Turkey’s Hatay Province, Mossad, CIA spy hub: Turkish MP

A picture taken on July 5, 2012 shows a Turkish military radar station near the Syrian border in Hatay Province.

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/07/31/253605/turkish-province-mossad-cia-spy-hub/

A member of Turkey’s parliament says the country’s Hatay Province on the border with Syria has become a hub for swarms of CIA and Mossad spies moving into Syria freely.

The legislator of the Republican People’s Party, Refik Er-Yilmaz, said that thousands of CIA and Mossad agents are currently in the province and are moving freely in the area, Turkish media reported.

He noted that local people in the province are getting agitated over the presence of the strangers.

Turkish police remain mute spectators as the spies carry various types of identification, Er-Yimaz went on to say.

He also accused the authorities of allowing American and Israeli troopers on Turkish soil without any approval from the parliament.

Er-Yilmaz’s comments came after the deputy of the Republican People’s Party, Osman Faruk Logoglu, on Monday blamed Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party for fomenting the unrest in Syria.

Logoglu criticized the Turkish government for aggravating the situation by sending military forces and vehicles towards the Syrian border.

The former Turkish ambassador to the United States also criticized Turkey’s foreign policy towards its neighbor, saying it has been irrational and unsuccessful.

Syria has been the scene of unrest since March 2011. The violence has claimed the lives of many people, including large numbers of security forces.

Damascus blames “outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist groups” for the unrest, asserting that it is being orchestrated from abroad.

'US builds secret base in Persian Gulf'

A U.S. Predator unmanned drone armed with a missile

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/184839.html

The United States is constructing a secret CIA airbase in the Persian Gulf in an attempt to expand Washington's deadly drone war in the region, a report says.

Withholding the exact location of the base at the request of US officials, Associated Press reported on Wednesday that Washington has decided to build the airbase following indications that an anti-American faction may take over Yemen and ban US forces from fighting against al-Qaeda there.

According to the report, the White House has also increased the number of CIA officers in Yemen and stepped up the schedule to construct the drone base, from a two-year timetable to a rushed eight months, following months of political deadlock in Yemen.

US officials have described the moves as precautionary measures taken to face the possibility of al-Qaeda or other anti-American rebel forces gain control of Yemen.

The top US military counterterrorism outfit, the Joint Special Operations Command, and the CIA claim that they have been fighting al-Qaeda elements in the country since 2009 under the permission of the Yemeni government.

The US forces have recently expanded strikes by US armed drones and even war planes.

Officials with Yemen's Defense Ministry have confirmed that the US has been launching drone strikes on a daily basis against the nation in June, with more than 15 confirmed strikes already in the very month.

The deputy governor of Abyan Province said at least 130 people, among them civilians, were killed in US drone attacks.

Analysts believe that Washington is using Yemen's chaos as a cover for the its drone campaign.

CIA chief holds secret talks with Egypt, Israel

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=117431§ionid=351020206


The Director of the CIA, Leon Panetta, has held secret talks with Egyptian and Israeli officials over expanded US intervention in Yemen.

According to Debkafile, the CIA chief paid secret visits to the Egyptian capital Cairo and Jerusalem Al-Quds on Thursday.

Panetta met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Defense Minister Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, and intelligence minister, Gen. Omar Suleiman to ask them to dispatch forces to Yemen to help the US troops.

Meanwhile, Washington has asked the Egyptian government to let the US use Egyptian airports for ferrying military equipment and launching air raids.

Panetta also met with Israeli officials in Jerusalem Al-Quds on the same day to talk about the latest developments in Yemen.

A large US base is under construction near the Yemeni Red Sea port of Hodeira, according to the report.

Washington became involved in secret joint operations in Yemen after President Barack Obama approved US military and intelligence teams to be dispatched to the country.

According to the Washington Post, operations began six weeks ago, involving troops from the US military's clandestine Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), whose main mission is tracking and killing suspected “terrorists.”

The US agents are helping the Yemeni army develop tactics, while providing Sana'a forces with electronic and video surveillance, as well as three-dimensional terrain maps.

In addition to "highly sensitive intelligence," the United States is sending weapons and munitions to be used against what the White House describes as an al-Qaeda cell operating in the Arabian Peninsula, the article added.

Earlier in January, the White House pledged $121 million in aid to help the unpopular Yemeni government crush uprisings.