In the never-ending stream of information about events around the world, there are some that are difficult to say how true they are. Not that they are fake news, as we already call them, but they just seem incredible.
Like a report in The Atlantic that six members of Trump's cabinet have left their homes in the capital and moved to bases around Washington for security reasons. Among them are Defense Secretary Hegseth and Secretary of State Rubio, who are currently in commander's quarters on military bases. According to the publication, the homes are called Generals Row at Fort McNair.
The demand for such bases has increased to such an extent that even the Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who applied for such housing, was denied because there were no vacant housing units at the military facilities. The “New York Times” writes that some retired commanders have reacted to the use of the residences reserved for generals by civilian ministers. They were needed for emergencies. The allegations are that after the murder of Charlie Kirk in Utah, a wave of security has begun. The declaration of “Antifa” as a “domestic terrorist organization” is undoubtedly at the root of threats against high-ranking officials and the sharing of their addresses.
External threats are also mentioned. As they say, an unclear atmosphere of security. But conclusions that this can also be referred to as “cracks in the internal structure of the state itself” are a bit too much. Never mind that Washington is indeed a crossroads of internal political divisions. And some also talk about “invisible external risks”. Does this mean that threats have increased and the enemies are not from outside, but from within? Conclusions are reached that “there are internal networks managed by an invisible external hand”. They talk about ”simulation of permanent war” and even about civil war, and the recent protests of 7 million in almost all states are mentioned.
In our country, they say that fear has big eyes, but it is a fact that in practice there are two fronts in Washington – one against internal turmoil such as street protests, threats to senior officials and politicians, assassination attempts and the other front is unnamed, undisclosed, but suspected external actors. The occupation of military housing is actually not only a security measure, but can also be seen as a response to internal fragmentation, which requires increased combat readiness. Preparing for war? Is the sending of rapid reaction forces to different states part of this “hysteria”, as some express it?
According to “The Guardian”, citing an unnamed source, there was an instruction to all parts of the National Guard to create “rapid reaction forces” in the 50 states, including the District of Columbia. They will have the right to use batons, shields, stun guns and tear gas. Each state with at least 500 soldiers for this purpose or a total of 23,500 for the entire country. For internal security. Whether events are coming that will make it difficult for the White House and the government to operate is an unanswered question, but it is more likely that preemptive measures are being taken, because the experience of Trump's first term speaks for itself. Moreover, there were two attempts almost to assassinate the president.
At the same time, Ankara is busy with a “decisive week in the process of disarming the PKK”, which is directly related to events in Syria.
The head of the MIT, Kalın, will inform about the progress made in disbanding the PKK, which for Turkey is a terrorist organization. But it is a military organization of more than 20 million Kurds from southeastern Turkey. The process called “Turkey without terror” is clearly underway and in an attempt at integration, representatives of the parliamentaryly represented Peoples' Democratic Party, PKK /party of Turkish Kurds/, met with Erdogan on October 30.
Fidan, the foreign minister, made a presentation on the current situation in this process, and on November 3, a delegation of the PKK paid a visit to Öcalan, the classic PKK leader who has been in prison for more than 20 years on the island of Imrali in Turkey. Specific information is expected, but Erdogan has already stated that “we had an extremely constructive, productive and promising meeting with the “Imrali delegation”, as they call it in Ankara. A Trump-style statement, but the hopes are that Öcalan will once again give a positive and facilitating message to continue “Turkey without terror”.
This process was initiated by Bahçeli, leader of the Nationalist Right Party, which is a coalition partner of Erdogan's ruling party. But then it turned out that 2,000 PKK members had left Turkey and joined the YPG, an organization of Syrian Kurds. MIT, Ankara's intelligence service, officially confirmed it. And this worries Turkey, because the calls for the military organization of Syrian Kurds to merge with the Syrian army of Sharaa, president at this stage in Damascus, will create problems for Ankara. Together, the PKK and the YPG are becoming a factor in Syria that cannot work for Turkish interests and influence in the region.
The signals from Washington are that the areas controlled by the Syrian Kurds with the YPG/PKK will be under US control and gaining autonomy is more possible than ever before. “The US will not allow any actions that would undermine the administration and the existence of the YPG”, says Tom Barak, Washington's ambassador to Ankara and responsible for events in Syria. The US would approve the governance formula. And this raises the question of Turkey/Israel relations in the territory of Assad's former country. Tom Barak says that “Turkey and Israel will not fight”. And he adds “You will see cooperation from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean”.
Let Moscow and Beijing think about him. In Bahrain, at a forum of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Tom Barak declared that “President Trump has completely changed the chessboard everywhere. Turkey and Israel will not fight and you will see cooperation from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean. We are also close to finding a common language between the Syrian government and the Syrian Democratic Forces, YPG, whose backbone is the terrorist organization PKK”.
It is interesting to mention that “the colonial attitude did not work”, which complements “The West made a mistake after the fall of the Ottoman Empire”. The models had collapsed. Apparently, events are ahead, especially since it is known that there are other players in the region. Theory is not always proven in practice. And interests are divergent. Reference – Sharaa's visit to Moscow and statements by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China on the topic, which emphasize interests and initiatives for participation in resolving conflict situations around the world. As always, with metaphors and signals of intentions.
And the question of where the EU is, can be answered with “a political earthquake in Brussels”. Media in Turkey write about “a surreal scene unfolded in the European Parliament”. Ursula von der Leyen left the hall when Orban presented a “dossier” with accusations to the EC for large-scale abuses. They say that “confidential documents worth billions of euros in projects related to associates of the European Commission President were revealed to the stunned MEPs”. There was panic, cries of “resignation”, confusion and a pale Ursula von der Leyen left the hall without a word. Europe was shocked. Not here. They talk about an institutional bomb that could threaten the entire European structure.
But fake news is so numerous and rushing one after another that confusion will prevail again. The fact remains that Orban, isolated, is now leading a sovereignist rebellion and calling for nation-states within the EU. And Brussels is trying to contain the new scandal. It will do. Again, reference - elections in Romania, Moldova, the Netherlands, Austria. And whether after the elections in the Netherlands it can be said that “Trumpism has left Europe” is just as far-fetched as solving world affairs by one side alone. Follow the signals, it is expedient.