Rick Rozoff: NATO's Neo-Ottoman Spearhead in the Middle East

A 1921 agreement between Ottoman Turkey and France, the Treaty of Ankara, the latter at the time the colonial administrator of Syria, granted Turkey the right to station military personnel at the mausoleum of Suleyman Shah, the grandfather of the founder of the Ottoman Empire. Turkey considers the area adjacent to the tomb to be its, and not Syria's sovereign territory, and late last month reinforced its 15 troop contingent there. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated the following in an interview televised on August 5: The tomb of Suleyman Sah and the land surrounding it is our territory. We cannot ignore any unfavorable act against that monument, as it would be an attack on our territory, as well as an attack on NATO land. Everyone knows his duty, and will continue to do what is necessary. The grave-site of a Seljuk sultan who was reputed to have drowned in the Euphrates River while on campaign of conquest is now proclaimed a NATO outpost in Syria. If confirmation were required that a "neo" Ottoman Turkey is determined to reassert the influence and authority in Mesopotamia it gained 700 years before and lost a century ago and, moreover that it was doing so as a part of a campaign by self christened global NATO to expand into the Arab world, the Turkish head of states to militarily intervene in Syria with the support of its 27 NATO allies should provide it. Especially as the above complements and reinforces the roles of the US and NATO in providing military assistance to Ankara in its current war of attrition against the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) in Turkey and Iraq, with Syria soon to follow!