Posted on 09/24/2011 11:12:22 AM PDT by mojito
ANKARA - Turkey has seized a Syrian-flagged ship and will intercept any arms shipments headed to Syria, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said late on Friday, a response to Damascus' bloody crackdown on anti-government protesters.
Speaking to reporters in New York late on Friday where he attended the UN General Assembly, Erdogan said Turkey had stopped a Syrian-flagged ship in Marmara, according to state-run Anatolia News Agency. It did not indicate whether the ship was stopped in the Sea of Marmara or the port of Marmara.
Erdogan did not say when the ship was seized or whether any weapons were found aboard.
"We have already made a decision to stop and prevent any vehicle carrying any type of weapon to Syria. We told them our decision as well as shared it with neighboring countries," Anatolia quoted Erdogan as saying.
(Excerpt) Read more at jpost.com ...
In light of Turkey’s recent statements to Israel, this is almost amusing. Turkey seems to want to take on Israel and Syria is in the way.
“Casus belli” seems well defined.
Then again, maybe he was serious all along. Maybe he's more of a fanatic than anyone suspected.
” Did Turkey just declare war on Syria? “
I seem to vaguely remember something about Israel overflying Turkish airspace with permission (or even staging out of Turkey?) when they clobbered Syria’s fledgeling nuclear facility, a few years back....
Since Russians is Syria’s major arms supplier, and have a new naval facility going up, will Turkey stop Russian warships carying arms?
Arms to Syria — bad; arms to Gaza — good (humanitarian aid).
The whole world is headed toward the Perfect Storm.
>Arms to Syria bad; arms to Gaza good (humanitarian aid).
Nice.
Maybe Israel can offer naval cover to Syria.
Turkey has seized a Syrian-flagged ship and will intercept any arms shipments headed to Syria, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said late on Friday, a response to Damascus' bloody crackdown on anti-government protesters....which has been going on for six months. Yeah, that's the real reason.
Assumption yes, but if so, I’m sure the Russians had a good laugh...
The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Just because turkey no longer likes Israel, it doesn’t mean that their intel services aren’t talking. They been allies for years.
The 1936 Montreux Convention regarding the the Turkish Straits, which is still in force, gives the Republic of Turkey control over warships entering the straits but guarantees the free passage of civilian vessels in peacetime. The Turkish Straits are two narrow straits the Bosporus and the Dardanelles. Besides Turkey only Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, and Ukraine have access to the black sea. The Turks could block them from entering the Mediterranean sea. Check mate.
I'm not sure that even the US Navy could force those straits without nukes. The British in WWI sure couldn't.
You are right about the U.S. Navy. The majority of warships in the Russian Black Sea Fleet have been in service for over 30 years and would not be fit for sea missions. Some were built in 1966. The Turks are afraid they will move to The Syrian Port of Tartus, so back to Check mate.
Greece and Cyprus. Cyprus is doing exploratory drilling for oil and gas in an area very close to Turkey.
With what? Erdogen et al have already backed down on earlier threats. The Turkish Army is fearsome, but the Air and Navy are jokes. The Russian naval forces in Sevastopol and Novorossiysk could easily obliterate ALL of Turkey.
Most of Russia's Western naval forces are based in Severomorsk and could do the job without entering the Bosporus.
The Bosporus is no impediment. And which Treaty has Russian honored in the past 50 years?
Det 4; Sinope, Turkey; 67-68
Sometimes my enemy’s enemy is also my enemy. Just saying, now that Israel and Greece have actuated their mutual defense pact...
Those Israeli friendly intel guys in Turkey were purged along with the rest of the secular Attaturk military.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.