News for today's 2018

TURKEY’S FOREIGN POLICY POKER GAME

4:13 PM Tukiyooo 0

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtuWKTZsMK67X2xc6rPdXMlYFauxI6kZ6oDxCR10GPeJyfv_FwcJcuoZ7WMdiZF7-xv4po4jCcqW69cAoCKKBCarJHtT5zBDtL1JcI8bxanGgCcAKsQJEXuS1FcERbYtSHG0-XPY5KksyU/s1600/111010b1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtuWKTZsMK67X2xc6rPdXMlYFauxI6kZ6oDxCR10GPeJyfv_FwcJcuoZ7WMdiZF7-xv4po4jCcqW69cAoCKKBCarJHtT5zBDtL1JcI8bxanGgCcAKsQJEXuS1FcERbYtSHG0-XPY5KksyU/s400/111010b1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: red;"><b>WHAT DOES TURKEY HOPE TO ACHIEVE WITH ITS WAR THREATS AGAINST SYRIA?</b></span></span></div> <br /><div class="style5" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><b><i><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-weight: normal;">Article by <b>Halil M. Karaveli.</b> </span></b> </span></i></b><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Senior Fellow with the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program Joint Center and the Managing Editor of the <i><span style="font-style: normal;">Turkey Analyst</span></i>. </i></span><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The TURKISH government appears to hope to deter the continued SYRIAN – and IRANIAN – deployment of the KURDISH card against TURKEY. But it is questionable whether TURKEY will succeed in deterring Damascus and Tehran since it is all too obvious that Ankara does not really want to go to war. Ankara would be well advised to change course, exploring the possibility of a truce with Damascus, with the two neighbors agreeing on a reciprocal cessation of support to their respective insurgencies.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><u><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">Background Information</span></u></b><span style="color: blue;">: </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">THE KURDISH INDEPENDENCE GAMBLE</span></b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/double-dealing-in-iraq-and-syria.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/double-dealing-in-iraq-and-syria.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">On October 4, the TURKISH parliament approved a bill that authorizes the use of military force against “foreign countries”, after a mortar fired from SYRIA killed five civilians in the TURKISH border town Akçakale. Since then, TURKISH artillery has been returning fire, and the TURKISH military build-up along the border with SYRIA continues; TURKISH navy ships have left their base in Gölcük in the Marmara Sea, having reportedly set course toward the eastern Mediterranean. General Necdet Özel, the TURKISH chief of the General staff, has been touring the border region since the decision in parliament together with the army chief, making public appearances meant to signal TURKISH strength and determination to act against SYRIA. Representatives of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) have made equally bellicose statements that convey the impression that TURKEY is about to invade SYRIA.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>“WE CAN DESTROY SYRIA IN ONE HOUR”</b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXZ5Aq7RMYUvCcIjVIdWCu0k89paiL3VS1MgqhI_EFEiS7myAwe04cYEHpLnPskOruzcMTZYWeF7SLiL5Bcb5ZX8Fvichqz413r6JhGTqFsfSwv7Dvm2_YfsvfL58L2NMkwnKsSXk1t-mp/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXZ5Aq7RMYUvCcIjVIdWCu0k89paiL3VS1MgqhI_EFEiS7myAwe04cYEHpLnPskOruzcMTZYWeF7SLiL5Bcb5ZX8Fvichqz413r6JhGTqFsfSwv7Dvm2_YfsvfL58L2NMkwnKsSXk1t-mp/s400/images.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan warned Damascus on October 5 that Ankara is prepared for war. “We are not war-lovers, but neither are we far from war,” Erdogan said. Egemen Bağış, the cabinet minister for EU affairs, assured that “We can destroy SYRIA in one hour”; Şamil Tayyar, an AKP member of parliament, followed suit, predicting that TURKEY will reach Damascus “within three hours”. Foreign minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, meanwhile, was more cautious, saying that the parliamentary authorization was designed as a deterrent. “We haven’t taken this step with the intention of going to war”, he assured. Beşir Atalay, a deputy prime minister, similarly stated that TURKEY did not intend to declare war on SYRIA, only to deter it.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">However, TURKEY is in fact already at war – albeit an undeclared one – with SYRIA, since Ankara is actively supporting the rebels who are trying to bring down the regime in Damascus.  TURKEY has helped to arm the rebels, allowed them to use TURKEY as a base, and to freely cross the TURKISH-SYRIAN border. Thanks to this support, the rebels have succeeded in gaining control over parts of the areas of SYRIA that border TURKEY; as a consequence, TURKISH towns along the border have become exposed when the SYRIAN artillery engages the rebels. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Yet the bellicose statements of Erdoğan and other government representatives notwithstanding, an invasion of SYRIA is not something that TURKEY wants to embark on unilaterally, without the support of its Western allies. That is why Erdoğan is displeased with the UNITED STATES’ reluctance to take decisive action against the SYRIAN regime. Interviewed by CNN on September 5, the TURKISH prime minister chided the Obama administration for lacking initiative on SYRIA. The TURKISH army may indeed reach Damascus within three hours, but the aftermath, the specter of becoming bogged down in the quagmire in SYRIA is certainly not something that appeals to the decision makers in Ankara, however adventurous the TURKISH government may have become in its foreign policy since it decided to embark on the endeavor to bring about regime change in SYRIA.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Neither does the TURKISH public clamor for war against SYRIA; the SYRIAN regime change policy of the TURKISH government is on the contrary opposed by a clear majority of the population of TURKEY. According to the latest poll, only 28 percent approve the government’s SYRIA policy. A vast majority,76 percent, oppose TURKISH unilateral intervention in SYRIA; only 17 percent support TURKISH military action against the SYRIAN regime, while a military operation against SYRIA together with NATO is approved by 31 percent.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>TURKEYS GAMBLE IN SYRIA HAS NOT PAID OFF</b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">TURKEY has had to resort to military deterrence because its gamble in SYRIA has not paid off. Soon after the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began, the TURKISH government, which until then had nurtured a close partnership with the SYRIAN regime, gambled that what awaited al-Assad was a fate similar to the one that befell Qaddafi in LIBYA – another former friend of Erdoğan. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><u><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">Background Information</span></u></b><span style="color: blue;">: </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">KURDISH EQUATION </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/10/libya-syria.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/10/libya-syria.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/turkeys-erratic-foreign-policies-all.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/turkeys-erratic-foreign-policies-all.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: right;"></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbzbRGqy-suunR1jODAiY_nuLq5-VLZsMHI4AKA9Mer11Z2WxRM280ABvlje4-kSV0IBiJNn9T-Xr9wN-RVt7H3I2GqePZ5q7v5nSRHb8L-xA52JB11UrA4WBNoGPeeW9VlNSDPlnNXtrJ/s1600/01-06-09-02-02-ithank-you-turkya0022.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbzbRGqy-suunR1jODAiY_nuLq5-VLZsMHI4AKA9Mer11Z2WxRM280ABvlje4-kSV0IBiJNn9T-Xr9wN-RVt7H3I2GqePZ5q7v5nSRHb8L-xA52JB11UrA4WBNoGPeeW9VlNSDPlnNXtrJ/s320/01-06-09-02-02-ithank-you-turkya0022.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><i>European Muslim Brotherhood Supports Loyaltyto Turkey Campaign (Logo) </i></b></span><br />  </td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Not wanting to lose initiative to others, as had been the case in LIBYA, TURKEY abandoned its erstwhile friend in Damascus and adopted the cause of the Sunni rebels that it assumed were about to ascend to power; assuming that the Muslim Brotherhood – an ideological kin to the AKP – was going to be the new ruler of SYRIA, the TURKISH ruling party saw a new opportunity arise to expand its regional influence, this time by playing a sectarian card. However, positioning itself as an interventionist Sunni power, TURKEY has shouldered a sectarian cause not only in SYRIA but also in IRAQ, where it is in confrontation with the Shiite regime. Thus, this move has come at an unexpectedly heavy prize for Ankara.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>MASTER OF THE NEW MIDDLE EAST</b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">TURKEY had sought to establish itself as the preeminent power in the Middle East by having “zero problems” with all of its neighbors; this non-ideological, soft power approach has by now been thoroughly abandoned. TURKEY aspires, in the words of foreign minister Davutoğlu, to be the master of the new Middle East; but it relies increasingly less on the tools of soft power – trade and things like the impact of TURKISH television shows – and all the more on hard power in the form of arms supplies and military deterrence. But TURKEY’S means are far from matching its ambitions; in fact, its attempt to redesign its neighborhood, its commitment to bring about regime change in SYRIA, has exposed its internal vulnerabilities, which are being exploited by those powers that it has challenged.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><u><span style="color: blue;">Background Information</span></u></b><span style="color: blue;">: </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">TURKEY WOULD MAKE A SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION TO THE RESOLUTION OF THE SYRIAN CRISIS IF IT COULD BRING ITSELF TO RISE ABOVE THE SECTARIAN CONSIDERATIONS THAT HAVE DICTATED ITS REGIME CHANGE POLICY IN SYRIA </span></b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">article by<b> </b><b><span style="font-weight: normal;">Halil M. Karaveli</span></b></span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/turkeys-syrian-policies.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/turkeys-syrian-policies.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">WESTERN ARROGANCE AND IGNORANCE LED TO UNDERESTIMATE TURKEY </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/09/turkeys-middle-east-chess-game.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/09/turkeys-middle-east-chess-game.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/07/turkeys-sunni-crescent.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/07/turkeys-sunni-crescent.html</a></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>TURKEY SHOULD EXPECT INTERNAL TROUBLES AS A CONSEQUENCE OF ITS MEDDLING IN SYRIA</b>.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The SYRIAN regime has not only survived far longer than Ankara had calculated; it has – together with IRAN, its leading supporter – turned the table on TURKEY. Bashar al-Assad has allowed the KURDS in northern SYRIA to establish self-governing entities, while IRAN is suspected of lending crucial support to the KURDISH insurgency in TURKEY. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGciXmp1Gk4ilM78kcXBViTfBkCU0-B4v67eifb3QuJdeiitSEl_EGcvBcaKXJDSuBR1k04_6I2-KpPZLuVUBEu3Ee3d884r1sIB-YL9z1lHFzjB2wYDd49fxZl6gEUctT_g_1-RY1b7-m/s1600/kurdistan1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGciXmp1Gk4ilM78kcXBViTfBkCU0-B4v67eifb3QuJdeiitSEl_EGcvBcaKXJDSuBR1k04_6I2-KpPZLuVUBEu3Ee3d884r1sIB-YL9z1lHFzjB2wYDd49fxZl6gEUctT_g_1-RY1b7-m/s400/kurdistan1.gif" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The militants of the KURDISTAN Workers’ Party (PKK) have staged numerous attacks against the TURKISH army in the southeast of the country since summer and they have carried out a deadly terrorist attack in the city of Gaziantep which could be a harbinger of things to come. TURKISH government representatives have accused IRAN of being behind the surge in PKK attacks, and the IRANIAN chief of the General staff has indeed stated that TURKEY should expect internal troubles as a consequence of its meddling in SYRIA.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>TURKEY WILL TAKE MILITARY ACTION IF THE SYRIAN KURDS MAKE MOVES TOWARD AUTONOMY</b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">It is against this background that TURKEY is threatening SYRIA with open war. What the TURKISH government hopes to deter is continued SYRIAN – and IRANIAN – deployment of the KURDISH card against TURKEY. The establishment of an embryonic, autonomous KURDISH entity in SYRIA is an unacceptable development for Ankara that fears the effect this will have on the KURDS across the border in TURKEY; in fact, Erdoğan has stated that TURKEY will take military action if the SYRIAN KURDS make moves toward autonomy. And the attacks of the PKK risk undermining TURKEY’S stability, and hence pose a potential threat to Erdoğan’s power.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>WHAT WAS AN ENTICING PROSPECT – A SYRIA WHERE AN IDEOLOGICAL ALLY OF THE AKP, THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD WOULD ASCEND TO POWER – HAS TURNED INTO A SECURITY NIGHTMARE FOR TURKEY</b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">whose internal vulnerabilities are being exploited in retaliation. But it is questionable whether TURKEY will succeed in deterring Damascus and Tehran, since it is all too obvious that Ankara does not really want to go to war.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">But even in that case, it is likely that the KURDISH problem, which TURKEY hopes to deter SYRIA and its backers from exploiting, will become even more intractable. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The effects of a regional conflagration that risks following on a TURKISH invasion of SYRIA are bound to be anything but stabilizing. As neither military deterrence nor war is likely to remove the threat to TURKEY’S security and territorial integrity, Ankara would be well advised to explore the possibility of a truce with Damascus, with the two neighbors agreeing on a reciprocal cessation of support to their respective insurgencies. Indeed, an influential TURKISH, pro-government strategist, Sedat Laçiner, proposes that TURKEY should not hesitate to talk with anyone in SYRIA – including with Bashar al-Assad – in order to neutralize the threat to its national security.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>TURKEY WILL TAKE MILITARY ACTION IF THE SYRIAN KURDS MAKE MOVES TOWARD AUTONOMY</b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Although that must be deemed an unlikely development, it is nonetheless notable that foreign minister Davutoğlu said last week that SYRIA’S vice president Farouk al-Sharaa would be acceptable as the leader of a transitional government; the idea was rejected by the SYRIAN rebels, but it suggests that the TURKEY will take military action if the SYRIAN KURDS make moves toward autonomy – between continued support to the rebels who are not set to bring down al-Assad anytime soon, which leaves TURKEY exposed to further retaliation, and an outright invasion of SYRIA which would almost certainly only aggravate TURKEY’S security situation.</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmv4KwF6RKKuRPPw7EFgihjuIPP72fTippXAhs-_asYcOgutoGqDhzfneEA_Mt9IMACEyToEBMZkNUOlZjuu4KH4H1N4p9TBHXJ7vrOGtvuuhRGQzn6fY6mGK-PN-LBaTqRtzSCY7uqXn0/s1600/3130738740_001a3533d6_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmv4KwF6RKKuRPPw7EFgihjuIPP72fTippXAhs-_asYcOgutoGqDhzfneEA_Mt9IMACEyToEBMZkNUOlZjuu4KH4H1N4p9TBHXJ7vrOGtvuuhRGQzn6fY6mGK-PN-LBaTqRtzSCY7uqXn0/s400/3130738740_001a3533d6_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Neo Ottoman Empire visions? </span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The last time TURKEY threatened SYRIA with war was in 1998, when Ankara demanded that Damascus expel Abdullah Öcalan, the leader of the PKK. Damascus complied, and Öcalan shortly thereafter ended up in the prison in TURKEY where he remains to this day. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">But the KURDISH problem did not disappear, far from it, and neither will it this time around only because TURKEY is threatening SYRIA. The simple truth revealed by TURKEY’S involvement in the SYRIAN crisis is that the country that aspires to be the “master of the Middle East” is internally too weak and vulnerable to sustain such ambitions of grandeur.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u><span style="color: blue;">Comment by Geopolitical Analysis and Monitoring</span></u></b>: </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>1990, TURKEY AND SYRIA AT THE BRINK OF WAR OVER WATER</b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;">Prior to the 1998 war threat by TURKEY over </span>Abdullah Öcalan<span style="color: black;">, in 1990 SYRIA and TURKEY where also at the brink of war over water, when TURKEY launched its </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeastern_Anatolia_Project" title="Southeastern Anatolia Project">Southeastern Anatolia Project</a><span style="color: black;">!</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></u></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><u><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">Background Information:</span></u></b><b><u><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"> </span></u></b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_politics#Middle_East">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_politics#Middle_East</a></span></div><br /> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: red;"><b><i>TURKEY – SYRIA - WATER DISPUTE (1989)</i></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, TURKEY and SYRIA are currently approaching a massive confrontation over water resources. Relations between the two countries, strained at best, have been exacerbated since the 1980s by growing tensions over water, which have brought them to the <b>brink of war several times</b>. </i></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Despite the signing of a protocol ensuring SYRIAN access to Euphrates water in 1987, TURKISH development efforts have increasingly threatened to marginalize and even eliminate SYRIAN access to water. Most notably, the Southeast Anatolia (GAP) Project has provided </i></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>FURTHER COMPLICATING THE ISSUE IS SYRIA’S CONTINUED SUPPORT FOR THE EXTREMIST PKK (KURDISH WORKERS’ PARTY)</i></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>TURKEY, situated at the headwaters of the Tigris and Euphrates River system, extensive control over the flow of Euphrates water. TURKISH disruption of the flow of the Euphrates in January 1990 to fill water reservoirs in front of the Attaturk dam highlighted SYRIAN vulnerability to TURKISH control over upstream water resources. Further complicating the issue is SYRIA’S continued support for the extremist PKK (<b>Kurdish Workers’ Party</b>) in its insurgency against TURKEY, a move that has prompted TURKEY to threaten a blockade of water.</i></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>In the future, TURKISH-SYRIAN disputes over water could <b>escalate into regional conflict</b>. Both SYRIA and IRAQ, situated downstream from Ankara, have become increasingly threatened by TURKEY’S large-scale consolidation efforts. Once fully operational, the GAP Project may reduce Euphrates water to SYRIA by 40% and IRAQ by up to 80%.<sup>6</sup> Such activity, critical for SYRIA, will also be significant enough to substantially affect IRAQ, currently somewhat autonamous because of its access to Tigris River water. In addition, aggressive TURKISH acquisition efforts, currently concentrated on the GAP Project, are anticipated in the future to focus upon Tigris River water as well. Though currently divided in their opposition to TURKISH efforts, such activity could nudge SYRIA and IRAQ – despite their differences – into a strategic alliance, possibly destabilizing the region and precipitating a regional conflict.</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">Further Background Information</span></u></b><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"> on subject matter:</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/10/turkei.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/10/turkei.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">WITTY TURKS</span></b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/01/see-no-evil-hear-no-evil.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/01/see-no-evil-hear-no-evil.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">EXPLAINING TURKEYS NUCLEAR POLICIES</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/05/turkeys-chess-game.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/05/turkeys-chess-game.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/06/turkey-and-central-asia.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/06/turkey-and-central-asia.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/05/turkey-shiite-persians-versus-wahhabi.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/05/turkey-shiite-persians-versus-wahhabi.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">TURKEY...... EMERGING POWER</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/09/seismic-shift-in-middle-east.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/09/seismic-shift-in-middle-east.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div>

TURKEY’S FOREIGN POLICY POKER GAME

WHAT DOES TURKEY HOPE TO ACHIEVE WITH ITS WAR THREATS AGAINST SYRIA? Article by Halil M. Karaveli. Senior Fellow with the Central Asia-C...

Windows 8 is launched at Eunice High School in Bloemfontein

2:52 PM Tukiyooo 0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Introducing Eunice High School</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Eunice <span style="font-size: small;">wa</span>s the first school in South Africa to be selected for the Microsoft Innovative Schools programme several years back. After that their principal, Paul Cassar, was the first South African educator to be featured on Vice <span style="font-size: small;">P</span>resident of Microsoft - Antony Salicito’s blog ‘<i>Daily Edventures</i> – <i>Antony Salicito’s 365-day look at global heroes</i>'. (Take a read by clicking on the image below). So it is not surprising that Eunice would take the initiative of launc<span style="font-size: small;">hing Windows 8 in the innovative way you'll read about in this post!</span> </span></span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://dailyedventures.com/index.php/2012/01/05/twentieth-century-problem-meet-twenty-first-century-learning-skills-south-africa/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUOnyLmlqoM8_e4FvToeGCB6KC1G3KmQXDauFyL1wowzzxdpM2M7MD7TKaAOCny8EBvoM-UdkbzlCdaPNVWRigos5x3vhdRNnbj8jb1Usc6sOC6qOIaZrxdFMHKHk3cRHVpnc2x2ME78o/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>The Windows 8 launch at Eunice High School</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Windows 8 was launched on Friday 26 October at Eunice High School in front of 700 eager Grade 8-11 girls, with Anthony Salcito, VP for Microsoft Education, skyping in to talk to the group. Eunice is a government school in Bloemfontein and is part of the Microsoft Global Innovative Schools programme. The event kicked off with a demo of Windows 8, highlighting exciting new functionality and ways that Windows 8 can help teachers and learners. The girls had to get involved in the demo by helping to create a decorated photo taken of the assembly using our webcam and the app “Fresh Paint”. We emailed this off to Anthony to welcome him to South Africa and Eunice School.</span></span><br /><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="width: 400px;"> <tbody><tr> <td valign="top" width="200"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwJAROYqkvj4SbHHov1mFAR86yywycBOEGGfBS-FIz_VjrW1m0tVMf-TOmzxuCxXsLQzQxkhZ8U3TsCMY0oRGPWdTU9rI-pIb4z7HUKtFDnH6YuKxjmUFBtj3UhAt0GdXFZ7wsdOildLo/s1600-h/image%25255B9%25255D.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9W1IQewRd9Rm_rjbUvC1-9r0a0x3n0pK1gOFKjps4AieiIrjVsmSZzsvxpCex5kMM8KKjn_znTrU9RGA23XyB0Ja5xQUsiE03-NYEapoLWcLWdaIIH2e3YahS3zX38c_u1TT1JsPUL4I/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Welcome note from the learners</span><b><br /></b></span></td></tr></tbody></table></td> <td valign="top" width="200"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMTnBQnHZ8miU3doLdHE6Mohyo4W3xchRsNz0nhj0z90buOKEc282HUiga3sbao6QiJpg8AYfM1x30JCmrIo4ZC4CsVS3VQS_H5rqhQo3UrK_3k5A4j97htZzQyBxHJm-BGpGs-mg1cY4/s1600-h/image%25255B6%25255D.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggffSHwAZwIV-Z-fx2ROl72zlI-ptvASdJkZmyrn-8fKEZv5hf7rSc_1Zi3P-RIXlaQAioANKRN-POAZTRRU5vgo8LGqMjOs1-XtNZHz_awM3H9vo1y3nI7CYQ4RGA2oXqufFtdMEpVg4/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anthony Salcito on Skype</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b> Anthony shares his thoughts</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Anthony undertook an immense commitment <span style="font-size: small;"><b>to </b></span>spend 24 hours skyping into classrooms and assemblies around the world as part of the Windows 8 launch in the education space. Following the demo we connected to Skype and Anthony shared his thoughts on how technology can support education and more interactive teaching and learning approaches. He fielded around 10 questions from girls and teachers who were eager to hear his comments and ideas on how Microsoft is supporting developing countries, what makes Windows 8 special, how Microsoft works with students and ways that technology can bring learning to life.</span></span><br /><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="width: 400px;"> <tbody><tr> <td valign="top" width="200"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjKtgxol3YntBi6kt86g3OUfUc3NBlyPoRnydmALBqrU0E0Mxxc-DjMNZLXptzvueTw_-j7g-S2NMNp_-W2i6dbLTsHkSeD6zLJItcrJC5dVhgYf-BLfzLv4UYr06ixNSEuUGdWHq22ds/s1600-h/image%25255B12%25255D.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBTKVhWfllCjHAWAHRmUGCUsCBAKWO6NddroDBOJr0XYeGBD0_5KuOqEGBG9ta5KGD0uts2B1WmR3pWb2WGpKL1aMaocGM1YEDbLMEn50fVTckdBvY_nBWxr6Kc0Zv-JeGblSecLqACKY/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Mr</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Cassar (principal) and Ms Singh (teacher) asking questions</span></span></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjKtgxol3YntBi6kt86g3OUfUc3NBlyPoRnydmALBqrU0E0Mxxc-DjMNZLXptzvueTw_-j7g-S2NMNp_-W2i6dbLTsHkSeD6zLJItcrJC5dVhgYf-BLfzLv4UYr06ixNSEuUGdWHq22ds/s1600-h/image%25255B12%25255D.png"><br /></a></td> <td valign="top" width="200"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDmXkn8GUaKogUyhnRWBzCaBWWm_X53beC_DOT4-S5HXNm9AGAWLaNm6beE8cxvwGwswGuB-2SnQZstsD_i6asJ2cmDIls-LwVkU-p-JGxmt0L6htpRT4bh5Ac1JWJPg-5DH3vwsD_I2I/s1600-h/image%25255B16%25255D.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8EPdEi0dw0loA1XYMTcCG6FK9594K1oWvdqpWWy32dsoSC6kpEJjymrCS0CaBa-sw8_r_QkO-o8iUyxRbebMZlu86fIm7FXPYidYcZEnMy2attReVlm4forksY7Me4LeqiwU8hjVhLM4/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="254" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Skyping with Anthony Salcito</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="width: 400px;"> <tbody><tr> <td valign="top" width="200"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhws30xBwqkbZepdAHHuL9W-aZDpKv2izui4U2JS3KGb5Shefu-MPGDhsVh-O5VNTwRLnhedoSHrZpQheE_u7zKVd727-w2ZPrh3XNWeJfns6glKTeIY_-_l2cUQ0Atu3COiCpFpDKQDb0/s1600-h/image%25255B19%25255D.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKZU6Nmpx3QgvetUBwtdfNh5THAwebb2VdlngzfCIps8N7_vdmly7yAy3rD8gPoJy0if2NHET51sb7d5AU1d7V1hp-ddiAd5I0v5h_vN_KaQESj8pURz8EcyHk7whI0yDuXOpcALRdzig/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Angela from Microsoft chatting to the girls</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table></td> <td valign="top" width="200"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmlzy5S-LWoZS9PWI7DRyCsdVOeKRx5kWOH9_I4AjfGJD0zkxTEoigyUNb0KSL6LDwBzIuklc2L9UM9pNp6-MNuFYYB2OQjlJWt4NHRhZDLOivxQu20UWSpdKJKqnlJaxRdCpRMXl5mDQ/s1600-h/image%25255B22%25255D.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBS5h07uUtY_NN919DcVPf__wpN5PnlNAldkeVuquHxy1-CsfObDL-LCz1vYJWYI7FUDACxQSGp1H1-z9wu6CYaitAYPty2Zv-hv11l8wg_TYuopcclBGuR13aRefRqbMHVlPAClXrZ6c/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Thank you for the great chat Anthony!</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><b> </b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>The Skype chat trended on Twitter</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The event was a great success and the school felt enormously proud to be part of a Microsoft global launch. The <i>#microsofteducation</i> hashtag trended in South Africa with all the girls<span style="font-size: x-small;">'</span> tweets on Anthony’s talk and Windows 8! </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">A more <span style="font-size: small;">comprehensive </span>list of the tweets can be seen at this URL: <a href="http://storify.com/fibeal/record-of-tweets-anthony-salcito-vice-president-of#publicize">Eunice tweets about Anthony Salcito and Windows 8.</a></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We look forward to seeing the new ways that the teachers and leaners incorporate Windows 8 into their activities.</span></span> </span></span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFy94wIy4b1pJnmhhTujA_zPIVtpgWkNQKet1HPIH6KIc-YTv7E1JLmtcYPkBRmWm3johPHwgdIfmRwhlNqx1OwTTITe_152Xi1UYGzanv2vyXk5Ix-AF3bd5VQY2oAhfxAcLQ4k4vVy4/s1600-h/image%25255B25%25255D.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjixvHFGwetCyr4eyeDd7Ivjpzs9_knA8KSBuxTiFjjkC_wW4aFvc0QdCs_M7_-zlLAqHDOAYNszOgtw59SYh-w6NlmKLym_aF_-yoarklqB42hof_CEvJ7NC3Pod3LOaSAq3sUes8JUo0/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /><a href="http://storify.com/fibeal/record-of-tweets-anthony-salcito-vice-president-of#publicize"></a></span></span></div>

Microsoft Windows 8 is launched at Eunice High School in Bloemfontein

Introducing Eunice High School Eunice wa s the first school in South Africa to be selected for the Microsoft Innovative Schools programme se...

Four Myths About Doctor-Assisted Suicide - NYTimes.com

11:46 AM Tukiyooo 0

<base href="data:"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><div id="opinionator" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div align="left"><h3 class="entry-title" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px; font-size: 16px; ">Four Myths About Doctor-Assisted Suicide</h3><address class="byline author vcard" style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 0.829em; margin-bottom: 12px; display: block; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; ">By <a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/author/ezekiel-j-emanuel/" class="url fn" title="See all posts by EZEKIEL J. EMANUEL" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-decoration: none; text-transform: uppercase; ">EZEKIEL J. EMANUEL</a></address><div class="entry-content"><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; ">Philadelphia</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; ">IN a little more than a week, voters in Massachusetts will decide whether to allow doctors to "prescribe medication, at the request of a terminally ill patient meeting certain conditions, to end that person's life." A similar bill is being debated in New Jersey. Unfortunately, like so many health care questions, the debate about physician-assisted suicide is confused, characterized by four major falsehoods.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; "><strong>PAIN</strong> The fundamental claim behind arguments for physician-assisted suicide is that most patients who desire it are experiencing excruciating physical pain. The 1996 decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit supporting a constitutional right to physician-assisted suicide in Washington State summarized the conventional wisdom: "Americans are living longer, and when they finally succumb to illness, lingering longer, either in great pain or in astuporous, semi-comatose condition that results from the infusion of vast amounts of painkilling medications."</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; ">But this view is false. A multitude of studies based on interviews of patients with cancer, AIDS, Lou Gehrig's disease and other conditions have demonstrated that patients who desire euthanasia (in which a doctor administers a lethal drug) or physician-assisted suicide (in which the patient himself takes the lethal drug prescribed by the physician) tend not to be motivated by pain. Only 22 percent of patients who died between 1998 and 2009 by assisted suicide in Oregon- one of three states, along with Washington and Montana, where it is legal - were in pain or afraid of being in pain, according to their doctors. Among the seven patients who received euthanasia in Australia in the brief time it was legal in the '90s, three reported no pain, and the pain of the other four was adequately controlled by medications.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; ">Patients themselves say that the primary motive is not to escape physical pain but psychological distress; the main drivers are depression, hopelessness and fear of loss of autonomy and control. Dutch researchers, for a report published in 2005, followed 138 terminally ill cancer patients and found that depressed patients were four times more likely to request euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide. Nearly half of those who requested euthanasia were depressed.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; ">In this light, physician-assisted suicide looks less like a good death in the face of unremitting pain and more like plain old suicide. Typically, our response to suicidal feelings associated with depression and hopelessness is not to give people the means to end their lives but to offer them counseling and caring.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; "><strong>ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY</strong> A second misconception about assisted suicide is that it is the inevitable result of a high-tech medical culture that can sustain life even when people have become debilitated, incontinent, incoherent and bound to a machine. It is the "inevitable consequence of changes in the causes of death, advances in medical science, and the development of new technologies," as the appeals court put it.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; ">But the ancient Greeks and Romans advocated euthanasia. In modern times, debate about legalizing euthanasia and assisted suicide was revived with intensity in England in the late 19th century, after a famous debate at the Birmingham Speculative Club. The first such bill introduced in the United States was in 1905, before the discovery of antibiotics and dialysis, much less respirators and feeding tubes. If interest in legalizing euthanasia is tied to any trend in history, it is the rise of individualistic strains of thought that glorify personal choice, not the advances of high-tech medicine.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; "><strong>MASS APPEAL</strong> A third misconception about assisted suicide is that it will improve the end of life for everyone. After all, death afflicts everyone, and legalized assisted suicide would allow any individual to avoid an excruciatingly painful death. But the fact is that, even in places where physician-assisted suicide is legal, very few people take advantage of it. In Oregon, between 1998 and 2011, 596 patients used physician-assisted suicide - about 0.2 percent of dying patients in the state. In the Netherlands, where euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide have been permitted for more than three decades, fewer than 3 percent of people die by these means. And even if we add all the dying patients who even vaguely express an interest in assisted suicide, it amounts to much less than 10 percent. For the vast majority of dying patients, it will have no impact on improving the ends of their lives.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; ">Whom does legalizing assisted suicide really benefit? Well-off, well-educated people, typically suffering from cancer, who are used to controlling everything in their lives - the top 0.2 percent. And who are the people most likely to be abused if assisted suicide is legalized? The poor, poorly educated, dying patients who pose a burden to their relatives.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; "><strong>A GOOD DEATH</strong>The last misconception about assisted suicide is that it is a quick, painless and guaranteed way to die. But nothing in medicine - not even simple blood draws - is without complications. It turns out that many things can go wrong during an assisted suicide. Patients vomit up the pills they take. They don't take enough pills. They wake up instead of dying. Patients in the Dutch study vomited up their medications in 7 percent of cases; in 15 percent of cases, patients either did not die or took a very long time to die - hours, even days; in 18 percent, doctors had to intervene to administer a lethal medication themselves, converting a physician-assisted suicide into euthanasia. (In the states where assisted suicide is legal, and under the proposed Massachusetts law, this intervention would be illegal.)</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; ">Instead of attempting to legalize physician-assisted suicide, we should focus our energies on what really matters: improving care for the dying - ensuring that all patients can openly talk with their physicians and families about their wishes and have access to high-quality palliative or hospice care before they suffer needless medical procedures. The appeal of physician-assisted suicide is based on a fantasy. The real goal should be a good death for all dying patients.</div></div></div></div></div><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/27/four-myths-about-doctor-assisted-suicide/?hp&pagewanted=print">http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/27/four-myths-about-doctor-assisted-suicide/?hp&pagewanted=print</a><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div>

Four Myths About Doctor-Assisted Suicide - NYTimes.com

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Four Myths About Doctor-Assisted Suicide - NYTimes.com

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