TURKEY has sent police to surround the Incirlik air base it operates with the United States — and where a large stockpile of NATO nuclear weapons is held — ahead of a visit by a senior US official tomorrow.
Unconfirmed reports out of Turkey suggest all entrances to the air base have been blocked by heavy vehicles and police sent to secure its perimeter.
The unusual nigh-time move sparked rumours of a second coup attempt on Turkish social media.
The move comes less than a week after a top US Army general was accused by Turkish media of ‘leading’ the uprising against President Erdogan earlier this month.
But Turkish Minister for European Affairs has since reportedly sought to reassure media, stating the mission was just a “safety inspection”.
* This weekend Erdogan is flying supporters from Turkey to Cologne on the national airline to join a counter-demonstration against anti-Erdogan Turks living in Germany. Up to 30K people are expected on the streets of Cologne later today (Sunday). Nearly 3K local and federal police with water cannon are preparing for street clashes. The authorities also expect local far right activists to show up too. We’ll see if it makes Sunday night’s news.
* He’s flexing his muscles.
He’s giving the U.S. the middle-finger and scaring the pants off those effeminate Europeans. He knows we won’t do squat and neither will Europe because we failed the test he gave us – namely dumping all those Muzzie bums on us.
Politics abhor a vacuum and he’s filling it.
It would not be surprising if behind the scenes he’s demanding hush money from us and Germany. He has to look at the U.S. and Germany being nothing more than a bunch of fat, rich clowns given the way we do things. Do any of you think he has respect for that moldy old lunatic female in Berlin or that snide clown in the White House? He doesn’t.
Really this was bound to happen as the U.S. began to implode politically. I think he’s figured out the U.S. is run by Ivy League imbeciles.
* Thank you Mr. Sailer for keeping us abreast of this issue. I would think that the sequestering of one of our bases (even if shared, still, a base with our personnel and equipment including nukes) by the host country would qualify as leading news, but what do I know? I never went to one of those high faluting J schools. I’m sure the families of these troops want to see and hear their loved ones again, soon. Please continue.
* I’m pretty sure that in the US, if the USCIS knew that hundreds of foreign tourists were flying in from overseas to join possibly riotous demonstrations in the streets of, say, Philadelphia, that they would be refused admission upon landing and sent back. Even here in our very tolerant system, the First Amendment doesn’t apply until you are inside the border.
* Turkey is actually of some strategic importance. It’s the only way in or out of the Black Sea. And the over reaching NATO expansion has just brought more baggage. But Turkey is actually important.
* The weapons have Permissive Action Links (PALs) that prevent their use without a code, and disable the weapon if the code is not correctly entered after a certain number of attempts.
The weapons are part of the US nuclear NATO guarantee. Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Turkey provide delivery systems, and the US stores the weapons on host country bases, guarded by US personnel, with US PALs and under US command and control. If the Rooskies invade the US provides the codes and the NATO allies deliver the weapons.
The intent is to both discourage nuclear weapon development by the likes of Italy and to provide them with reassurance that the US nuclear umbrella extends to them.
The Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff is on the way to Turkey. If the nukes at Incirlik are withdrawn that would be a pretty good sign that the Turks are planning on leaving NATO. Needless to say, that would be a strategic debacle for the US, and probably indicate a Russian/Turkish agreement about the Middle East that is not favorable for the US.
The Turks seizing the weapons is about half a step short of Armageddon. Maybe a quarter step.
