Ongoing updates and discussion on the attempted military coup in Turkey with contributions from working-class radicals on the ground.
A group of the Turkish Military "rebelled" (according to the PM) against the government as of July 15th, about 10PM. It is not clear if it succeeded or not yet. I will update as I learn more.
Comments
Sorry for the wording...
Sorry for the wording...
Thanks for the heads up.
Thanks for the heads up.
BBC has reported many
BBC has reported many different locations of gunfire in Ibstanbul...
İ am in a central loc. İn
İ am in a central loc. İn İstanbul. Heard No gunfires. But helicopters are flying and the bridges are blocked by the military
Both Harratz and The
Both Harratz and The Telegraph reporting in on it.
Telegraph headline:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/15/turkey-low-flying-jets-and-gunfire-heard-in-ankara1/
thanks
thanks mikail.
beeb:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36809083
It is still unclear if the
It is still unclear if the coup has failed or succeeded. The Army General Staff just announced to coup a minute ago. The Prime Minister was just saying the it was attempted but failed. It seems the military is in control in the center of Ankara. That is a key administrative location where the national parliament, army/navy headquarters and many ministerial buildings are.
I feel as long as Erdogan does not appear, either as a prisoner of the Turkish army or from some hideout, the fate of the coup will remain unclear. I expect things to become clearer in a couple of hours.
Keep safe Mikail.
Keep safe Mikail.
Yes, keep safe Mikail. Also,
Yes, keep safe Mikail. Also, has anyone heard from Devrim? There've been quite a few attacks since we last heard from him..
and Leo
and Leo
It is reported now that the
It is reported now that the coup is unhierarchical. Whoever attempted it, they are either not following orders from the General Staff or they are a minority within it. This means since, Erdogan is not captured yet, I fear, there is a chance that things can escalate into a civil war.
according to the
according to the Graun:
https://mobile.twitter.com/Wa
https://mobile.twitter.com/WashingtonPoint
hostage
The guardian rep. is true.
The guardian rep. is true. Some are reporting clashes btw. The army and the police
https://www.theguardian.com/w
https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2016/jul/15/turkey-coup-attempt-military-gunfire-ankara?page=with:block-57894dfde4b073c22786c878#block-57894dfde4b073c22786c878
Aye, keep safe, comrades in
Aye, keep safe, comrades in Turkey.
For those watching in GB, RT seems to be covering it closely.
Ed wrote: Yes, keep safe
Ed
he posted on facebook about this a few minutes ago
Claims on RT that Erdogan has
Claims on RT that Erdogan has left the country.
according to the
according to the German-language Kurdish (close to PKK) website Kurdische Nachrichten - Nûçe - News:
AKP headquarter in Istanbul surrounded by the army
AKP calls for popular resistance against the coup
clashes between army and police in Ankara
https://mobile.twitter.com/Di
https://mobile.twitter.com/DiegoCupolo?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
erdogan and others arrested ?
army announced nationwide
army announced nationwide curfew according to the leftwing German-Turkish journalist Kerem Schamberger
safety and solidarity Turkish
safety and solidarity Turkish comrades
any interesting stuff from
any interesting stuff from leftwing sites like Sendika or Bianet?
martial law declared and the
martial law declared and the new government calls itself "peace council"
I'm fine, safe at home,
I'm fine, safe at home, thanks for asking.
Devrim
some German leftwing sources
some German leftwing sources speculate about an involvement of the Gülen movement
Erdogan spoke from hideout
Erdogan spoke from hideout via skype on tv. He was defiant and called for the "nation" to gather in town squares.
AKP people are claiming that
AKP people are claiming that this is a Gulenist coup. I would take this with a pinch of salt though. What is clear is that this is not a hierarchical, top-down coup.
MHP opposes the coup
MHP opposes the coup according to Daily Sabah (pro-AKP-rag)
mikail firtinaci
mikail firtinaci
ah - not arrested then
aljazeera had a broadcast
aljazeera had a broadcast with a spokesman of the government who seemed to look panic-struck. can anyone confirm?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/liv
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-europe-36811357
Quote: ah - not arrested then
Nope. This is the silliest military coup in the history of the Republic. And considering that the Turkish military has a long history of coups, for a body specialized in overthrowing governments, this coup seems to be the weakest ever in its history. Most important of all, the military failed to capture Erdogan and the government leaders. As long as Erdogan evades capture it is unlikely that the situation can stabilize.
according to Kurdische
according to Kurdische Nachrichten - Nûçe - News: helicopters attack TRT (state TV) building in Ankara and clashes on Taksim square in Istanbul
https://mobile.twitter.com/06
https://mobile.twitter.com/06JAnk
Erdogan on the way to Germany
Erdogan on the way to Germany to claim asylum there?
http://www.focus.de/politik/ausland/putschversuch-in-der-tuerkei-bericht-erdogan-soll-auf-dem-weg-nach-deutschland-sein_id_5734952.html (in German)
just gossip. At the moment he
just gossip. At the moment he can't leave the country
military opened fire on
military opened fire on civilians in Istanbul (source: Kurdische Nachrichten - Nûçe - News)
http://www.anfenglish.com/new
http://www.anfenglish.com/news/huge-explosion-near-the-general-staff-office-in-ankara
gov't
gov't tweets
https://mobile.twitter.com/trpressoffice
The government may well
The government may well tweet, but Twitter is down.
Devrim
that's from the D.C. press
that's from the D.C. press office
17 policemen killed in a
17 policemen killed in a small Ankara town.
Devrim
You should be able to access
You should be able to access Twitter/facebook/whatever using Tor (if you don't already use it).
https://www.torproject.org/
Gov't is saying the coup
Gov't is saying the coup already failed...
I'm still not clear on where the senior command was during all this; people were speculating early on that they had been detained. Can anybody clarify?
Glad to hear comrades are
Glad to hear comrades are safe. I imagine the days to come will be far more brutal as Erodgan consolidates power. He's already called the attempt "a gift from god," so I can only imagine what the repression will look like moving forward. Stay safe.
mikail firtinaci
mikail firtinaci
So, question for Turkish comrades and others--
Really early on in the process there was a lot of speculation on social media that the coup was a farce, orchestrated to use as a pretext for passing constitutional reform. I didn't think much of it at the time, but it looks like subsequent events have given the idea legs amonst some well known US Foreign Policy wonks. As I'm writing, the speculation has now spread to the CNN coverage.
I wonder what those on the ground and others with knowledge of Turkish domestic politics think of the idea.
ETA: CNN reporting that 5 Generals and 29 Colonels have been arrested, along with some 700-odd others
http://www.anfenglish.com/new
http://www.anfenglish.com/news/at-least-90-killed-1-154-injured-and-1-563-detained-in-turkey
Its funny how Erdogan says
Its funny how Erdogan says there will be no democracy, then later when the military tries to get rid of him the people goes to the street and support him ... uugh
RebelRising wrote: Gov't is
RebelRising
If it was a real coup that they hadn't organised then they were probably sitting tight waiting to see what happened.
My memory could be playing tricks on me but I remember when I was in Turkey someone telling me that coups were less likely as there had been a distinct effort to put in religious officers and thatthe command could not be certain that its men would follow orders in a coup. And the army has been purged at least once since then. Erdogan will certainly be happy if he has a chance to secure his power over the army as I think it's one of the few institutions left that could challenge him. Either way, it's not good for turkish people.
Update: - So far the coup
Update:
- So far the coup attempt seems to be averted. It was organized by low ranking officers. However, several generals are still hiding or kept under arrest by the junta rebels. So, the outcome is not certain yet.
- Throughout the night, imams called for jihad from the mosques. Several thousands of pro-AKP people and islamists are gathered and confronted the soldiers. Many soldiers yielded to these mobs and after that the police forces entered the scene, and seized the rebels.
- The rebel junta first seized central Ankara, Kizilay. All the military headquarters of the army and navy general staff, the parliament building and ministerial buildings are in Kizilay. In Istanbul the rebel junta occupied the Bosphorus bridge and the ataturk airport - the main airport in Istanbul. By the early hours in the morning pro-government mobs and the police gained control in all these places. However, the situation in the military barracks are still uncertain.
-In some cases the mobs massacred the soldiers. In Turkey military service is mandatory and except the rich, everyone has to serve either after graduating from high school or university. Naturally many GIs did not have a clue about what they were involved in and just following orders.
- The government is blaming Fettullah Gulen, who is the leader of an islamist sect and who is in exile in the US. When AKP came to power in 2002, Gulenist sects were considered as an ally of the AKP. They were granted many privileges and several posts in the police were reserved for the Gulenists. However, Gulenist sects were especially hated by the army elites who were mostly secular Kemalists. After 2013 Gulen and AKP government had a falling out and the government liquidated all the Gulenists from the bureaucracy. -- UPDATE-- As things get clearer it seems that many Gulenists officers were leading the junta. I was initially confused because the junta manifesto was worded in a secular and Kemalist tone. However, there is still uncertainty. What is clear is that the solidity of military discipline and respect for military hierarchy in the Turkish Army is questionable at least.
- The coup only had a chance if they could seize Erdogan and the government cabinet members. It is strange that they failed to do that and that is the reason behind all the conspiracy talk about a government organized concerted coup. I think that the junta had to play its hand early and prematurely because in August, about two weeks from now, the High Military Council was scheduled to gather. HMC decrees the high level military appointments and it is headed by the head of state, in this case Erdogan. Traditionally HMC is known to systematically liquidate those officers who are suspected of disloyalty to the regime by forcing them to retirement. One way or another the junta faction might have feared a mass liquidation and hence the coup. This is the most likely explanation for this sudden coup and its failure.
- The pendulum will likely to swing to the other pole now. This stupid coup attempt boosted the moral of the Erdogan regime by giving it a "democratic" legitimacy in the face of a military attack, a legitimacy which it was losing since the Gezi revolt. If the coup is averted as the government declared, I expect more social repression and and the curtailing of political rights will be the outcome. Islamists will become bolder and there is a huge likelihood of pogroms against leftists, seculars and alevi minorities.
- This coup shows clearly that the Turkish state is deeply fragmented. The members of the bureaucracy and officer corps are not loyal to a constitutional republican ideal based on bourgeois civil rights and citizenship. In the distribution of official positions meritocratic criteria do not apply any more. State allegiances are divided between religious sects and personalities. That is no joke. Sooner or later this state may collapse. This can be both and advantage and a disadvantage for the proletarians. This situation intensifies the danger of a sectarian civil war akin to the Ukraininan, Libyan or Syrian civil war. On the other hand it can also weaken the ideological legitimacy of the state if the working class finally goes on to offense. Since the latter case does not seem to be on the horizon yet, things can only get worse in the short run.
- Obviously, neither the military junta nor the islamist regime represents the interests of the working class. Whichever side prevails, they will make sure that the proletariat pays. What is clear is that Turkish state is in shambles and further chaos will likely ensue. As a NATO country this is a huge threat for the region and the world. If Turkey falls into a civil war, or turns into an Islamist dictatorship, or falls into the hands of a semi-fascist Kemalist Junta, the political and social chaos we are witnessing in the Middle East will spread even further and deepen. Whatever the outcome will be world proletariat will face even more chaos. Comrades all over the world must see the severity of this danger. All anarchist and marxist communists should realize the huge responsibility they carry on their shoulders.
from Kerem Schamberger's
from Kerem Schamberger's Facebook page (in German):
- many of the officers arrested were previously involved in counterinsurgency measures in Kurdistan
- eight high-ranking officers have fled to Greece in an helicopter, they got arrested there and have claimed asylum
- Erdogan has called the coup a "gift from god"
not completely over:
not completely over: https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2016/jul/15/turkey-coup-attempt-military-gunfire-ankara?page=with:block-578a0be7e4b033b610b6e456#block-578a0be7e4b033b610b6e456
Thanks for the update and
Thanks for the update and analysis mikail. US media reported that due to prior purge, in the officer corps only the colonels and brigadier generals (1 star) have questionable loyalties. Officers the rank of major and below have come up under the new officer rules and are presumed loyal, while upper level generals only retain their positions because they are overtly Erdogan-men. The preliminary reports indicate this to be backed by events on the ground, as it appears to be a colonel's coup, both demographically (in terms of those arrested) as well as in it's limited execution.
As you said above, the coup seems to have failed on two fronts, both strategically and in that it has helped transform an autocrat into a guardian of democracy (an actual phrase used by more than one foreign policy pundit in describing Erdogan last night--guardian and defender, don't ya know!).
one interesting claim is that those in the streets fighting the coup included supporters of the opposition parties. This information is being presented as evidence of a 'sea change' moment in that even those who disagree with Erdogan now reject the military's role as an arbiter--of sorts--in domestic affairs. Do these claims jive with your experience?
Entdinglichung wrote: -
Entdinglichung
Also, this is why the remnants of lower ranking officers will likley fight to the death. Those without resources for an escape plan know what their fate will be if captured, so why not fight on?
jesuithitsquat; Very accurate
jesuithitsquat;
Very accurate summary on the situation of the army, thanks!
The pro-government mobs -probably only a couple of thousands in all- were mostly paramilitary islamists and greywolf fascists. I asked many friends and saw several videos; you could tell they were islamo-fascists from the islamist slogans they shouted. Of course I expect some working class AKP supporters were also on the streets. However, the majority was lumpen it is clear.
Today or tomorrow there may be big mass demonstrations, but make no mistake all of these will be organized by the government. Most people watched and waited.
About the rebel officers; already hundreds of them are arrested. They must by now know that their chances of success is very low. The main problem is the rebel officers can not trust the loyalty of their troops. Many soldiers occupying the symbolic locations surrendered without a fight just in a couple of hours and that was a huge moral boost to the government, giving the impression that the country was actively behind the government.
In this picture fascists are
In this picture fascists are beating surrendered rank-and-file soldiers who were occupying the the Bosporus Bridge in Istanbul. Police is merely watching:
In this video an islamist with a gun is aiding the police in an attack on a military building in Ankara:
At the end of the video he is saying: "pro-Fettulah and secular dogs are trying to fight the state. Our police asked for help and we came to their aid. Pray Insallah. Selamun Aleykum"
Consider possibility of a
Consider possibility of a fake coup.
Thank you to Mikhail and
Thank you to Mikhail and others. This thread has helped me make some sense of these serious events, which I didn't get from mainstream sources.
"How defiant Turks chased
"How defiant Turks chased coup plotters from Bosphorous Bridge"
"For Turkey's sake Erdogan must resist desire for revenge"
Assuming he cares enough to read The Guardian he must be laughing his head off.
US Consulate wrote: Be
US Consulate
http://adana.usconsulate.gov/mobile//sm-071616.html
Incirlik reportedly holds around 50 nuclear weapons.
i second what Wayne said. is
i second what Wayne said.
is kurremak(sp) in turkey too?
edward luttwak confirms
edward luttwak confirms mikail's analysis about leaving erdogan at liberty
http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/07/16/why-turkeys-coup-detat-failed-erdogan/
#Istanbul: Revolutionary
Video of the above events in
Video of the above events in Gazi:
https://twitter.com/sergermed
https://twitter.com/sergermed
Fascist and islamist had
Fascist and islamist had their day of rage today. It was like the movie Purge all day. Islamo-fascists burned and looted the shops of Syrian migrants ın Ankara and Konya. Mobs attacked the Alavi minority neighborhoods. I was with friends today in a left-wing, student district in İstanbul and there were clashes with the fascists all night. Lumpen mobs harassed women everywhere. It was like the Ottoman days when the sultans after conquering a city allowed his victorious soldiers to rape and loot for three days. Erdogan let his lumpen armies loose and wants everyone to tremble with fear....
Perhaps, the regime wants the streets to be filled day and night just to make sure that any other coup attempt would have to be bloody. And they make sure that proles have to die for them. Horrible night for the Turkish, Kurdish and Syrian migrant workers today.
Cripes, This sounds even
Cripes, This sounds even worse than I could've imagined. Solidarity from here to there, for what it's worth comrades. Stay safe tonight y'all.
Barbaric Pro #Erdogan #Akp
Mikail, I'm just posting things that I come across on the internet. I've no way of understanding what's going on beyond the captions I'm reading; are they accurate? How has resistance been in some of the area mentioned?
Meanwhile, none of this is
Meanwhile, none of this is getting covered in US mainstream outlets from what I've seen. Turkey has been pushed aside for pre-Republican Convention coverage.
ETA: From the twitter feed petey linked to above:
(Can't get image to embed)
Admin: sorted.
What is not getting covered?
What is not getting covered? Turkey is all over the newspapers, news sites and news channels...
Juan Conatz wrote: What is
Juan Conatz
The street fighting, reprisals, etc. I'm referring to cable news and rhe extent of that coverage I've seen today seems to be a recap of the events of the coup, profiles of Gulen, and a lot of retired US generals pulling the 'not that I've thought much about it, but if you were going to pull off a coup first cut communications, kill the president, arrest congress...but yeah, this is america
nothing like that could ever happen here...' routine.
P.S. thanks admin!
To confirm some of Mikail's
To confirm some of Mikail's point above, RT reported last night that conscript soldiers, who thought that they were on manoeuvres, were being lynched by mobs although the place was unspecified. This "Gift from God" has really strengthened Erdogan's position in the short term but increased the destabilisation of Turkey and the wider Middle Eas in the medium termt.
All the world's major leaders kept quiet for a while only supporting "democracy" and "the rule of law" when it was clear that Erdogan still maintained control.
Gulen and his Hizmet faction is more than a simple dissident refugee in the States but wields enormous political power there. It is a major backer of Mrs Clinton;s presidential campaign, has extensive interests in the Democratic Party and has all sorts of facilities across America: schools, think-tanks, newspapers as well as an estimated fifty billion dollar treasury.
It's possible, but seems unlikely that the Gulen movement was involved in this pathetic attempt at a coup.
very important work Mikhail.
very important work Mikhail. From what you have written the situation looks extremely dangerous for the working class and revolutionaries at the moment, not to mention other elements in society who also face pogroms, probably linked to more direct government repression. Solidarity, and take care.
Many thanks to Mikhail for
Many thanks to Mikhail for all this. Keep safe fella.
http://www.independent.co.uk/
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/turkey-coup-could-threaten-countrys-nato-membership-john-kerry-warns-a7142491.html
Possibly unrelated to the
Possibly unrelated to the Coup, but the deputy mayor of Istanbul's Sisli district, Cemil Candaş has just been shot in the head after a gunman burst into his office. I believe he belongs to the opposition CHP party.
Link
mikail firtinaci wrote: -
mikail firtinaci
as talk of a sham intensifies i'm keeping this in mind.
According to the BBC State
According to the BBC State news is claiming that former head of the airforce General Akin Ozturk has admitted organising the coup.
70 generals and admirals detained, 11 of them have been arrested. That adds to the 8000 cops and I think 3000 soldiers.
Interesting that the coup failed to round up anyone useful but the 'response'...
Some purge. In echo's of
Some purge. In echo's of Stalin's purges the lists were already drawn up. Some three million civil servants are forbidden to leave the country. The Grey Wolves and the JITEM death squads are unleashed and the war with the Kurds will intensify even more.
There's great instability here and NATO and the EU will be concerned. And just as concerning for them is a seemingly anti-US turn by the AKP. Senior military in the coup were based at Incirlik airport and it's likely that they had some rapprochement with the US and Nato forces on the base. The Americans are harbouring Fettulah Golen for its own imperialist interests that represents a permanent threat to the AKP.. There's been talks with Assad, a number of them and they're ongoing and it doesn't look yet like any of the coup plotters were involved in these. And immediately after his "comeback" Erdogan had very warm words for Iran and Russia.
The whole situation is certainly unstable in the longer-term. It also looks to be fairly unstable in the short-term.
There was talk of
There was talk of rapproachment with Russia some weeks ago. If the US is involved with the coup attempt, then it may have been a move to forestall that.
At the same time, relations between the Erdogan government and ISIS seem to have deteriorated (to the extent of IS bombings in Turkey). Plottings and counter-plottings around a re-alignment of Turkish foreign policy?
The Grauniad says 15,000
The Grauniad says 15,000 education workers have been sacked in purges.
The number of individuals who
More then 45,000 people have been removed or suspended. Also 1,577 deans at all universities have been requested to resign (http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2016/07/19/world/europe/19reuters-turkey-security-universities.html?_r=0) and press cards have been revoked. They must have had lists of people prepared before...
There are also reports that 12 military ships are "missing". Wikileaks says that they are going to release over 100k documents/emails about turkish government/Erdoğan today.
Wikileaks has just released
Wikileaks has just released 294,548 emails from the AKP, apparently mostly dealing with external matters. Looks like it's the first of a number of releases.
BBC today says: Quote: Turkey
BBC today says:
State of emergency
State of emergency announced
Turkey suspends European Convention on Human Rights amid fears of further crackdown
Turkey government revokes 3213 ham radio licenses
Anarchist hacker behind the AKP Wikileaks release
petey
petey
these posters were very active but haven't been on since july 21.
also hope mikail, devrim and others are okay.
petey wrote: petey
petey
I thought the same thing recently. Would be nice to hear from them just to know they're ok
Devrim posted on here
Devrim posted on here yesterday.
Hey folks, thank you for your
Hey folks, thank you for your concern, but please don't worry. I am perfectly fine and safe. I am sorry that I could not answer to the questions earlier and update on the situation. I started writing a more detailed article and that's why I did not post anything for the last couple of days.
For the time being, the islamist&fascist gangs retreated from the streets, and for the last couple of days there aren't any harassment of Alevi, secular and left neighborhoods . It became clearer that there wasn't any secular&Kemalist motive or cadres behind the coup (that is at least what many people claim). Also, since nobody came out in support of the coup the government is not targeting leftists at the moment. Things are still very tense, but the government seems wholly focused on purging the Fettullah Gulen sect. All the parliamentary parties, including the left HDP and CHP are supporting AKPs purge campaign against the Gulenists.
Thanks very much for the
Thanks very much for the updates and info Mikail, really interesting stuff. Yes would be great to see a more detailed article about what has happened at some point!
Well done mikhail. There's a
Well done mikhail.
There's a massive attack on the working class unfolding here.
RT reports today that at least 3 of the 5 Turkish army regiments that were involved in the coup are part of the NATO force.
Among many others, the two Turkish pilots who shot down the Russian fighter-jet were arrested last week for "involvement in the coup" (al-Jazeerah).
Quote: "So apparently the
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10208271451518314&set=a.1252694871857.2038211.1064071524&type=3&theater
Amateurs
Amateurs
There's apparently a big
There's apparently a big Pro-Erdogan demonstration planned here in Köln for tomorrow, along with counter demonstrations. both right and left.
Generally speaking the police and authorities seem pretty wary of potentially rising tensions.
Auto, you're in Germany?!?
Auto, you're in Germany?!?
Yeah, been out here since the
Yeah, been out here since the start of the year, working out in NRW.
40.000 went to the
40.000 went to the Pro-Erdoğan demonstration in Cologne. Although it was promoted as a general demo against the coup and for democracy it was 100% Pro-Erdğan and AKP demo. There was also a demonstration of the german right against "islamization" etc. and different counter-demonstrations by leftists/kurdish groups. Nothing really happened. But apparently there is more trouble between Germany and Turkey because the Police forbid a video-livestream talk by Erdoğan on the demonstration.
@Auto: Interesting to see someone from SF in NRW, I'll send you an PM
http://sendika10.org/2016/08/
http://sendika10.org/2016/08/wallerstein-writes-for-erdogan-and-how-ali-ergin-demirhan/
An interesting comment piece
An interesting comment piece on the failed coup describing the Gulen/Hismet movements influence and shifting relationships between Turkey, USA and Russia that adds to some points made earlier on this thread but written before the latest Turkish military invasion of Syria here:
www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/socialist-standard/2010s/2016/no-1345-september-2016/turkey-background-failed-coup
The recent change of
The recent change of alliances between Turkey, Russia and Iran in relation to Syria, and the containment/isolation of the norther Syrian Kurdish regime if it survives at all beyond the USA's temporary interest in supporting it's fight with ISIS, shows no sign of any respite in Turkey's ongoing civil war amidst competing nationalism's and ideological divisions between secularism and Islamism with the later apparently rampant if this liberal commentators descriptions following the most recent attack on the nightclub are to be believed?
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/03/reina-islamic-fanaticism-turkey-new-years-eve-massacre
The Turkish state military
The Turkish state military has now extended it's suppression of it's internal Kurdish opposition by bombing the Syrian Kurdish forces in Syria (and also inflicting 'collateral' damage on the Iraqi Peshmerga) despite opposition from the USA who have continued to provide militarily support to the 'autonomous' Syrian Kurdish regime in it's fight with ISIS - not sure where this leaves the NATO alliance - does it mark a further imperialist realignment - is it the beginning of the end for the Syrian Kurdish experiment?