it after it was taken out of the oven. To put cream or grounded peanut on it meant to blemish it. Ekrem Koçu also adds that ‘ Baklava is the sultan of dough desserts with its unique flavor and would accept no other flavor .’

    Baklava parade
    Baklava which is the sultan of desserts was also the dessert of the sultans. The importance of baklava at the palace was not only because it was accepted as the token of wealth and sophistication ( as in the mansion houses) but also because it was a state tradition. The baklava parade that started at the end of the 17th century or at the beginning of the 18th century is example of this tradition.
    During the reign of Kanuni Sultan Suleyman it was traditional that the soldiers were treated to stewed meat, zerde ( a sweet, gelatinous dessert that has been colored and flavored with saffron) and pilav when they were going on expedition. Afterwards when the expeditions became rare this tradition was also forgotten. Instead of this tradition when soldiers were getting their trimonthly pay from the sultan they were offered a big feast and on the 15th of Ramazan they were treated to baklava.
    On the 15th Ramazan when the sultan visited h?rka-i ?erif (the cloak of Mohammed kept in Topkap? Palace) as a caliph , baklava from the palace was sent to janissary and other soldier bases . One tray of baklava for ten soldiers.
    The delivery of baklava to the soldiers and carrying the baklava to the barracks has become an imposing parade. The baklava trays covered in a kind of towels called futa were lined in front of the Palace kitchens; the soldiers who were to take away the baklava trays also lined up in front of the trays.
    First Silahdar A?a took the first two trays in the name of Sultan who was the number one janissary; and then two soldiers hooked the trays by the help of green poles through the knots of the futas and placed them on their soldiers. The chief of every troop in front and the baklava carriers at the back started their long march from the gates to their barracks .This procession was called the baklava parade. All the people in ?stanbul would come out to watch this parade and jeer for the sultan and the soldiers.
    The tradition which made baklava the symbol of the Ottoman court disappeared when the janissaries were abolished. The latest baklava parade was made on 21 April 1826 about 2 months before the abolition of the janissaries.
    Re?at Ekrem Koçu recounts a rumor which talks about a tie between the baklava parade and the abolition of the janissaries. According to the rumor an old man came to the front of the Palace with his 7-8 year old son or grandson to show him the parade. They were standing on the way so a few janissaries assaulted them. The old man was so hurt that he called out for God and said: ‘ I came because this child wanted to see the parade; I would rather stay in the mosque on such a holy day than see these disgusting group of soldiers. I want you to eliminate this group from the surface of the earth so that next Ramadan I wouldn’t see them.’
    So as the saying goes ‘ the prayers of the suffering man would come true’ the people thought that the janissaries were abolished because of the old man’s curse.
    Now the baklava parade is a history. But the reign of baklava continues. At the end of the 18th century, the French Empress Marie Antoinette ‘s old chef of pastries brought a new kind of pastry to the Ottoman kitchen. This new baklava had a differently rolled out dough and was folded differently and was shaped like a dome more or like a croissant. This baklava was called the Palace baklava or European baklava. But no dessert could replace the traditional baklava. Until the last days of the Ottoman Empire baklava was the unique dessert of the special days. For example the last Ottoman Sultan Vahdettin had offered baklava for dessert at the lunch at Y?ld?z Palace on 30 April 1920.
    Baklava which had given its name to a state ceremony whatever its origins are has the right to be accepted as an Ottoman dessert.

    Ümit Sinan Topçuo?lu

    Mon, 08/10/2015 - 03:26 | 6409021 Charming Anarchist
    Charming Anarchist's picture

    Why the distraction??? 

     

    Who in their right mind would write so much about baklava???? 

    Sat, 08/08/2015 - 13:29 | 6405017 newworldorder
    newworldorder's picture

    Air strikes against ISIS is a bunch of NATO crap.  All it does is kill a few jihadis and enriches the millile manufacturers.

    If we want to eradicate ISIS and other Jihadi Groups, it will take a concentrated, NATO, ME Allies military operation, using all available military resources, including telling IRAN to back off against Western Efforts. If we are not prepared to destroy them, all else is Kabuki theater.

     

    Sat, 08/08/2015 - 13:55 | 6405080 Allen_H
    Allen_H's picture

    No, I think it is simpler than that.......

    All it would require is that terrorist USSA stop supplying arms and money to ANY middle-eastern nation, to stop funding training the terrorists and to stop obeying izraHELL. Then perhaps we can start to dissolve the situation, but.....not without some compensation, it is well deserved, ameriKunt terrorist !

    There must be blood, and a lot, can we start with the ignorant YOU ?

    Sat, 08/08/2015 - 14:05 | 6405143 Caleb Abell
    Caleb Abell's picture

    "If we want to eradicate ISIS and other Jihadi Groups, it will take a concentrated, NATO, ME Allies military operation, using all available military resources ..."

     

    Alternatively, the CIA could just tell ISIS that they stopped payment on their payroll checks.

    Sat, 08/08/2015 - 17:01 | 6405510 joe90
    joe90's picture

    Not that simple.  Now set up they have a life of their own (exactly as intended) http://thesaker.is/the-saker-podcast-no-7-the-origins-of-daesh/.  They also have a "recruitment" system drawing in disaffected Western youth who may have genuinely converted to islam (lives turned around), and then are very cleverly "radicalised"/duped.

    Sat, 08/08/2015 - 18:30 | 6405155 SquadronVBF94
    SquadronVBF94's picture

    ..

    Sat, 08/08/2015 - 18:29 | 6405695 SquadronVBF94
    SquadronVBF94's picture

    That or nuke the crap out of them.  What you think the Russians would risk MAD over a bunch of towel heads?  They weren't that stupid during the cold war and they aren't that stupid now.  Putin has no desire to rule over a pile of ashes, either ours or his own.

    Sat, 08/08/2015 - 21:07 | 6405961 bid the soldier...
    bid the soldiers shoot's picture

    Only an uneducated neocon would pretend to know what the Russians are going to do.

    For your information they are much stronger today than they were during the cold war, and China, which was barely on the map in 1990, has the largest standing army in the world with plenty of weaponry.

    If you think Russia and China are going to take orders from the syphilitic Victoria Noodleman or our very own Step and Fetch It President, you prolly want to travel via time machine back to Ronnie Reagan's first inaugural. 

    Sat, 08/08/2015 - 14:30 | 6405207 Ms No
    Ms No's picture

    How many Israelis are going to be volunteering for all of these new brewing conflicts?  Oh that's right they wont be, they will instigate it all and then sit on the sidelines and watch us beat the hell out of eachother.  Peak stupidity.

    Sat, 08/08/2015 - 14:51 | 6405256 lasvegaspersona
    lasvegaspersona's picture

    So when the Kurds were helping the USA against Sadam they were the good guys. Now that we need Turkey...fuck 'em...political fodder.

    I would think twice before becoming a US 'ally'. It might just be a marriage of convenience.

    Sat, 08/08/2015 - 14:54 | 6405269 falconflight
    falconflight's picture

    Turkey is a powerful state and other than the Kruds, pretty homogeneous.  Their "deep state" has existed for decades to intervene in the protection of the status quo (State).  I'd have to see a whole lot more evidence to give much credence to claims of Turkish deconstruction.  jmo

    Sat, 08/08/2015 - 15:34 | 6405359 Allen_H
    Allen_H's picture

    Yes, you are a deep-state-stupid-mother-fucker, we understand killer !

    Sat, 08/08/2015 - 15:52 | 6405395 Ms No
    Ms No's picture

    He can't help it he is a NeoCon. 

    The other day he was claiming that Helen Thomas was a DNC mouthpiece bag when I mentioned that she lost her press seat around the time she stated that "Congress, the White House, Hollywood and Wall Street are owned by Zionists. No question, in my opinion."

    Maybe Helen was a bag in her earlier career but I am still waiting for him to elaborate on how that was the case. 

    Sat, 08/08/2015 - 16:27 | 6405462 Allen_H
    Allen_H's picture

    You know, I do not know all your political terms, but I do know that this idiot is a paid troll/sock-puppet, a bad one though, ours here in the EU are much more intelligent. But like him, they are easy to track, the USELESS EVIL MOTHER-FUCKER. The point being is that if Anybody is willing to pay for somebody to promote their view, then they are dead wrong, and I am looking for my rope.....

    Sat, 08/08/2015 - 18:30 | 6405698 falconflight
    falconflight's picture

    GED on EBT?

    Sat, 08/08/2015 - 18:37 | 6405710 Allen_H
    Allen_H's picture

    Hey falcon fucker, I got one for you GTFO, haha, I know it's an oldy. but it suits you. 

    Q: How long does falconfucker stay a virgin ?

    A: As long as he outruns daddy.

    Sat, 08/08/2015 - 22:00 | 6406034 Ms No
    Ms No's picture

    Your opinions seem to bounce back and forth falcon. You called Helen Thomas "a terrorist mouth piece" who "should rot in hell" for asking questions about arming Israel etc the other day but today you seem to be down on Bibi.  So which is it?  You don't like Bibi today but anyone that criticizes Israel is a terrorist or is it just Helen Thomas that you don't like?

    If I didn't know better I would think that you are covering because bunghole sniffed you out earlier.

    Sat, 08/08/2015 - 19:25 | 6405802 PrintemDano
    PrintemDano's picture

    Allen_H, Your incessant use of guttural language belies your lack of intelligence. 

    Sat, 08/08/2015 - 20:46 | 6405930 bid the soldier...
    bid the soldiers shoot's picture

    wrong

     

    perhaps in the world of fox news and megyn kelly, but certainly not here at zh.

    Sun, 08/09/2015 - 01:43 | 6406334 bid the soldier...
    bid the soldiers shoot's picture

    PrintemDano, Your silly name belies the absence of any homosexual cravings.

    Sat, 08/08/2015 - 14:58 | 6405279 JackieG
    JackieG's picture

    What does Donald say?

    Nobody makes a move without asking the Donald.

    Sat, 08/08/2015 - 15:43 | 6405381 toady
    toady's picture

    I believe he said, and I'm paraphrasing here, so cut me some slack....

    "Put'em all in one place and nuk'm".

    Sat, 08/08/2015 - 16:07 | 6405417 trader1
    trader1's picture

    What does Rupert say?

     

    In mid-August 2013, Rupert Murdoch's corporation 21st Century Fox invested US$70 million in Vice Media, resulting in a 5 percent stake. Following the announcement, Smith explained, "We have set ourselves up to build a global platform but we have maintained control."[10][11]

    In June 2014, it was reported that Time Warner was negotiating to acquire a stake in Vice Media. The company also planned to give Vice control over its television channel HLN, a spin-off network of CNN that had struggled to transform into a younger-skewing, social media-oriented news service. However, the deal was not finalized, as the companies were unable to agree on a proper valuation.[12][13] It was then revealed on August 29, 2014, that A&E Networks—a joint venture of Hearst Corporation and The Walt Disney Company—would acquire a 10 percent minority stake in Vice Media for US$250 million.[14]

    On July 2, 2014, Vice Media announced that it would be relocating into a warehouse space in Williamsburg formerly occupied by music venues 285 Kent, Death by Audio, and Glasslands. Vice spent US$20 million to renovate the 60,000-square-foot (5,600 m2) building as part of an eight-year lease,[15] facilitating the establishment of new production facilities with full broadcast capabilities, and received an offer of US$6.5 million in tax credits from New York state's Empire State Development.[16]

    On October 30, 2014, Vice Media announced a CDN$100 million joint venture with Rogers Communications that will facilitate the construction of production facilities in Toronto for the creation of locally produced content, as well as the introduction of a Vice-branded television network and digital properties in Canada in 2015. Rogers CEO Guy Laurence described the proposed studio as "a powerhouse for Canadian digital content focused on 18- to 34-year-olds" that will be "exciting" and provocative." The content of the partnership will be aimed primarily toward digital platforms.[17][18]

    In late 2014, VICE Media announced that Alyssa Mastromonaco, who formerly worked in the Obama administration, would come on board as the company's Chief Operating Officer in January 2015,[19] and that James Schwab, who had previously advised VICE and Dreamworks on media deals, would be joining as Co-President.[20]

     

    Sat, 08/08/2015 - 15:40 | 6405365 monad
    monad's picture

    US has had more unprosecuted homicides than Afghanistan military casualties in the same time period. Civil war? The color revolution is red. Black Lives Matter and the violence escalating campaigns are controlled opposition to prevent any effective organized opposition; divide and roll. The pols are blackmailed.The gloves are off.

    It isn't all bad. Since half the Reagan administration was indicted, to threaten their active political puppets the blackmailers have routinely spent their blackmail capital after using up each puppet. 30 years of MSM fodder. All these mutts are going to be humiliated very soon.

    Sat, 08/08/2015 - 16:44 | 6405477 Son of Captain Nemo
    Son of Captain Nemo's picture

    Turkey my only sage piece of advice...

    Don't do what Scotland, Ireland, Crete, Greece, Spain and Italy have done. Know you believe that you are just an "honorary member" in the club with loftier goals but the Anglo-American/EU establishment have owned you in every other respect and you know it!

    Hint:  Aim high and make Iceland your idol!

    And on the latter when you are successful be sure you put Mr. Erdogan's preserved head on a very long pike as a warning to future leadership at "what not to do"...

    Sat, 08/08/2015 - 16:47 | 6405489 newsoutlet
    newsoutlet's picture

    Putin’s Energy Diplomacy is Getting the Cold Shoulder

     

     

    Russian President Vladimir Putin has been trying his own pivot to Asia, hoping that his country’s vast natural gas holdings could cement a new relationship with China while making it easier to bypass his quarrelsome neighbors in Europe. Unfortunately for the Russian strongman, things aren’t going so well. 

     

    Over the past year alone, Putin has inked a massive, $400 billion natural gas deal and a strategic partnership with Beijing. Russia also hoped to build a second Siberian pipeline to China that could give Moscow the ability to play off European energy customers against those in Asia. Putin also doubled down on Europe: When European Union officials blocked one $40 billion gas pipeline across the Black Sea, he simply dreamed up a new one through Turkey. That could be his key to finally bypassing troublesome Ukraine as a transit country for natural gas, tightening control over energy exports to Europe, and showering largesse on friends and allies. Case in point: When Greece came cap in hand to Moscow this summer, Putin promised to finance another $2 billion pipeline spur to tie into the Turkey project and cement ties with Greece’s left-wing government.

     

    China, realizing it doesn’t need as much energy as it thought, has gotten cold feet on the second gas deal. Turkey and Russia still can’t reach an agreement on the so-called “Turkish Stream” project and have put off further talks until the fall. Other ambitious Russian projects, from liquefied natural gas terminals in the Far East to a gas line unifying Korea, are going nowhere, even as Russia keeps proposing more and more big energy projects. And in a telling about-face, Russia has now abruptly decided that it cannot simply bypass Ukraine and must keep pumping gas to Europe across the territory of its wary neighbor for decades to come.

     

    “Putin’s energy strategy is in shambles. Nothing seems to work: No ‘Streams,’ no bypasses, no China,” said Ilian Vassilev, a former Bulgarian ambassador in Russia and now an energy consultant.

     

    But even as Russian projects move further and further away from apparent completion, more and more are announced. The latest is a planned expansion of the so-called Nord Stream pipeline that fuels Europe via the Baltic Sea. But that pipeline wouldn’t be necessary if Ukraine is still shipping gas, or if the Turkish project ever happens.

     

    “You get the feeling that the Russians have lost the plot a little bit, throwing up all these projects, some of which are of dubious economic value,” said Ed Chow, an energy expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies who has recently written about Russia’s proliferating pipelines. “Is it because they want to give the appearance of being in control when things are actually spinning out of control?”

     

    There are many reasons why Russia’s energy plans seem to be stumbling, but fundamentally it is because the country’s grandiose visions are colliding with reality. Global energy markets have been transformed in just the past year: Demand for oil and natural gas is weak, and prices have collapsed. A huge buyer’s market is bad news for a country reliant on energy exports for half its budget; the IMF said this week that cheap oil and sanctions will shrink Russia’s economy by 3.4 percent this year.

     

    The economic straitjacket brought about by Western sanctions on many big Russian firms, especially in the energy sector, chokes off financing and makes hugely ambitious projects even tougher to pull off, especially in the unrealistically short time frames Russia keeps proposing. And Russia has to grapple with all those challenges while juggling not just bottom-line economics, like any energy-producing country, but also Putin’s ever-shifting strategic calculus.

     

    And there are other albatrosses for Russian energy firms: Contractors close to the Kremlin can make a killing providing equipment for projects, even if they never come to fruition, said Mikhail Korchemkin, the managing director of East European Gas Analysis, an energy consultancy. He noted Russian press reports that estimate Gazprom spent about $40 billion on unnecessary projects.

     

    The changing energy markets have hit Russia hard. New sources of supply of natural gas, from the United States and other places, have been eroding Moscow’s market dominance. The U.S. natural gas boom has weakened Russia’s hold on the European market even though the United States has yet to export a molecule there, simply by adding more gas to a well-supplied market.

     

    U.S. officials, including President Barack Obama, Secretary of State John Kerry, and many Republican lawmakers, have sought to use prospective U.S. gas exports to Europe as a way to weaken Russia’s hold. The United States also seeks to bolster Europe’s own ability to get energy from places other than Russia. State Department officials declined to comment for this story.

     

    Other new energy suppliers, such as Australia, also have set their sights on the Asian market, which Russia was slow to tackle seriously, giving Russia’s prospective customers a lot more bargaining power.

     

    Due to those market changes, especially the ripple effects of the U.S. gas boom, Vassilev, the former ambassador, said he expects Russian gas exports to become more like plain old oil exports, which aren’t used as a geopolitical weapon because oil is such a large, liquid market.

     

    “Russian gas will be traded like Russian oil and very much deprived of its elite strategic foreign-policy status,” he said.

     

    When, after a decade of haggling, Moscow and Beijing finally inked their mammoth gas deal in May 2014, the outlook for Chinese energy demand was still robust. The economy was growing fast, and Beijing stressed the need to find cleaner sources of fuel.

     

    But a year later, the Chinese economy has slammed on the brakes. Growth has slipped, and more importantly the rebalancing of the Chinese economy away from energy-guzzling heavy industry to leaner service sectors has walloped the demand outlook there. Energy consumption is growing at the lowest levels of the century so far. If China was already driving a hard bargain on price with Russia before the slowdown, it is now in a position to simply walk away from unnecessary projects. Late last month, Chinese energy firms quietly suspended the second Siberian gas project, known as the Altai pipeline or Power of Siberia-2.

     

    The tough market environment is also muddying the outlook for Turkish Stream. When Putin announced the pipeline project last December, he hailed a “strategic partnership” with Turkey. Yet the two sides still haven’t reached an agreement on something as basic as the price that Turkey will pay for Russian gas. Turkish and Russian officials have spent the summer in a duel of declarations over the actual status of the project.

     

    What’s more, while the two sides may eventually build a limited pipeline to supply the Turkish domestic market, the notion of a huge Russian route to fuel Europe via Turkey is looking questionable. The same legal and regulatory problems that doomed Russia’s original pipeline plan (known as “South Stream”) still hold true today; unless and until Russian firms comply with European Union competition law, new Russian pipelines can’t land in European territory. That dims any idea of a Russian-financed pipeline inside Greece to link Europe to Turkey.

     

    Moreover, Russia’s natural gas behemoth, Gazprom, doesn’t seem to have the financial muscle to build all these huge projects on its own. Thanks to weak demand in Europe, the company’s main market, plus all the strife in Ukraine, Gazprom’s profits fell last year by almost 90 percent. Whether it’s Turkish Stream, or the Greek spur, or the Altai route from western Siberia into the far provinces of China, those energy projects require plenty of upfront spending with no immediate return on investment. That is where Putin’s strategic visions keep colliding with marketplace realities.

     

    “You are transporting the same gas in a lot of cases, but across a new pipe that has to be built over longer distances to market,” Chow said. “Even though it may be strategically desirable, it doesn’t make you money, it costs you money.”

     

    That’s one reason Russia has suddenly backed away from its stated goal of ending natural gas transits across Ukraine by 2019. For months, and as recently as early June, Russian leaders and energy officials warned Europe it would have to find another way to get Russian gas, because Moscow doesn’t want to ship it through Kiev anymore.

     

    Then Russia’s tune abruptly changed, after Putin apparently realized that there is no way the country can plan, finance, and physically build thousands of miles of pipelines needed to supplant the network already in Ukraine. Gazprom boss Alexey Miller said in late June he would reopen talks with Ukraine over future gas transit after the current contract expires.

     

    “I can tell you that we have a direct order from the president of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin,” Miller said, according to Reuters.

     

    Photo credit: ALEXANDER ZEMLIANICHENKO/AFP/Getty

     

    Sat, 08/08/2015 - 17:21 | 6405561 smacker
    smacker's picture

    Yeahbut...Putin's popular in the Ukraine. Poll votes: http://thesaker.is/treason-of-the-century-84-of-ukrainians-would-trust-p... Vladimir Putin – 84% (34,905 votes) Alexander Lukashenko – 5% (2,032 votes) Xi Jinping – 2% (820 votes) Vladimir Zhirinovsky – 2% (708 votes) Petro Poroshenko – 1% (538 votes) Angela Merkel – 1% (430 votes) Nursultan Nazarbaev – 1% (318 votes) Barak Obama – 1% (244 votes) Yulia Timoshenko – 0% (176 votes) Oleg Lyashko – 0% (170 votes) Arseniy Yatsenyuk – 0% (158 votes) Igor Kolomoisky – 0% (150 votes) Petro Simonenko – 0% (130 votes) Leonid Kuchma – 0% (117 votes) Viktor Yanukovich – 0% (116 votes) Oleg Tyagnibok – 0% (86 votes) Sergey Tigipko – 0% (76 votes) Leonid Kravchuk – 0% (32 votes) Viktor Yuschenko – 0% (32 votes)

    Sat, 08/08/2015 - 18:29 | 6405696 falconflight
    falconflight's picture

    The Saker; posters are Roooshaaaa's baba nation.  If you hold the screen away from you, all the names say Bibi.  ;)

    Sat, 08/08/2015 - 17:28 | 6405575 Allen_H
    Allen_H's picture

    Should change your name to copyPaste. Fucker. We aint gonna buy your sheite here, try the market in izraHELL.

    Sat, 08/08/2015 - 18:27 | 6405689 falconflight
    falconflight's picture

    Russian men's fertility rates give women nearly as much chance at pregnacy just by themselves.  Besides, they'd rather sleep with the bottle anyway.  Gorby tried to save them.

    Sat, 08/08/2015 - 17:07 | 6405530 avenriv
    avenriv's picture

    what was the etnicity of the suicide bomber a couple of weeks ago at that young kurds gathering ?

    who killed whom a couple of months ago in that big city in south-east turkey, considered the most importand kurdish city ?

    what is the political orientation of pkk ?

    why the kurds do not have a state ?

     

     

     

    Sat, 08/08/2015 - 17:37 | 6405597 Lynn Trainor
    Lynn Trainor's picture

    Current events in the Middle East, and the entire world for that matter, are building up to the direct fulfillment of Daniel 12:1:

    "and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time"

    It will strike as an overwhelming surprise.

    Sat, 08/08/2015 - 18:32 | 6405703 falconflight
    falconflight's picture

    Nice informative post, bears rereading:

    1
    Vote down!

    -1

    http://www.karakoygulluoglu.com/en/baklava/history

     How Do We Understand The Best Baklava

  • Baklava Recipes
  • About Baklava

    The History of Baklava

    Almost all the peoples of the Middle East, Eastern Mediterranean, Balkans, Caucasia; Turks, Arabs, Jews, Greeks, Armenians, Bulgarians introduce baklava as their national dessert.

    THE NATIONALITY OF BAKLAVA

    Almost all the peoples of the Middle East, Eastern Mediterranean, Balkans, Caucasia; Turks, Arabs, Jews, Greeks, Armenians, Bulgarians introduce baklava as their national dessert. When we consider that all of these regions once belonged to the Ottoman Empire, it is possible to think of Baklava as an Ottoman dessert. But because Ottoman is mostly equivalent with ‘Turks’, especially Greeks and Arabs don’t like this qualification.

    Does the history of baklava go back to Byzantine ?

    Greeks claim that Turks had borrowed Baklava from Byzantine . Professor Speros Vryonis in trying to prove this claim asserts that baklava is very like the dessert kopte or kopton (koptoplakous) very much liked during the Byzantine period. According to Charles Perry ,one of the defenders that Baklava is not from Byzantine but from the Middle East, kopteom is not a pastry but is a kind of confection. Walnut, nut, almond or poppy mixed with honey is placed between two layers of mastic made up of ground sesame and boiled honey. Sula Bozis a Greek from ?stanbul in his book named ‘ Kitchen Culture’ tells about a Byzantine dessert (kopti) made by placing grounded nut ,sesame, and honey between two thin layers of dough.
    He came across this recipe in the old notebooks from Greeks in Istanbul. If kopte which is a basically a sesame mastic confection has been transformed into a pastry made of sheets of dough , it might then have been transformed into baklava made of many, many thin sheets of dough. But then we have to explain how thin sheets of dough entered into Byzantine culinary culture.

    Is baklava a discovery of nomad Turks ?

    Professor Speros explains that the nomad tribes were very poor in culinary culture and they fed on what they got from the herds they had , the vegetable and fruit they could find and the simple bread baked on sheet of metal. It is known that the nomad Turks couldn’t bake bread the way we can and ate the thin layers of dough they bake on portable metal sheets . Even today in many parts of Turkey they eat thin layers of dough as home made bread.

    The Turks who have the thin layers of dough as their basic food might have developed layered desserts by placing certain things between the layers to enrich the dough. It is highly probable that Turks had devised desserts made of layered dough by using cream and honey as an ingredient placed between the layers and this might be considered as the origin of baklava.
    Charles Perry considers the traditional pahlava of Azerbaijan as the evolution of the thin layered of dough cooked on sheets of metals in the plains of the Central Asia into the classical baklava. The Pahlava of Baku is a dessert prepared by placing nuts and peanuts between 8 layered dough not thinner than the home made macaroni. Perry stating that Azerbaijan is on the migratory route from Central Asia considers baklava as the product of the contact between migratory Turks and settled Iranians.

    Baklava is like the combination of an Iranian dessert made of dough filled up with nuts and peanuts and baked in ovens with the thin layered bread of the Turks. Though this is considered to be an assumption it looks more rational than the claims of the Greeks.

    Baklava and the history of baklava during The Ottomans
    Whether baklava came from ancient Greek or from Byzantine or whether from the nomadic times of Arabs and Turks , it is clear that what we now define as classical baklava had taken its elaborate form during the Ottoman period.
    The oldest reports about baklava is Topkap? Palace kitchen notebooks from the Fatih period. According to this report baklava was baked in the Palace in 1473. Evilya Çelebi has written that in the middle of the 17th century he as a guest in the mansion house of the esquire of Bitlis has eaten baklava.

    In the ‘Surname’ written by Vehbi it is reported that in the circumcision ceremony of the Sultan’s four sons in 1720 all the guests had been offered baklava. 
    From these records we know that baklava which was well known in every part of the Ottoman empire was consumed more in the mansion houses, ceremonies and the banquets.
    It can be said that baklava has been elaborated from a simple pastry into a dessert which needed skill in order to please the dignitaries and the rich people. Some researchers like Bert Fragner from Bamberg University claim that the culinary tastes in the Ottoman Empire has been shaped according to the tastes and preferences of the ?stanbul high society. 
    It is known that in places and mansion houses to be a master of baklava was a reason for being preferred as a cook and that it was very important that the layer of dough was very thin. In the 15th century records baklava is referred to as ‘rikak baklava’. Rikak is the plural of the Arabic word rakik which means thin. The word thin might have been used to mean the layers of dough. Describing baklava as ‘rikak’ brings to mind the possibility that formerly thick layers of baklava was used. And if this is the case ,then we might say that baklava gained its perfect taste in the Ottoman kitchen.

    In the old mansion houses the cook nominees had to cook pilav and baklava to test their abilities. The master cook could be understood from the way he cut the dough. If the pieces are thin enough and the exact size of the tray ,then the skill of the cook was admitted.
    According to the book about the cultural roots of Turkish people ,Burhan O?uz writes that in the old mansion houses the cook was supposed to fit 100 thin pieces into the tray when making baklava. It was a matter of pride and joy for the family to have a cook who can make such thin pieces. Baklava was brought to the owner of the house for inspection before it was put into oven. The owner threw a gold coin perpendicularly onto the tray and if the coin could reach the tray then the cook was successful. Then the gold coin was given to the cook as a tip. If this show was done in front of the guests and the cook was not successful, the owner felt embarrassed.

    It would be reasonable to conclude that making of baklava has been seen as a mastership on its own because of the importance given to baklava in these old mansion houses. Sula Bozis writes that in the 19th century the masters from Sak?z who belonged to a guild were invited to roll out baklava dough. In the Istanbul encyclopedia by Re?at Ekrem Koçu there were people in the kitchens especially to roll out dough for baklava and börek. These people nearly spent a life to be master in rolling out dough; no exaggeration but in one tray of baklava they could lay 40 sheets of dough as thin as a rose leaf. There were more famous kitchens than the kitchen of the Palace. For example during the reign of Sultan Mahmud 2 the mansion house of Dürrizade Efendi , a Muslim theologian , had achieved a great reputation. 
    Again according to Re?at Ekrem Koçu at the old mansion houses kidney fat was the favorite fat used for making baklava. And the filling was always nut. Peanut and cream as a filling was used later on. Ekrem Koçu also reports that at the mansion houses baklava was well roasted and nothing was added onto it after it was taken out of the oven. To put cream or grounded peanut on it meant to blemish it. Ekrem Koçu also adds that ‘ Baklava is the sultan of dough desserts with its unique flavor and would accept no other flavor .’

    Baklava parade 
    Baklava which is the sultan of desserts was also the dessert of the sultans. The importance of baklava at the palace was not only because it was accepted as the token of wealth and sophistication ( as in the mansion houses) but also because it was a state tradition. The baklava parade that started at the end of the 17th century or at the beginning of the 18th century is example of this tradition. 
    During the reign of Kanuni Sultan Suleyman it was traditional that the soldiers were treated to stewed meat, zerde ( a sweet, gelatinous dessert that has been colored and flavored with saffron) and pilav when they were going on expedition. Afterwards when the expeditions became rare this tradition was also forgotten. Instead of this tradition when soldiers were getting their trimonthly pay from the sultan they were offered a big feast and on the 15th of Ramazan they were treated to baklava. 
    On the 15th Ramazan when the sultan visited h?rka-i ?erif (the cloak of Mohammed kept in Topkap? Palace) as a caliph , baklava from the palace was sent to janissary and other soldier bases . One tray of baklava for ten soldiers. 
    The delivery of baklava to the soldiers and carrying the baklava to the barracks has become an imposing parade. The baklava trays covered in a kind of towels called futa were lined in front of the Palace kitchens; the soldiers who were to take away the baklava trays also lined up in front of the trays.
    First Silahdar A?a took the first two trays in the name of Sultan who was the number one janissary; and then two soldiers hooked the trays by the help of green poles through the knots of the futas and placed them on their soldiers. The chief of every troop in front and the baklava carriers at the back started their long march from the gates to their barracks .This procession was called the baklava parade. All the people in ?stanbul would come out to watch this parade and jeer for the sultan and the soldiers. 
    The tradition which made baklava the symbol of the Ottoman court disappeared when the janissaries were abolished. The latest baklava parade was made on 21 April 1826 about 2 months before the abolition of the janissaries.
    Re?at Ekrem Koçu recounts a rumor which talks about a tie between the baklava parade and the abolition of the janissaries. According to the rumor an old man came to the front of the Palace with his 7-8 year old son or grandson to show him the parade. They were standing on the way so a few janissaries assaulted them. The old man was so hurt that he called out for God and said: ‘ I came because this child wanted to see the parade; I would rather stay in the mosque on such a holy day than see these disgusting group of soldiers. I want you to eliminate this group from the surface of the earth so that next Ramadan I wouldn’t see them.’
    So as the saying goes ‘ the prayers of the suffering man would come true’ the people thought that the janissaries were abolished because of the old man’s curse. 
    Now the baklava parade is a history. But the reign of baklava continues. At the end of the 18th century, the French Empress Marie Antoinette ‘s old chef of pastries brought a new kind of pastry to the Ottoman kitchen. This new baklava had a differently rolled out dough and was folded differently and was shaped like a dome more or like a croissant. This baklava was called the Palace baklava or European baklava. But no dessert could replace the traditional baklava. Until the last days of the Ottoman Empire baklava was the unique dessert of the special days. For example the last Ottoman Sultan Vahdettin had offered baklava for dessert at the lunch at Y?ld?z Palace on 30 April 1920. 
    Baklava which had given its name to a state ceremony whatever its origins are has the right to be accepted as an Ottoman dessert.

    Ümit Sinan Topçuo?lu

    Sat, 08/08/2015 - 23:28 | 6406195 Buster Cherry
    Buster Cherry's picture

    It causes tooth decay

    Mon, 08/10/2015 - 04:10 | 6409049 Charming Anarchist
    Charming Anarchist's picture

    It is a deliberate distraction from the thread discussion --- straight out of the shill cookbook. 

    Sat, 08/08/2015 - 18:53 | 6405756 Prober
    Prober's picture

    Turkey was a delightful place to visit when the secularists were in power, but ever since the islamic-cult-worshiping vermin came to power, it has become just another islamic-cult-worshiping scumhole, so I am hoping that there is a full-scale civil war in Turkey and that the secularists eradicate all the islamic-cult-worshiping vermin - and I am hoping that the Kurds get their own independent country, they deserve it.

    Sun, 08/09/2015 - 15:05 | 6407357 Irishcyclist
    Irishcyclist's picture

    That's not my experience of Turkey. Western and Northern Turkey are like mediterranean countries such as Italy, Croatia, Greece. Liberal, easy going and you can drink as much alcohol as you can consume.

    Sat, 08/08/2015 - 19:46 | 6405832 scatha
    scatha's picture

    US wants to set the region on fire bigger than it already is.

    First, US created armed opposition in Syria that was not there before. As a matter of fact to small groups financed by CIA protesting in 2011 drew hundreds of thousands demanding moderate democratic changes, long overdue in Syria, angry on Assad but not because of lack of democracy but for his neo-liberal reorientation from his socialist father and consequently tolerating rampant corruption and enrichment of elites to detriment of Syrian people. 

    The democracy they demanded  was meant as a tool of reversing Assad infatuation with western economic policies that collapsed their high standard of living.

    Despite continuous provocation by US stooges in Syria including killing protesters, it was Assad duty and responsibility to heed calling of his own people underneath all that mess and constitute true economic reforms, kicking out foreign interests and stand on the side of people against global capital. But he did not.

    He instead chose pasture of national unity and put himself as indispensable, symbol of Syrian unity i.e. he focused on saving his own skin first.  250 thousands dead is his responsibility as well but in much smaller part than murderous US imperialism and its jihadi puppets like Saudis.

    Bashar al-Assad a dentist failed, as his father Hafez predicted when decided on power succession to his brother Bassel, military engineer, who unfortunately died in 1994.

    Another big mistake of Assad was not to grant Kurds right to his own country (12%) and support PKK right way with weapons instead thinking that more neutral stance would keep Turkey away from conflict. He was wrong, Turkey is up to their sleeve in Syrian conflict, playing with its national existence, having 30% of population as Kurds and 40% of territory.

    PKK made their own mistakes by trying to negotiate with Turkey fro position of weakness and abandoning Assad.

    Middle is soup is brewing into big explosion that will blow up Israel to kingdom come, they are just to stupid to know it yet.

    https://contrarianopinion.wordpress.com/syrian-war-update/

     

    Sat, 08/08/2015 - 22:06 | 6406040 Bemused Observer
    Bemused Observer's picture

    He's a fucking dentist?

    Well, there you go...There's something wrong with those folks, they aren't right in the head.

    If there's one group of people I'd round up and put into camps it is dentists. Just on general principle.

    Mon, 08/10/2015 - 04:13 | 6409052 Charming Anarchist
    Charming Anarchist's picture

    Put them in cages with pliers and tell them to pay for their soup with teeth. 

    Sat, 08/08/2015 - 20:24 | 6405894 SmittyinLA
    SmittyinLA's picture

    PKK is ISIS, duh.

    Sat, 08/08/2015 - 21:18 | 6405981 q99x2
    q99x2's picture

    If you always go after immediately the ones supplying the weapons you will erradicate war within 1 years time.

    Arrest Lloyd Blankfein.

    Sat, 08/08/2015 - 22:14 | 6406055 The Shodge
    The Shodge's picture

    Erdogan is a religious freak. I would not be surprised if his real ambition is to become the next caliph. Turkey should not be in NATO and definitely not join the EU.

    Sun, 08/09/2015 - 15:21 | 6407387 Benjamin123
    Benjamin123's picture

    Sultan.

    Sun, 08/09/2015 - 15:52 | 6407416 vened
    vened's picture

    Benny, why do you have a blood-thirsty commie Dzerzhinsky - the crazy murderer or untold number of innocent Russians as your avatar?

    http://www.fedka.com/Useful_info/Commune_by_Fricke/Pictures_150dpi/f6.jpg

    Sat, 08/08/2015 - 22:57 | 6406140 Chuck Knoblauch
    Chuck Knoblauch's picture

    And they're going to invade Syria?

    BTW, did they do invade yet?

    Still waiting.

    Sat, 08/08/2015 - 23:24 | 6406190 TheWrench
    TheWrench's picture

    And it's all fun and games until Putin makes good on his promise to make northern Syria a "Stalingrad" for Erdogan. 

    Sun, 08/09/2015 - 11:33 | 6406883 Smegley Wanxalot
    Smegley Wanxalot's picture

    Civil wars are a good thing.  Windows and other shit get broken, and then the survivors get taxed to replace them, and somebody makes money.  Win-win!

    Mon, 08/10/2015 - 01:23 | 6408865 onmail
    onmail's picture

    Ok time for the euroPeon act

     

    attack, war , loot....

    Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!