A senior member of the Turkish Parliament on August 9, Wednesday, submitted a written motion to the Grand National Assembly (TBMM) asking the government to explain whether it had allowed for a very recent shipment of 15 [International Transit Lorries] full of *US Air Force Explosives* from the most prominent American base in Southeast Turkey to Israel, to be used in its ongoing military campaign and bombing in Lebanon.
15 TIR's of a shipment marked "USAF" and "explosives" is nothing to be ignored in the midst of what's happening today. Where, report some mainstream Turkish newspapers, 10 year old Lebanese children are killed by Israeli troops as Israeli soldiers are queing up to have their sperm frozen for future generations.
One naturally assumes, giving the grace of doubt, that if the allegation in the motion in Ankara was even close to being true, it would more be a 'company contract transfer' between those who own, sell or lease and deploy those weapons in the region rather than anything that could ever be traced back to a genuine US-policy that could eventually be linked back to the G.W.
Bush administration.
15 Truck loads of weapons. Moved out of a US base in Turkey. Allegedly transferred to Israel. All US Air Force material. And all *Explosives*.
And only a day before an expected UN Security Council resolution that has already been delayed and watered down to the extent of being one of those elements in the current crisis responsible for over a thousand civilian deaths. Epecially where every day we are shown pictures of murdered children and women in the conflict, a majority of whom are Arabs and displaced refugees under attack.
When you look at the serious claim before the Turkish Parliament today, that the country's pro-Muslim yet supposedly secular ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) administration might have allowed for a shipment of weapons to be used to kill fellow Muslims in Lebanon, it's difficult to believe that things like this can actually happen and, if you are a natural sceptic, you expect such allegations, if untrue, come from the ranks of terror itself yet not a government.
The Hezbollah or Jerusalem. Not Ankara, for certain.
Yet, in this instance, the report that makes the original allegation comes not from the heart of a psychological propaganda war of the epicentres of terror groups but the mass circulation daily newspaper Hurriyet itself.
In summary... The main opposition Republic Peoples Party (CHP) Adana deputy Tacidar Seyhan has asked the parliament and government formally whether it is true that (according to reports reaching the public opinion) containers marked USAF and Explosives had recently been shipped from Turkey's southern ports using 15 gigantic lorries.
Whether these crates full of possible weapons of mass destruction [though at a lesser degree than their chemical or biological siblings held in more reliable Western stockades] were indeed 'just now' tansferred from the US-controlled Incirlik Air Base in the Southeast province of Adana to Tasucu in Mersin.
And, most significantly, whether they were sent from there in any form or content to Israel, where they would be used in the aerial bombardment of Lebanon and its civilians.
MP Seyhan asked whether the Turkish government had been informed of this transfer of weapons beforhand and if it had reached an agreement with Washington on this.
Wat he did for real was to raise the questions and voice of many Turks who questioned the original Hurriyet expose published on August 8 under the headline Where have the explosives gone?
This report said the 'shipment' had been made at 0500 local time that day, under the protection not only of US troops but also of Turkish counter-terrorism and Special Ops Forces.
Although the report cited Tasucu as the delivery point where they were supposed to be loaded into US ships, it did not appear to mention anything in its online version about MP Seyhan's reference to Israel.
It actally quoted a US official saying these weapons were being diposed of due to their "use by" dates expiring. An expiry date, as so many seamen around the world carrying or using flares, would find so coinsidential.
The question is now as simple as CHP Deputy Seyhan put it.
"Is it true that these containers were transferred to Tasucu under the escort of special operations police and gendarme? Is here a list with Turkish authorities on this transfer related to the weapons and explosives?
What is the nature of these weapons? Has the consent of Turkish authorities been sought on the issue of the weapons that have been sent to Israel? Has the Turkish government had any initiative to block or warn against this?
Have you conducted any negotiation that intends to support Israel's operation in Israel without telling the Turkish public opinion [or] is there any promise that has been given to the USA?"
In other words, is Turkey a part of the bombings of Lebanon and Palestinians and an accomplice to the ongoing massacre of children, women and civilians?
One motion, perhaps, Ankara should answer sooner than later. And make its position clear.
