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The Grand Turk
Turkey's game: The S400 U-turn
2021-09-20
[AlAhram] al-Ahram Weekly looks at Erdogan’s unfolding game of nations

The day before he officially recognised the Armenian genocide, which is commemorated on 24 April, US President Joe The Big Guy Biden
...46th president of the U.S. We hold these truths to be self-evident. All men and women created ... by the — you know — you know, the thing...
called Ottoman Turkish President His Enormity, Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First
Posted by:trailing wife

#5  Erdogan gets to choose which stump to hitch his wagon to.
Posted by: ed in texas   2021-09-20 19:51  

#4  "Is Moscow using the S-400 against Turkey?"

So now this window-licker tyrant is the victim?
Posted by: Frank G   2021-09-20 14:50  

#3  may the fleas of a thousand camels infest his armpits

Now that there is an impressive curse, Mike.
Posted by: Matt   2021-09-20 13:09  

#2  President Biden, back when he still had working memory, loathed Mr. Erdogan, who has been doing his very best to revive the Ottoman empire while eradicating competing domestic power centers like the Turkish army and the Gulenists, many of whom still sit in Turkish prisons, their wealth confiscated as booty. On the foreign front he’s been doing his bit to expand Turkish power and influence, too, including killing off the Kurds at home, in Iraq, and in Syria; confiscating Gulenist schools and businesses around the world; and moving Turkic paramilitaries from Syria to fronts in Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh, for which the local clients get to pay Turkey in gold. Not to mention continued Turkish agitation against Greece, Cypress, and Israel.

Why on earth should we extend a helping hand to lift Turkey out of the deep hole they’ve dug for themselves using shovels of bile, hate, and greed?
Posted by: trailing wife   2021-09-20 13:07  

#1  ...Recep Bey, may the fleas of a thousand camels infest his armpits, has figured out that we were serious about not giving him any new toys unless he got rid of the S-400s. One can reasonably assume that he was going to get a cut of whatever 'official' spending Turkey was going to do on the F-35 so he's losing that income stream, and I have no doubt that certain gentlemen with Russian accents are making it clear that he made a deal to buy another batch of -400s...and you need to keep your promises, Recep Bey.

So - let me make a suggestion.

A quiet meeting in Istanbul (not Constantinople) to arrange for a series of C-17 flights between the US and Turkey. When the C-17s land, they will load up a complete set of S-400 launchers, radars, tech orders, and missiles. They will fly back here, then return to Turkey with a complete set of PATRIOT launchers, radars, and missiles. We'll trade them one for one, and when the last of the S-400 gear has gone, we can talk about the F-35.

On the understanding, of course, that if we even think that you're letting unauthorized personnel get access to the PATRIOTS, we land on you with both feet.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski   2021-09-20 12:51  

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