The Turkish intelligence agency, the MIT is hunting down
Kurdish dissidents affiliated with the PKK, Gülenists and others beyond its
borders. Germany with it large Turkish population, which includes numerous
Kurds is the special focus of the operation. Germany was a nation without
colonies and thus when it looked for cheap labour, it couldn't import Africans,
Indians or other Asians. Instead a deal was cut.
In the early 1960s, Turkey was the newest and poorest member
of NATO and looking for a means to generate income via remittances, money sent
home from expatriate workers. Germany faced with a labour shortage initiated Gastarbeiter (Guest worker) programmes
with various nations but Turkey in particular became a chief source. The
programme officially ended in the early 1970s but many Turks remained, grew
their families and brought over additional loved ones. Many of them have
integrated and not a few serve a mercantile/mediator function between EU and
Turkish business interests.
This is where things get foggy. Turkey's MIT utilises some of
these people to spy on the West and also to spy on expatriate Turks and Kurds.
But of course what the DW story utterly fails to report is that this goes both
ways. These same Turkish Germans are also recruited by Western intelligence
agencies to represent their interests in Turkey and in some cases to infiltrate
its government apparatus.
The most famous and documented instance of this is with reference
to the notorious Abdullah Çatli who as a principal within the Grey Wolves
organised the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II in 1981. There are
clear BND (German intelligence) connections and the operation was paid for in
Deutsche Marks. The plan it is believed was hatched among the Grey Wolves
operating in Turkey. Clearly it was a BND/CIA plan all along. They have a long
history working with the MIT-connected fascist paramilitaries who are essential
to understanding the Turkish Deep State.
Why they wanted John Paul II dead, the very man who they
(Western strategists) had worked to bring into the papacy, is another story but
one equally fascinating.
What the Le Monde piece fails to mention is that the CIA is
hovering in the background of everything they're writing about. Çatli the smuggler
and drug runner, the Grey Wolves and the MIT are all connected to the BND and
the puppetmasters at the CIA.
While the Grey Wolves are still very much in the picture the
primary vehicle for contemporary Western intrigues vis-à-vis Ankara is through
the Gülen Movement.
If one wishes to 'connect the dots' as it were, the BND-Grey
Wolf connections are established. The Grey Wolves operate from Europe, to the
Middle East, Central Asia and even into the Far East. Committed to Pan-Turkism
they represent many parallel beliefs to the Islamicised Pan-Turkism being
promoted by Gülen's Hizmet movement. Gulen is clearly being backed by the
United States and has worked in concert with its intelligence agencies. His
organisations have been accused by more than one government of being CIA
fronts.
The Gülen Movement has infiltrated the Turkish state and runs
parallel to old established Pentagon ties with the Turkish military. The MIT,
the Turkish intelligence service is clearly divided between forces loyal to
Erdogan and Gülen as recent scandals have demonstrated.
The point is, that there's a long established history of
connections between the CIA/BND and elements within Turkish intelligence,
MIT-run paramilitaries such as the Grey Wolves and CIA/MIT connected figures in
the Turkish underworld. Gülen, also clearly connected to Washington and in
particular Langley seems to be playing a part in this complicated tale. The
large Turkish expatriate community in Germany has always played a part in this
story.
We could also say more about the CIA/BND connections to the
Syrian War, the role that Turks, Kurds, the Turkish State and Turkmen
paramilitaries have played in it. There are also questions and connections with
regard to weapons smuggling and certainly some of the terrorist activities
within both Turkey and Europe.
It's complicated and I doubt anyone can really disentangle
the mess, but DW's reporting on this story while accurate on one level, at the
same time completely misrepresents the nature and context of the question. It's
a classic case of Establishment media spin. Having viewed Western Establishment
media outlets like DW, BBC, France 24, NPR and others for some time they
clearly have an agenda when it comes to covering the NATO confrontation with
Russia, the Syrian Civil War and certainly the Erdogan government in Turkey. In
every case their coverage perfectly echoes official proclamations and policy
flowing out of Berlin, London, Paris and Northern Virginia.
I was under the impression that the assassination attempt against JP2 was part of a plot orchestrated by the KGB in collusion with the Bulgarian and East German intelligence agencies.
ReplyDeleteThis wikipedia article suggests that anyway: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_John_Paul_II_assassination_attempt
That said, it looks like it wasn't easy finding the truth of the matter. Agca himself was mentally unstable and therefore unable to provide reliable testimony. The Mitrokhin archives allegedly reveal documentary evidence linking the Soviet Bloc to the conspiracy but it is just as plausible to suggest that these documents were forged.
Then again, the more I read about Agca himself, it's also just as likely he was a lone nut gunman.
The Bulgarian-KGB plot to kill JPII is narrative most commonly put forth by the Establishment. It was first suggested by a Right-wing figure that would later become associated with the Neocons.
DeleteUndoubtedly the Soviets were very concerned about JPII and this alone, this plausible motive is enough for most people. And yet there have always been problems with the narrative. The Mitrokhin Archive at least to my knowledge is ambivalent on the issue. There seem to be some within the former USSR that think a Soviet backed plot plausible while others are just as adamant that they had nothing to do with it. Has something else come out with regard to the archive? I'd be eager to read it.
Investigators have long questioned the Western Cold War narrative with regard to JPII's assassination because the figures surrounding it, Agca, Catli etc... were all connected to the Turkish Deep State and the CIA.
The stumbling block at this point is... why would they have wanted JPII dead? In fact there's reason to believe they manipulated his ascension. Why kill him? It's complicated and the answers are hardly cut and dry. It has to do with the whole Vatican Banking/Mafia scandal that was still being sussed out into the tenure of JPII. He wasn't turning out to be the pope they wanted and everything was near collapse. The magnitude of potential exposures could quite literally have brought down Western governments. Throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s people were dying as there was a mad scramble to cover-up the Vatican Connection. The IOR (Vatican Bank) was the nexus of Western intelligence money laundering, black ops, collaboration with organised crime, terrorism, connections to Fascism, coups, P2, and yes, the funding of Solidarity and other movements in the Eastern bloc, etc....
JPII survived and it's clear that afterward he played ball. He fulfilled his role vis-à-vis Poland and the Soviets, he facilitated the war on Liberation Theology and Leftist movements in Latin America, but more importantly he looked the other way as some of the darker elements within the IOR and the Curia continued to function. Some Fundamentalists point to these episodes and see the Popes running the world. Rather the popes are actors on the world stage but since WWII they've been largely manipulated by their American masters, many of whom are associated with groups like the Knights of Malta, Opus Dei etc.... Speaking of the Knights, Francis is in a bit of pickle. I have an article about that coming shortly.
I'm just curious, are you familiar with Daniele Ganser? He's a scholar who's conducted research into NATO operations during the Cold War and is a strongly believes that the US utilized a "strategy of tension" to retain control over its western European allies.
ReplyDeleteOpinion of him seems to be mixed. On the one hand, he has the credentials and has done the research to warrant credibility but on the other he's regarded by his critics as a fringe who overindulges in conspiracy theory.
I've seen the name. I just typed it into Amazon to see what books came up and yes, I've considered buying the one dealing with Gladio, but I have not read it. What's your take? Any good?
DeleteThus far I've found there's extremes at both ends. Establishment histories gloss over the larger story and then there's people like James Corbett, lots of good stuff mixed in with some semi-nutty stuff. He definitely sees a cabal orchestrating everything. I think that's just too simple and neat. I think there are factions that are turning on one another and vying for control. I think there are some really powerful figures who's power waxes and wanes. They have tremendous power in certain areas and little in others. It's when they're able to join forces....
The CIA in my estimation has become all but indistinguishable from organised crime. The amazing thing is, probably 70-80% of the people who work for the agency don't really see it. They see pieces and yet never bother to put them together. That's how it was in the USAF. You could see all kinds of things if you had your eyes open and you were taking the trouble to connect what you knew.
I haven't read the book but I did listen to an interview that featured him. I got the impression that he had researched his topic thoroughly, although there were factual inaccuracies concerning tangential issues.
DeleteFor example, he mentioned Licio Gelli and said that he rose to the rank of sergeant major in the "SS Hermann Göring Division". No such division existed. There was a "Hermann Göring Division" in the Luftwaffe and it did co-operate with the Waffen-SS; however, both entities were separate chains of command.
Again, it might have simply been an oversight on Ganser's part but it's something that can potentially undermine his credibility. I would say that if you do believe in the concept of a "strategy of tension", hopefully you have alternative sources upon which to depend.
Yeah, those little errors add up. He's not wrong in the sense of the Nazi connections but sometimes the over-association combined with errors can produce flawed analysis.
ReplyDeleteBut when it comes to Licio Gelli it's hard to use words in the non-superlative. That guy was something else. He's straight out of a Hollywood script and yet ironically he's been ignored. He's almost too strange for fiction. I guess the closest you can come to locating him is in The Godfather III. The one P2-connected Don was probably something of an amalgam... Andreotti and Gelli.
Have you ever seen the BBC documentary on Gladio? It's on YouTube.
ReplyDeleteAre you familiar with Sibel Edmonds? What's your take on her? I think I've mentioned before that she's quite interesting, I accept much (not necessarily most) of what she says, and yet I'm a little cautious.
It is amazing though that when you dig in (long term) on some of these issues and people say things like 'wouldn't more people have come forward'.... well, if you look into it.
They have. It's just that the mainstream constantly finds ways to discount them.
Gee I wonder why Germany doesn't want its BND to hunt down Gulenists?
ReplyDeleteWho more or less runs the BND? Germany itself has admitted that they bow to Langley.
I think from Erdogan's standpoint the request was something of a test. He wanted to check the waters and probably verify his suspicions.... or, build his case when makes it to the Turkish media.
http://www.euractiv.com/section/global-europe/news/germany-rejects-turkish-request-to-spy-on-gulenists/
Of course there's another way of looking at this.... the Gülen movement is not just hiding out in Germany, they're being protected and run by the BND and CIA.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.dw.com/en/the-g%C3%BClen-movement-appears-in-germany/av-44718378