The downing of the Syrian military jet was broadcast live by Turkey's private TV channel Habertürk from the border area which is forbidden military zone. 20 This reveals the pre-meditated nature of this specific act of war. During his speech at a local election rally, Prime Minister Erdogan blatantly lied by claiming that Turkey's airspace had been violated:
"Around 12:15pm today yet another Hashasi [assassin], a Syrian plane has violated our borders, our airspace. Our F-16 [jets] took off and hit this plane. Why? Because if you violate my airspace, our slap will be hard after that. So, I would like to congratulate the head of the Turkish Armed Forces [Necdet Ozel] in particular, our Armed Forces, those honourable pilots of ours and our Air Force in your presence." 33
By making a historical reference to the 'Hashasi' sect, Mr Erdogan tried to demonize both Syria and Iran.
"We are committed to Turkey's sovereignty and territorial integrity. We note that the Turkish Government has been fully transparent about the rules of engagement it is operating under" 34
Local elections in Turkey
On the eve of the March 21 offensive on Kasab, Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay implicated the Syrian state in a shooting attack in Nigde, which is located some 400 kilometres from the Syrian border:
"The word Syrian was mentioned in the briefing [note] I was given. The martyrdom of a soldier and a police officer of ours in the run up to the [local] elections is a very grave incident. It may be that some are trying to spoil the election atmosphere." 35
The next day, it turned out that, the perpetrators were two Albanians and a Kosovar mercenaries who were on their way back from fighting in the ranks of the 'Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant' against the Syrian state. 36
On March 14, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu rehashed Turkey's threat of launching a 25-kilometres border incursion of into Syria to defend a 10,000 square metres enclave that belongs to Turkey 37 :
"Any kind of attack towards there [i.e. the Suleiman Shah Tomb] which might come from the [Syrian] regime, the radical groups or another place would be equally retaliated and Turkey would take all sorts of precautions, without any hesitation, for the defense of that national territory." 38
Actually, as early as May 2011, a somewhat similar scenario was disclosed by the relentless propagandist Robert Fisk 39 :
"Turkish generals have thus prepared an operation that would send several battalions of Turkish troops into Syria itself to carve out a "safe area" for Syrian refugees inside Assad's caliphate. The Turks are prepared to advance well beyond the Syrian border town of Al Qamishli -- perhaps half way to Deir el-Zour [...] to provide a "safe haven" for those fleeing the slaughter in Syria's cities." 40
Three days before the March 30 local elections, the audiotapes of a meeting between Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, National Intelligence Organization (MIT) director Hakan Fidan and the deputy head of the Turkish Armed Forces Yasar Güler was 'leaked' on YouTube. 41 According to the transcript of the YouTube video, MIT director Fidan suggested staging a false flag attack on the aforementioned Tomb of Suleiman Shah to provide a justification for a possible war with Syria. 42
Mr Erdogan implied that the leak was a U.S.-hatched conspiracy against his government and Turkey's sovereignty. In a speech delivered after winning the local elections, he referred to those whom he accuses of collaborating:
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