It's funny to see many people who even can't show Turkey on the map blame a whole country so easiliy. First of all, there is no solid proof of any use of napalm (although it is known that Turkey has napalm weapons in it's arsenal). Secondly, napalm is not a chemical weapon. Not every weapon of chemical compound is a chemical weapon. Napalm is considered as "incendiary weapon" which has a complete different treaty of non-use, which Turkey did not signed (so there is no crime). Thirdly, PKK is a military terrorist faction, commiting suicide bombings and assaults, causing terrorism, attacking civilians and Turkish military for over 25 years. In the last month over 70 soldiers have been killed by these rough attacks. And news for you, a war of 25 years does not involve giving puppies and flowers each other. And lastly, Turkish army is fighting terrorist attacks within it's boundary and causes much much much less death (which is a necessity in a war) than any other country's "so called" "democracy bringing act", or an invasion (of killing and raping thousands of civilians among the military force of the invaded nation) abroad (even in another continent). Or another country's invasion to "make himself a place in the holy lands" by killing the inhabitants with massacre. So, it's easy to play the humanist lovedolls from your cool seats and homes, but you can at least use your brains a little bit before blaming and flaming without any real knowledge.

by the way, i read here, a lot of misinformed people blame "turkish fascists" to kill lots of kurdish people. There is nothing against kurds here in turkey, there is not a major discrimination, or behavior against nationality/race. The most of the kurds are living here peacefully with the turks, showing themselves in many roles in the society. engineers, doctors, mayors, advocates, all kinds of jobs. Turkey even had kurdish presidents several times and has many kurdish members of parliament today (and had in the past). (So, how many Turkish or Polish ministers have you had Germans?) If you don't trust me, you have internet under your control, go check it. So, I think i had enough proof that there is nothing racist or discriminating here. The main problem is kurdish seperatists, and their terroristic acts, bombings, assaults, fires, mines and any kinds of acts of war. Their nationality, race or origin is not important there, their behavior and crimes are the reasons why the military is fighting against them. So, please if you plan to show such immature fury, first be kind enough to check your knowledge before showing your attitude.

Really? I have now thoroughly checked out all of these websites: CNN BBC The Independent The Economist The Guardian Foxnews Al-Jazeera El-Pais Le Monde Le Figaro MSNBC ABCNEWS And in all of them, this story is nowhere to be seen. The only places it can be found (aside for the Israeli news sites - Ynetnews, Jpost and Haaretz) is in Der Spiegel. Could you please show me exactly where it is "all over the news"?

there are unsubstantiated reports, and it could be mere allegation, that the present syrian regime employed such at hama in 1982. it is reported the syrians killed up to 45,000 civilians. or was it 8? this was never reported by the bbc. indeed edward said, naom chomsky, and all the other usual suspects never said a word, so it mustn't have happened. did it make the un?

I would never ever make such a puzzling comment...(comparing You with my mother) But I very much liked the heart symbol...thanks imposter...

the heck you say! I've gotta real purdy bridge in Los Angelos -in case you are interested? It's called the Golden Gate Bridge..My point is that this is how much I believe that Turkey has no chemical weapons. HA!

I am wondering how it will be reported in Hurriyet, Haberturk, Sabah, Taraf and Zaman. But I already know that PM Erdogan and AKP will use this to unfairly attack the military in their quest of delegitimizing pro western military.

the PKK (the terrorist arm of the Kurdish movement) indeed terrorized Turkey. They have bombed a shopping center in Ankara last year killing civilians, they have bombed another mall in Bakirkoy section of Istanbul several years ago, they have burned forests in touristic areas during high season, bombed a few buses also. The PKK are not much different then Hamas or Hezbollah. The only difference that I can see is that while Hamas terrorists would hide behind heir civilian population including schools, mosques and hospitals, PKK hides in isolated mountains without endangering their own civilians. Also this year PKK has been careful not to attack civilians, and concentrating their terrorist activities only against the Turkish military. But the worst thing about Turkey is not the fact that they are fighting the PKK terrorists, it is PM Erdogan's statement that he does not consider Hamas as terrorists. in thios way he is also legitimizing the PKK as freedom fighters which is not only hurting Israel but more importantly for Turks it is really hurting Turkey.

Turkey is the country the Arabs were begging the Brits and Americans to rescue them from; hardly an advocate for Arab and Middle Eastern rights after hundreds of years of brutal occupation. Every where they go they violate basic human rights, no one wants them meddling in their national affairs, only the most desperate of Palestinians would dare propose an alliance after the brutal dictatorship they imposed across trans-Jordan.

guilty. This is the best way to judge what is going on in the Middle East in conspiracy theories circles. Muslims always good, Jews always bad, on any topic. BLOODYTHIRSTY SCOT GREATEST EVER EXPERT OF TEX-MEX BURRITOS AND MIDDLE EAST DALLAS, TEXAS

protect its sovereignty and the life of its citizens through the use of legal methods? It is time Turkey is brought before world courts to be investigated, and it is time NATO had a second thought about having Turkey being part of it.

37. turkish media will not write of something that's against them they are the most raciest media

then probe Turkey's terrorist links to the flotilla.

Thanks for all your insight. I see many people are imposters here, trying to attack you using other people's details. This is because you are RIGHT most of the time, and they cant handel the truth. So... Thank you

You are absolutely right in Your comparison between the Kurds and the Palestinians... The Kurds only want their freedom and self determination, they don't preach a constant message of hatred...they do not want to destroy another people... So it is completely unfair, to compare the Kurds to the Palestinians...!!! And Sarah, thanks really a lot for your mild tempered response to the fake post...!!!

Turkey considers HAMAS,ISLAMIC JIHAD,FATAH,PLO,as freedom fighters then Israel should consider that PKK are freedom fighter. VIVA KURDISTAN,VIVA YAHUDI,VIVA ISRAIL,VIVA PKK.DOWN WITH TURKIYA.

1. I can definitely able to show you Turkey on the map as well as Diyarbakir (or as the Kurds prefer to call it AMED) or anywhere else that you want me to show. 2. The issue with Turkey and the kurds (for Israelis) is not that the PKK is an innocent group, it is that Turkish PM considers Hamas freedom fighters and supports them. Additionally your nation (at least those AKP supporters) consider Hamas to be their close friends. This obviously creates an outrage among Israelis. After all Hamas is sworn to destroy Israel and they have been killing Israeli civilians in their homes. Just two examples for you are Dorit Benisian and Yuval Abebeh little children killed under Hamas rockets from Gaza. 3. Napalm is a chemical compound which burns therefore an incendiary weapon. Turkey did not sign the treaty that bans it, OK. Similarly Phosphorus bombs are also incendiary weapons and it was not banned at the time of cast lead. Why did your country showed such an outrage to Israel when they used it? 4. You say there is nothing against Kurds in Turkey. I know for a fact that there is strong discrimination against them. (I lived in Turkey - Izmir, Istanbul and Ankara- between 1950 and 1980) I have seen it with my own eyes and lived it myself that there is discrimination against Kurds, Jews, Christians, Armenians and even Alvevi and Bektasi Muslims. Let me remind you of the Madimak Hotel incident in Sivas where Alevi and Bektasis were burned to death while satirist Aziz Nesin was in it. 5. You are probably blaming USA when you mention the "so called" "democracy bringing act". But your country also invaded Cyprus in 1974 after a coup against president Makarios. Last year Hurriyet and all other Turkish media reported that mass graves of missing Greek Cypriots were found in North Cyprus executed point blank. Turkey not only invaded Cyprus but today there are more Turks that were transplanted from Turkey in Cyprus then the real Cypriot Turks. The Greek city of Famagusta (Magosa) the big Varosha neighborhood is still a ghost town and the Greek home owners are not allowed to return since 1974. Ali Dostum as you said it is easy for you to play humanist love doll from your cool seat and home but be careful. There is always someone like me checking on you and will bring out the facts. So please be kind enough next time to check your facts before you post because I will be watching and checking. Iyi Aksamlar.

I know that the PKK has caused havoc, but the fact remains that they are a tiny portion of the Kurdish people. The Turkish army, however, appears not to appreciate this, and has gone after Kurdish civilians indiscriminately. Some estimates of the death toll run into the tens of thousands -- and there are those who claim that is a conservative estimate. I do not know how popular the PKK is among the Kurds; I suspect not very. The terror elements among the Palestinians (there are so many, I won't bother to list them here) seem to enjoy a great deal of popularity among Palestinians. Therein the difference. It is a shame about Turkey. I think they have seemingly chosen to go down a most unwise path -- whether because of increasing fundamentalist Islamic influences in Turkey or for what ever reason -- the end result will be the same. They will not be invited to join the European Union, and they are quite likely to be expelled from NATO. Good bye modern Turkey; hello sick man of Europe. The more things change; the more they seem to stay the same.

Thank you for your kind words. I find it very gratifying that the YNet regulars always seem to spot the imposters, and frequently call them on it before I've even seen the fraudulent post! Imitation may be the highest form of flattery, but these days, we call it identity theft and the people who do it are pretty scurrilous. Thank you again!

Any comments Mr.Bulut from talkback no 50.(Mr.David Israel).Interesting

It is nice to know anyone having knowledge about the real situations despite his opposite side of view w.r.t my opinion. First of all, the jewish and israeli politics is not the topics here. It's about Turkey and PKK, I haven't seen any word about the Israel in the news article? It is the flaming readers who count Israel in. Secondly, those extreme examples like madımak hotel are the work of extremist minorities, which are all around in the world. Can you claim that there are no neo-nazis in germany, no discrimination against color in usa or no prejudices middle eastern or asian people in the western world? It's the same. And Madımak is and have been always a shame for us, Turks. But I'm living in Istanbul for 25 years, lived in Ankara in 8 years and visited Izmir many times (today Izmir is the most modern city in terms of people and social status in Turkey, despite the general idea of Istanbul, you can never find any discrimination there) and can guarantee you there is not a discrimination in the country. A perfect example is Turgut Özal, former minister of Turkey. He was a kurdish origin politician and served as the highest rank of Turkish democracy, the minister. How is that possible in a country with discrimination? Comparing PKK with Hamas has no solid grounds. First of all, Turks are living in this land for more than 1000 years among other natives (kurds, arabs, greeks, persians and any other minorities). Throughout the history, among 1000 years Turks were the dominating nation here, building the countries (Seljuk Empire, Anatolian Seljuks, Ottomans, minor Provinces). However although the israeli peope are originaly from middle eastern lands, Israel is a country founded by INVADING the arabic lands in the recent history with the help of USA, and pushing the owners of the land from their homes. and providing lots of massacres within. So, ofcourse the middle eastern public is angry, and they try anything harmful they can. About Cyprus. Nothing is similar to the invasion of Iraq. Cyprus is a land with many Turkish citizens living on it. (How many americans live or suffer from Iraq?) The attack on Cyprus was necessary to prevent further tortures and killings of turkish citizens on it and it completely legal, since Turkey, Greece, and England were all three protectors of the peaceful conditions on Cyprus by their agreement, and those conditions were no more "peaceful" so any of three had right to interfere the situation. One last thing, you say "Turkey has chemical weapons" "Iran has nuclear weapons" and so on... And what about USA? What about Israel? Do they have no nuclear weapons? If you want no nuclear weapons first get rid of yours. What gives those countries to have nuclear weapons and the others not? Every nation has dirty laundry, and many can be found easily. Turkish government is not flawless (and many modern turkish citizens including me disagree with Erdogan's politics, but not because of the grounds related with Israeli politics) but I can see a lot more dirty laundry in the history of Israel, USA, Germany, France, Spain, England and any other country.

What I am trying to say to you is that Turks (PM Erdogan) made a big mistake when he declared that he does not consider Hamas to be terrorist. The fact is both Hamas and PKK are using the same terrorist ways and means. We should not fall into the level of Erdogan and those Turks who follow him. Just like Turks have the right to protect their population from PKK terror we should explain to them them Israel also has the right to protect her population from Hamas terror and Turkish support for Hamas is not appreciated. We don't have to embrace another terror group just because they are enemies of our enemies. There is quite a significant support among Kurds for PKK in Turkey. many of them - especially those who live in the western big cities of Turkey and more affluent - would not admit it but in the east support is significant and strong. This is due to a lack of political initiatives to bring in peace to the region. The problem is not with the Turkish military but with the Turkish civil administration - the government,parliament - that can not formulate a fair solution.

1. You are correct when you say that Izmir (my beautiful birthplace) stands on its own as the most progressive and modern city in Turkey. 2. The example of madimak hotel is not an exception. It was only the most significant incident. There ar many smaller incidents of discrimination in Turkey that goes unnoticed but when you put the numbers of incidents together but more importantly those that are done direct by the government of Turkey it can not be passed by. Here some examples: An Armenian man passed all the necessary prerequisites to have a public service (Government) job in 2009. Once a person passes these tests and prerequisites they are given a government job. This man still has not received a job. There are no government positions given to Armenians or Jews in Turkey. Only mandatory military service, no Armenian, Jew or none Muslim officers of career in the military or any ministry. In my times one Jewish young man was able to get a job in Petkim (in around 1977) but he was married to a Muslim women and his father in law was working at Petkim. being an engineer I applied too but never even considered for an interview. In those same years there was s special Jewish table at the passport office (The police headquarters at Tepecik). Dicrimination and bashing of Kurds also was very common among many. Some used to call them KUYRUKLU (Man with a tail) 2. Turgut Ozal was half Kurd but he never ran for office as a Kurd as for example Leyla Zana ot Ahmet Turk did.Ozal concealed his Kurdish identity while he tried at several occasions to further Kurdish causes but failed. (Ozal and I are both engineers and had several of the same professors at the university. I have heard a lot about Ozal and Erbakan who also is an engineer and trained by the same professors as I had) 3. You say Turks are living in Asia minor for over 1000 years. Well Jews were originated and living in what the Romans called Palestine for over 2000 years. They established Israel in that land millenniums ago and never stopped living there despite the fact that many were expelled. Everywhere you dig in israel including the west bank (For example Hebron) you see Jewish history. Now if you compare this with Anatolia and the Turkish Trace all you see is Greek history such as Efes Bergama, Milet Didim, Aspendos, Aya Sofia etc. If you dig in the east you see Armenian and Kurdish history. For example Akdamar chatedral, the real names of the cities like AMED for Diyarbakir, DERSIM for Tunceli etc. If you can justify Turkey to exist on Greek, Armenian and Kurdis land you can not say anything to Israel. And Ali bey, I studied history in a high school in Izmir where my teachers proudly instructed to me how the Ottomans grew their empire with the power of their sword by killing their enemies. One example of it is the two sieges of Vienna where the people were left to starve to death. Israel did not kick out the Arabs from their land this is why today over 15 % of the population in Israel are Arabs with Israeli citizenship.

4. . Now let's come to Cyprus: Cyprus had a small Turkish minority before 1974. Starting in around 1958 - 1960 (There was an Ankara agreement around these years as I recall) Greeks mistreated Turkish minority. Greece, UK and Turkey were assigned as Guarantors of Cyprus. Under this pretext Turkey decided to intervene in Cyprus in 1974 after Nikos Sampson made a coup against president Makarios. But Turkey occupied about half of the island. Additionally about 160 thousand Turks from Turkey were sent to the Island to live there and create a bigger more significant population which is against all international laws. (This can be seen as a land theft from a simplistic angle) . Today even the native Cypriot Turks resent those Turks who came from Turkey but unfortunately they are outnumbered. Those Turks from Turkey are the main reason why a fair solution can not be applied in Cyprus. 5: Chemical and Nuclear weapons: Israel had them for many years but never used it. For israel it is nothing but a deterrent. Israel is smaller then Konya Vilayeti. The only time they can use these arms is when they have no means to survive and they decide to sink while sinking some of their enemies with them. However Iran is different. Its land is bigger than Turkey. They are ruled by fatalist religious fundamentalists and their president has been threatening Israel many times, In fact he does not recognize Israel and does not even use the name of Israel. You seem to be a reasonable Turk. You should agree that he is a lunatic who is not only a threat to Israel but also to the democratic secular nature of Turkey. If Israel gets rid of its nuclear weapons do you sincerely believe that Iran will do the same? If you say yes I take back my previous statement where I said you are a reasonable person. 6. Yes Every nation has some dirty laundry including Turkey which you omitted. When it comes to the amount I hate to say that to you but Turkey with a very thick history book of conquests comes on the top of the list. As I mentioned I learned Turkish history in Turkish schools and all of that were tough with lots of pride. But. today we must look ahead and correct the mistakes of the past. Israel and Arabs must make peace recognizing each others needs with respect. And Turkey also should look inside and learn from its many past mistakes. find a peaceful solution to the Cyprus conflict, the internal Kurdish issue and face its daemons when it comes to discrimination. Please don't be angry at me for pointing out to all these unpleasant facts. As they say in Turkish Dogs communicate by smelling each other and humans by talking to each other. We are just having a friendly discussion. Selamlar.

Ali, dont bother with "David Israel". I also did very long conversations with him here but he is biased and keeps repeating the same stupid arguments like "There are Greek monuments in Bergama and everywhere". So what David? There are 11.000 year old monuments here from dozens of society. And please do not repeat the crap about so-called 2000 year old Greek monuments in turkey. Yes there are 2000 year old Greek monuments here but those have ZERO connection with the current British and German creation of modern Greece, who are the mixed fruit salad of Albanians, Macedonians, Turks, Vlachs, Gypsies and eastern Roman people. Plus, i don't believe you are ex-Turkish citizen Jew either. I bet you are just a Turk with USA passport but without a self respect and identity.

Ali, you seem to be confused. You gloss over Turkish history and dabble in moral equivalency, while contending that Israel was founded by invading Arab lands with the help of the US. You have Turkey confused with Israel. Turks invaded and murdered their way into present day Turkey. Israel was voted into existence at the UN. Arab couintries then invaded Israel and covinced their Arab brothers to leave their homes so they would have a free hand in dealling with the Jews. Too bad it didn't work out that way. You have been hoodwinked by your Turkish history teachers. Go to a reputable school in a more enlightened country and try again.

Of course I am not angry about the comments. The whole problem stands there because people stop talking, and get offended very easiliy (same for Turks, Israelis, Palestinians, Arabs, and every other nationality) About Cyprus, you admitted the gaurantorship and right of Turkey to interfere the situation as i understand. And you can see the reasons for this interference, the violance and discrimination in Cyprus on the internet. In Turkey, as probably you also know we have a word: "The history is written by the winners". So looking at the history, you do not easily find the facts, but the dogmas written by the nations of success at that time. If Germany won the WW2, we would talk about the evil americans and millions of civilians they slaughtered during the war, but today even the nuclear bombing on japan is underrated by the world history. If the indians defeated the spanish fleet in middle America, probably the indian slaughter would be much more important shame of geonicide than the Nazi's. If stronger nations like Turkey did not push harder, the Sırbians would be right about the Kosovo and Bosnian war. If Iraq defeated USA, just imagine what would it be like. Similarly, today many people blame Turkey, because Turkey is not a nation of world dominating power. However Turkey is just trying to protect it's citizens and borders safe, fighting with terrorists in it's OWN lines. About discrimination, as a public behavior, unfortunately you cannot completely prevent that. For example as a Turk in Germany, i've faced it very often (can't blame the germans completely though after seeing the behavior of turks there). But in legal situations there are no preventations with respect to origin. Your friend, or the man you have talked about can be unemployed for years, but this has not to be related with his origin. You should know that unemployment is one of the most important problems in Turkey since 60's. Today, 12% of the youth is unemployed, and the percentage is rapidly growing. This has nothing to do with the kurd-turk situation. About the army, OF COURSE the nationality can be a problem for high rankings. No country will allow that in it's military for it's national security and safety. About nuclear weapons, they have actually no use in combat. No country can use it in war. It affects the whole world, and you can't say "oh sorry England, i tried to hit Germany but the fallout carried to you by the wind". And i agree with the unstable government in Iran. But when it comes to nuclear weapons, I do not trust USA, Russia, China, Israel and even Turkey (although I am a Turk too) a little bit more than iran. And yes, even worldwide nuclear weapon disarmament Iran would not get rid of it's part. And i am also sure Israel will not too. About the Hamas thing, Israel of course has the right to force the security and stability on it's own boundaries, but getting beyond that and putting embargo is military crime.