Turkish, US and NATO Hypocrisy

The Turkish government is outraged that one of its jets was shot down in Syrian airspace and another fired upon by Syrian forces in recent days. There is talk of Turkey retaliating against Syria and Turkish troops on the border are on high alert. NATO is supporting Turkey.

According to regional media, supplies for the Free Syrian Army are flowing more-or-less freely across the Turkish border and into Syria.

For some time now the Turkish airforce has been hitting Kurdish enclaves and targets deep in the Qandil mountains where Turkey borders Iraq and Iran. These attacks take Turkey into Iraq. The United States and NATO provide intelligence for these raids. A too-complacent Kurdish leadership in Iraq barely protests these attacks and calls for negotiations. That leadership largely owes its survival to the American invaders.

The hypocritical lesson is clear: Turkey, the US and NATO can cross borders at will and carry out or support bombings but other countries cannot defend their airspace. The Turkish government can act as an imperialist power in regard to the Kurds, but it also serves imperialism when it permits the flow of arms and aid across its borders to the Free Syrian Army.