Turkey’s War In The West — Cyprus Is Now Surrounded By Drill-Ships And Warships; Cannon Ready To Fire At Europe – 150,000 People Per Month — John Helmer

Under cover of its Russian S-400 air defence batteries, and ignoring US and European sanctions, Turkey is going on the offensive at sea, surrounding Cyprus, and by land, launching a weapon against the European Union against which there is no defence: a Turkish cannon firing 150,000 people at Europe’s borders each month. They are the refugees from the wars the US and NATO launched in Iraq, Syria and Libya.

A Russian analysis entitled “Turkey will open the door to Europe for millions of refugees”, written by Vladimir Dobrinin, was published in Vzglyad (“View”) on July 24. An English translation follows below....

Dances with Bears
TURKEY’S WAR IN THE WEST — CYPRUS IS NOW SURROUNDED BY DRILL-SHIPS AND WARSHIPS; CANNON READY TO FIRE AT EUROPE – 150,000 PEOPLE PER MONTH
John Helmer

Sultan shines in the court of the Dragon King — Pepe Escobar

Rebuffed by the EU, NATO-member Turkey pivots away from the West toward Eurasian integration. Russia and China smile. US scowls. Iran in play.

Asia Times
Sultan shines in the court of the Dragon King
Pepe Escobar

RT — Muslims may lose Mecca if they fail to hold on to Jerusalem – Erdogan

Muslims may lose Mecca and other holy sites if the US decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israeli capital isn’t reversed, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned

“If we lose Jerusalem then we won’t be able to protect Medina. If we lose Medina – we will lose Mecca and Kaaba,”Erdogan said in a speech at an award ceremony in Istanbul. 

Erdogan has been one of the most vocal critics of President Trump’s controversial decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The Turkish president has slammed other nations for their “weak” response to the US move

Osama bin Laden is laughing in his grave. Turkey is lost to NATO.

RT
Muslims may lose Mecca if they fail to hold on to Jerusalem – Erdogan

Kenny Hodgart — Turkish market crumbles as Erdogan overreaches

This portends to have wide-reaching ramifications. Turkey is already on the outs with Germany, and now the US. 

Is Turkey long for NATO? 

It's fairly certain that Erdogan blames US covert operations for the coup attempted against him.

Asia Times
Turkish market crumbles as Erdogan overreaches
Kenny Hodgart

Sputnik — 'West's Shadow' Behind All Terrorist Groups, Including Daesh - Erdogan

Is NATO losing Turkey?

Sputnik International

'West's Shadow' Behind All Terrorist Groups, Including Daesh - Erdogan

Also

Iran Revolutionary Guards Vow to Designate US Army as Equivalent to Daesh

Russian Senator Believes Saudi King's Visit to Russia Means 'US Dictate Over'

Kim Jong-un Says North Korean Nukes 'Protecting Sovereignty' Amid US 'Threats'

US hegemony is being challenged on several fronts. How will the US respond?

Alexander Mercouris — ‘Syria, Iraq are Turkey’s responsibility,’ exclaims Erdogan, demands Mosul, parts of Asia, Balkans and Middle East

Then sultan speaks.

Referring to the National Covenant – a 1920 declaration by the last Ottoman parliament, which was used by the newly formed Turkish Republic as the basis of its initial negotiating position at the conference of Lausanne, which eventually established Turkey’s present borders – he claimed that according to “certain historians” it had included within Turkey’s borders:

“Cyprus, Aleppo (in Syria), Mosul, Arbil and Kirkuk (in Iraq), Batum (in Georgia), Kardzhali, Varna (in Bulgaria), and Thessaloniki and the Aegean islands (in Greece).”

The Duran’s Alex Christoforou wrote earlier on the claims made by Erdogan about Turkey’s right to certain Greek islands. He also used historic, linguistic and religious ties to claim for Turkey a gigantic zone of influence for itself

“Turkey is not only Turkey. Not only for 79 million citizens, but Turkey bears also responsibility towards our hundreds of millions of brothers in the geographical area to whom we are connected through our historical and cultural ties.

It is a duty, but also a right of Turkey to be interested in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Crimea, Karabakh, Bosnia, and other sister areas (NB: this is a reference to Azerbaijan and former Soviet Central Asia – AM). The moment you give up this, it will be the time when we lose our independence and our future”.

Hey, why stop there? 

The Duran
‘Syria, Iraq are Turkey’s responsibility,’ exclaims Erdogan, demands Mosul, parts of Asia, Balkans and Middle East
Alexander Mercouris

Pat Lang — The Turks want Mosul and Aleppo "back."

This statement makes clear what Erdogan's ultimate ambition is….

Sic Semper Tyrannis
The Turks want Mosul and Aleppo "back."
Col. W. Patrick Lang, US Army (ret.), former military intelligence officer at the US Defense Intelligence Agency

Moon of Alabama — Renewed Jihadi Attack On Aleppo Supported By "Western" Propaganda Fakes

More news from the snake pit.

Erdogan claims Aleppo and Mosul for Turkey under revanchism.

We have maintained here for some time that the Turkish President Erdogan has designs for Aleppo as well as Mosul. He wants to incorporate both cities and all areas north of them into Turkey. Erdogan now publicly announced these aims:

Speaking during an opening ceremony for an educational institution in Bursa on Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan compared the way that Syrians and Iraqis have been driven away from homes because of the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS; ISIS/ISIL), to how Turkish people were once forced out from the same cities.

Erdogan added that the cities of Mosul and Aleppo belong to the Turkish people.

This is a serious misinterpretation of teh areas population history and of Turkey's international agreements and borders as delineated after the first world war.

Erdogan also lamented that Turkeys national leaders were born outside of Turkey's current borders. Something he implied he will strive to correct. The Greek will not be happy to hear that. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey, was born in Thessaloniki…

Much more in the post, but this is the game-changer. Neo-Ottomanism openly declared.

Moon of Alabama
Renewed Jihadi Attack On Aleppo Supported By "Western" Propaganda Fakes

Moon of Alabama— The "Salafist Principality - ISIS Paid Off To Leave Mosul And To Take Deir Ezzor?

Empire to ISIS proxies: return to based await further instructions.

Erdogan predicts that his troops and proxy forces will march into Mosul just like they marched into Jarablus: In a peaceful walk, without any fight, into a city free of Jihadis.
The Saudis and the U.S. arranged for that.

The U.S. bombed the most important SAA position in Deir Ezzor so that ISIS, now with the help of its cadres from Mosul, can take over the city. A nice place to keep it holed up in east-Syria until it can further be used in this or that imperial enterprise.…A good plan when your overall aim is to create an obedient mercenary statelet in the center of the Middle East. As the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency wrote in 2012:

THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY OF ESTABLISHING A DECLARED OR UNDECLARED SALAFIST PRINCIPALITY IN EASTERN SYRIA (HASAKA AND DER ZOR), AND THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT THE SUPPORTING POWERS TO THE OPPOSITION WANT, IN ORDER TO ISOLATE THE SYRIAN REGIME.

But this plan requires to fight the Syrian and Russian air-forces which will do their utmost to defend the SAA group and the 100-200,000 ISIS besieged Syrian civilians in Deir Ezzor.

The the U.S. and its allies may be willing to do that. A well known British Tory member of parliament already made noise that British fighter jets should be free to shoot down Russian planes in Syria. The U.S. had claimed that British planes took part in the Deir Ezzor ambush.

The defenders of Deir Ezzor lack their own air defenses. The Russian systems at the Syrian west-coast can not reach that far east. The Syrian system are mostly positioned to defend Damascus and other cities from attacks by Israel.

Russia recently talked about delivering 10 new Pantsyr-S1 short-to-medium range air defense systems to Syria. At least two of those should be airlifted to Deir Ezzor as soon as possible.

UPDATE: I was just made aware of a recent speech by Hizbullah leader Nasrallah who smellsthe same stinking plot:

Sayyed Nasrallah said that the Americans intend to repeat Fallujah plot when they opened a way for ISIL to escape towards eastern Syria before the Iraqi warplanes targeted the terrorists’ convoy, warning that the same deceptive scheme is possible to be carried out in Mosul.

Moon of Alabama
The "Salafist Principality - ISIS Paid Off To Leave Mosul And To Take Deir Ezzor?

The US and Saudi Arabia have agreed to grant free passage to thousands of Islamic State militants before the Iraqi city of Mosul is stormed. The jihadists will be redeployed to fight against the government in Syria, a military-diplomatic source told RIA Novosti.

There you go.

RT
US, Saudis to grant 9,000 ISIS fighters free passage from Iraqi Mosul to Syria – source

Silvia Vittoria Missotti — Turkish Stream Gambit

On August 9th, there was a meeting between the Presidents of Russia and Turkey. In general, for the package of proposals for a new Russian-Turkish rapprochement, the important part is played by the energy projects. Some experts in Russia believe that those are actually the main reason of the unexpected reconciliation with Ankara, and perhaps the only one. They expressed with confidence that, after a first conflict because of the Russian bomber shot down by the Turkish Air Force, a telephone conversation between the two Presidents established a meeting at a time when Erdogan was prepared to make concessions in the energy project.
The failed coup attempt in Turkey and the instant support of President Putin to the Turkish counterpart contributed to outline the warming relations. As a result, as some Russian experts who shared this opinion believe, the meeting on August 9th in Saint Petersburg was really a strategic victory for Russia.…

Fort Russ
Turkish Stream Gambit: Putin lays the pipe on Erdogan

L´Opinione Pubblica (Italy) - By Silvia Vittoria Missotti

John Helmer — Erdogan’s Wet Firework, Nato’s Damp Squib – Not Even Turkish Tomatoes And Cucumbers Gain From St. Petersburg Summit

What actually went down between Erdogan and Putin. Not the way it is being portrayed in the media.

Dances with Bears

Erdogan’s Wet Firework, Nato’s Damp Squib – Not Even Turkish Tomatoes And Cucumbers Gain From St. Petersburg Summit

John Helmer

See also

The Duran
Here’s what happened at the Putin-Erdogan summit

Alexander Mercouris

Tom Winter — Erdogan attacks in all directions: US, EU, Italy...

Turkey is a geopolitical pivot point. Feeling betrayed, the president of Turkey can say what he wants to. Erdogan is on the warpath.

Fort Russ
Erdogan attacks in all directions: US, EU, Italy...
Tom Winter

Patrick Cockburn — Turkey, once the great hope of the Middle East, is left weak and unstable

This is a couple of days old but it is still highly relevant and explains the depth of the attempted coup. It also account for why Erdogan and his party are so ripped at the US. Had the coup succeeded, Fethullah Gülen would almost have certainly replaced Erdogan, and Erdogan would now be dead. Erdogan doubtlessly thinks that this plot was CIA run.

The Independent.
Turkey, once the great hope of the Middle East, is left weak and unstable

Patrick Cockburn

ht Chuck Spinney at The Blaster

John Helmer Strengthening Russo-Turkish Alliance Stokes US-Russian Cold War

A very informative interview about a possible geopolitical realignment in the making.

TRNN
Strengthening Russo-Turkish Alliance Stokes US-Russian Cold War

Sharmini Peries interviews John Helmer

Dani Rodrik — Is the U.S. behind Fethullah Gulen?

Backgrounder on Gullenism, and analysis of the Turkish coup and US involvement. Important if you are following this.

Dani Rodrik's Weblog
Is the U.S. behind Fethullah Gulen?

Dani Rodrik | Ford Foundation Professor of International Political Economy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Dani Rodrik — Is Fethullah Gülen behind Turkey's coup?

Dani Rodrik is Turkish and well acquainted with Turkish politics. The origin of the coup is still murky. It is pretty clear that it was not a false flag engineered by Erdogan to seize more power, but unfolding events reveal that he is not letting the crisis go to waste in that regard either.

The aftermath of the coup has seen the rapprochement of Turkey, Russia and Iran, all of whom have an interest in keeping Syria in one piece, where it is in the interest of the US and the Kurds to partition Syria. 

Dani Rodrik's weblog
Is Fethullah Gülen behind Turkey's coup?
Dani Rodrik

Also

The Duran
Alexander Mercouris: Report of a Russian Tip-Off to Erdogan is True

Mike Whitney — The Coup in Turkey has Thrown a Wrench in Uncle Sam’s “Pivot” Plan

A failed coup in Turkey has changed the geopolitical landscape overnight realigning Ankara with Moscow while shattering Washington’s plan to redraw the map of the Middle East. Whether Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan staged the coup or not is of little importance in the bigger scheme of things. The fact is, the incident has consolidated his power domestically while derailing Washington’s plan to control critical resources and pipeline corridors from Qatar to Europe. The Obama administrations disregard for the national security interests of its allies, has pushed the Turkish president into Moscow’s camp, removing the crucial landbridge between Europe and Asia that Washington needs to maintain its global hegemony into the new century. Washington’s plan to pivot to Asia, surround and break up Russia, control China’s growth and maintain its iron grip on global power is now in a shambles. The events of the last few days have changed everything.…

Counterpunch
The Coup in Turkey has Thrown a Wrench in Uncle Sam’s “Pivot” Plan
Mike Whitney

Alexander Mercouris — Turkey: Anatomy of the Coup

The coup was an internal revolt by the entire military which was defeated because of Erdogan's popular support.

The Duran
Turkey: Anatomy of the Coup
Alexander Mercouris

Alexander Mercouris — The Coup in Turkey: First Thoughts (UPDATED)

Looks like a Kemalist coup, as in Kemal Ataturk.

The Duran
The Coup in Turkey: First Thoughts

Alexander Mercouris

See also

Coup in Turkey? No Real Surprise…

Peter Lavelle

UPDATE:

Follow #Turkey for latest. Beware, lots of confusion and possible disinformation. 

Alexander Mercouris — ‘Coup In Turkey, Both Expected And Unexpected’

This is very short. It's only important because Mercouris is well-connected and would be expected to know the background if it were available. Looks like we'll to say and see what emerges.

The Duran
Alexander Mercouris: ‘Coup In Turkey, Both Expected And Unexpected’