Turkey's pro-Kurdish party leader denies wrongdoing after Erdogan urges prosecution

[Bosonic]

Source: Reuters

The head of Turkey's pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), which President Tayyip Erdogan has accused of links with "terrorist groups", on Tuesday denied any wrongdoing and said his group faced punishment simply for its electoral success.

"We have committed no unforgiveable crimes. Our only crime was winning 13 percent of vote," HDP chairman Selahattin Demirtas told his group in parliament.

Erdogan earlier in the day called for the prosecution of party leaders and urged parliament to strip lawmakers of immunity from prosecution for alleged links with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Demirtas also accused Erdogan of obstructing a plan by the PKK's jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan to call for his followers to disarm.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/28/mideast-crisis-kurds-hdp-idUSL5N10828120150728

[Comrade Grumpy]

1. Erdogan would rather have war with the Kurds than peace with the PKK.

And he's trying to suck us in to Syria's civil war. I'm really growing not to like this guy.

[bemildred]

2. Erdogan has pretty well beshit himself with his policies and he needs a distraction.

One suspects that Obama intends to encourage him in his folly in order to get rid of him, or at least it is hard for me to see how invading Syria is going to work out well for Erdogan or Turkey, and that seems to be where he wants to go.

[Bosonic]

3. Senior Western official: Links between Turkey and ISIS are now 'undeniable'

Senior Western official: Links between Turkey and ISIS are now 'undeniable'

A US-led raid on the compound housing the Islamic State's "chief financial officer" produced evidence that Turkish officials directly dealt with ranking ISIS members, Martin Chulov of the Guardian reported recently.

The officer killed in the raid, Islamic State official Abu Sayyaf, was responsible for directing the terror army's oil and gas operations in Syria. The Islamic State (aka ISIS, ISIL, or Daesh) earns up to $10 million a month selling oil on black markets.

Documents and flash drives seized during the Sayyaf raid reportedly revealed links "so clear" and "undeniable" between Turkey and ISIS "that they could end up having profound policy implications for the relationship between us and Ankara," senior Western official familiar with the captured intelligence told the Guardian.

NATO member Turkey has long been accused by experts, Kurds, and even Joe Biden of enabling ISIS by turning a blind eye to the vast smuggling networks of weapons and fighters during the ongoing Syrian war.

Read more: http://uk.businessinsider.com/links-between-turkey-and-isis-are-now-undeniable-2015-7?r=US&IR=T#ixzz3hDt2yd00

[Comrade Grumpy]

4. It has smelled that way for a long time. n/t