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Jan van Aken

No Federal Armed Forces to Turkey!

“As in Afghanistan before, the deployment of patriot defence missiles in Turkey starts with a lie. Even Chancellor Merkel knows: Turkey is not threatened by Syria,” comments Jan van Aken, Deputy Party Chair of DIE LINKE, on the government’s plan to dispatch 400 soldiers to Turkey.

Colonel Ulrich Kirsch, Head of the Federal Armed Forces Association, is completely right in questioning the justification for as well as proportionality of the foreign assignment. Syria neither attacked Turkey nor did it threaten to do so. It is rather the other way round: From the beginning Turkey intervened in the Syrien civil war and supports the armed rebels. The government in Ankara even let parliament approve of an invasion to Syria in summary proceedings.

It is pure madness to send 400 German soldiers right into the middle of the Near East conflict, which can become a regional war any time soon. Out of my experience as former UN inspector for biological weapons I say, Syrian chemical weapons being allegedly a threat to Turkey is utterly far-fetched. Firstly, – as in any war – all secret service reports on chemical weapons are to be judged with care. Secondly, military-wise it would be plain nonsense to use chemical weapons through ballistic missiles in a civil war. Patriot missiles on the other hand are of no use against chemical shells and bombs.