By Andreas C Chrysafis, Author – Writer – Artist
Dressed in black and with faces hidden, a dark evil force has arrived in our midst to instill fear and brutality the world has not experienced since medieval times. It is purely driven by a religious frenzy brainwashed and consumed by an insatiable anti-western hatred.
Seeing the brutalities committed, one could say that it is not acceptable for humanity to remain passive on the face of those atrocities committed by evil thugs calling themselves the “Islamic State” (IS). It is not acceptable to remain impartial seeing the massacre of human beings. It is also not acceptable to watch on TV screens the beheading of innocent people by IS barbarian gangs. It is also not acceptable to play politics with people’s lives for geopolitical gains and certainly not acceptable to see women and young girls being gang-raped, children slaughtered and a spree of beheadings of men in the name of a distorted style of Islam; only sick and purely evil minds can commit such ferocious atrocities! Yet it is happening on a daily basis.
Unless this human virus is eradicated in the near future, IS will not stop in Syria or Iraq, but will move on to cause havoc across Europe and go on to subdue countries nearby; countries that were once a part of the Islamic caliphate of the Levant and ruled by a caliph – a “successor” to the prophet Muhammad.
Meanwhile, entire villages simply capitulate under IS’s overwhelming power and are forced to convert to their style of Islam. Like a rolling snowball gathering size and momentum IS gathers fighters from village to village and also imports men and women as young as sixteen years old and brainwashed to accept martyrdom in the name of Allah. IS grows like poisonous weed. In fact they act like a storm of locusts devouring land and human lives under the very eyes of the world community.
But what makes this gang different from all the others is how evil and how rich they are. It has been reported that they earn over one million euros per day from oil proceeds; add this to the 1.5 billion cash stash and one recognizes their cash power to attract killers for hire. The biggest income comes from selling oil on the black market, tax collection, hostage taking and other means. They also replenish their sophisticated armaments by picking up modern weaponry, tanks, arms and war machines abandoned by defeated Iraqi and Syrian armies. One hopes they will not lay their hands on chemical weapons, which they will use without hesitation.
Once they succeed in securing a permanent and safe base in Syria or Iraq they will go on the offensive and spread their evil in major cities across Europe. One hides a stone among stones and men among men and so Jihadists will live among citizens abroad and triggered at any time to cause maximum havoc. Unless they are prevented from establishing a safe base while cutting off the money supply and being kept on the run until they disintegrate as a force, they will continue with their distorted Jihad. There are 1.6 billion peace-loving Muslims in the world and the vast majority, certainly do not seem to condone such barbarous behaviour.
The question that haunts the mind of reason is: Where do these people keep their billions? Which are the banks that collude with them? Which companies or governments purchase oil from them on the black market? Which routes do they use to sell the stolen oil? Who are the merchants of death that provide them with weapons and supplies? Why do Western Powers condone the activities mentioned and pretend to act as whiter than white?
Meanwhile Kurdish fighters are being slaughtered but also proving to be a formidable resistance force. What they lack in weaponry they make up with a heroic fighting spirit, determined to protect their lands and freedom. The continuing fierce clashes in Kobane by men and women are an example of their determination. Out-numbered and out-equipped they persist but a hand-to-hand battle may ensue and a river of blood will then flow across Kobane. Kurdish commanders complain that the air support of the alliance seems unsuccessful in hitting their targets and they feel let down not getting the support they deserve. Abandoned they are quickly running short of supplies and have no place to turn to since Turkey does not allow them to cross into Turkey to replenish supplies. Unless the Kurdish forces make headway, thousands of people are destined to a brutal death at the hands of those barbarians.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s role and behaviour is a strange one! Since Erdogan’s rule, Turkey has been transformed into an autocratic state with hardly any allies or friends in the area simply because her word and promises are recognized as a “puff in the wind”. She considers Syria her staunch enemy and also Greece, Iraq, Israel, Iran, Egypt, Armenia, Cyprus and Lebanon. She has also a long hatred duel with the Kurdish nation (she does not recognize) and has also decided not to recognize the Republic of Cyprus, which it considers as an enemy of the Turkish nation.
Yet this country Turkey, a NATO member since 1952 has been on the receiving end of military training, armaments, financial support and infrastructure. Since becoming a member of the EU Customs Trade Agreement in March 1995, her economy jumped in leaps and bounds mainly because 95% of all her exports and imports are dependent on lucrative EU markets; hence the sudden growth! Without access to EU markets Turkey would still be called today the “the poor man of Europe”.
Under the present IS threat, Turkey as a NATO member state is expected to join the alliance and destroy the Islamic State. Her reluctance to act favourably has raised serious questions as to its loyalty to the NATO alliance. Was she simply making a fool of them all these years?
Under political pressure – primarily by the US – she succumbed and agreed to help by providing a formidable tank force facing the town of Kobane. Cunningly, the lined up tanks have not moved an inch to save the Kurdish fighters or the civilians, instead she remained an observer watching the massacre. What’s worse, she prohibits Kurdish people crossing over the Turkish border to help their fellow Kurds. But the icing on the cake is classic: in exchange for mobilizing Turkish troops she wants to see other NATO troops on the ground and the alliance continue with the war to topple her enemy – the Syrian regime. In fact Turkey wants to capitalize on this opportunity and declare war on Syria and legitimized by using the alliance as a front; a very cunning move indeed.
Turkey’s loyalty and reputation is now in serious question. Refusing to take an active role to assist the alliance alongside Kurdish fighters and defeat IS militia suggests that she’s actually in support of the Islamic State to take over Kobane. Her inaction in assisting the allied forces offers grounds to seriously consider expulsion from NATO and also the reconsideration of Turkey’s entire EU relationship with the EU Customs Trade Agreement. Turkey cannot have it both ways.
Without access to EU markets and massive American support Turkey will soon revert back to her “poor man of Europe” status. If she continues to believe that brute force, conflict and provocation is the way to power and prosperity instead of building bridges and consolidation, she will soon learn otherwise when faced with further isolation.
Her recent military provocation against Cyprus’ Exclusive Sea Protection Zone has also triggered additional international condemnation and governments – including Russia – are now wondering about Turkey’s trustworthiness. Can Turkey be trusted?
