At least 17 people were killed and another 36 wounded after a bus carrying undocumented immigrants hit a light pole in eastern Turkey and burst into flames, local media reported on Friday.

The bus, which crashed late Thursday on the Igdir-Kars highway, was carrying immigrants from Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

A Turkish official told the agency that the vehicle had a capacity for 14 passengers but was carrying 50 people.

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17 dead as bus with migrants crashes in Turkeyhttps://t.co/IqNSKXjWtY — soL internationaL (@soLIntern) March 30, 2018

A second passenger minibus is said to have hit some of the people thrown from the first vehicle.

The wounded were taken to hospital, some of them in serious condition.

Law enforcement authorities opened an investigation into the incident.</s>Reminiscent of World War I, shifting alliances and the structure of military coalitions are crucial determinants of history.

Today’s military alliances, including “cross-cutting coalitions” between “Great Powers” are equally dangerous, markedly different and exceedingly more complex than those pertaining to World War I. (i.e the confrontation between “The Triple Entente” and “the Triple Alliance”).

Contemporary developments point to a historical shift in the structure of military alliances which indelibly contributes to weakening US hegemony in the Middle East as well as creating conditions which could result in the breakup of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

This is a complex process. In this article, we will be addressing the issue of “NATO-Exit” and Turkey’s evolving rapprochement with Russia, Iran and China.

Turkey is contemplating a NATO-Exit, the implications of which are far-reaching. Military alliances are being redefined.

In turn, Turkey in Northern Syria is fighting against America’s proxy Kurdish forces, i.e. one NATO member state is fighting another NATO member state.

Russia’s stance in relation to Turkey’s military actions in Northern Syria is ambiguous. Russia is an ally of Syria, whose country has been invaded by Turkey, an ally of Russia.

From a broader military standpoint, Turkey is actively cooperating with Russia, which has recently pledged to ensure Turkey’s security. “Moscow underscores that Turkey can calmly withdraw from NATO, and after doing so Ankara will have guarantees that it will not face any threat [from US-NATO] in terms of ensuring its own security,” (According to statement of Turkish Air Force Major-general Beyazit Karatas (ret))

Moreover, Ankara will be acquiring in 2020 Russia’s state of the art S-400 air defense system while de facto opting out from the integrated US-NATO-Israel air defense system. The S-400 deal is said to have caused “concern” “because Turkey is a member of NATO and the [S-400] system cannot be integrated into NATO’s military architecture”.

What does this mean?

Has NATO’s “heavyweight” (in terms of its conventional forces) namely Turkey chosen to exit the Atlantic Alliance? Or is it involved in an alliance of convenience with Russia while sustaining its links with NATO and the Pentagon?

The Atlantic Alliance is potentially in shatters. Will this lead to a NATO Exit movement with other NATO member states following suit?

Moscow’s intent in this regard, through diplomatic channels is to build upon bilateral relations with selected EU-NATO member states. The objective is to contribute to “military deescalation” on Russia’s Western frontier.

Apart from Turkey, several EU countries including Germany, Italy, Greece (which has established defense ties with Russia) as well as Bulgaria could contemplate a NATO-Exit.

Turkey’s “Rapprochement” with Russia is strategic. While playing a key role in the Middle East, Turkey also controls naval access to the Black Sea through the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus. (see image right)

In other words, Turkey’s withdrawal from NATO would have an immediate impact on NATO’s land and naval deployments in the Black Sea basin, which in turn would affect NATO military capabilities on Russia’s doorstep in Eastern Europe, The Baltic States and the Balkans.

Needless to say, the Moscow-Ankara alliance facilitates the movement of Russian and Chinese naval forces to and from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean via the Bosphorus.



Turkey’s realignment is not limited to Russia it also includes Iran as well Pakistan, which is in the process of severing its military ties with the US, while extending its trade and investment relations with China. Pakistan as well as India are full members of the Shanghai Cooperation Agreement (SCO).

The broader structure of military as well trade/ investment alliances must also be addressed, including maritime routes and pipeline corridors.

US Influence and Hegemony in the Broader Middle East

These geopolitical shifts have served to weaken U.S. influence in the Middle East, Central Asia and South Asia.

Turkey has an alliance of convenience with Iran. And Iran in turn is now supported by a powerful China-Russia block, which includes military cooperation, strategic pipelines as well extensive trade and investment agreements.

In turn, the unity of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States is now in jeopardy, with Qatar, Oman and Kuwait building an alliance with Iran (as well as Turkey), to the detriment of Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Saudi Arabia’s economic blockade directed against Qatar has created a rift in geopolitical alliances which has served to weaken the US in the Persian Gulf.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is profoundly divided, with the UAE and Bahrain siding with Saudi Arabia against Qatar. In turn Qatar has the support of Oman and Kuwait. Needless to say, the GCC which until recently was America’s staunchest Middle East ally against Iran is in total disarray.

While Turkey is deploying troops in Qatar, it has also established the Tariq bin Ziyad military base in Qatar (in cooperation with the Qatari Ministry of Defense) under an agreement signed in 2014.

The Qatar based Al Udeid US military facility is the largest in the Middle East. Under USCentCom, it hosts the command structure of all US military operations in the entire Middle East-Central Asian region.

Al Udeid –which houses some 10,000 US military personnel–, has played a strategic role in the ongoing conduct of US air operations against Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria.

There is however a fundamental contradiction: America’s largest military base in the Middle East which hosts USCentCom is at present located in a country which is firmly aligned with Iran (i.e. an enemy of America). Moreover, Qatar’s main partner in the oil and gas industry including pipelines are Iran and Turkey. In turn, both Russia and China are actively involved in the Qatari oil and gas industry.

In response to Qatar’s rapprochement with Iran, the Pentagon has already envisaged moving its Central Command headquarters at the Al Udeid Air Force base (image left) to the Prince Sultan Air Force base in central Saudi Arabia, 80 km south of Riyadh.

The structure of military alliances pertaining to Qatar are in this regard strategic.

Why? Because Qatar is a Geopolitical Hot Spot, largely attributable to its extensive maritime reserves in natural gas which it shares with Iran.

Iran and Qatar cooperate actively in the extraction of maritime natural gas under a joint Qatar-Iran ownership structure. These maritime gas fields are strategic, they constitute the World’s largest maritime gas reserves located in the Persian Gulf. (For further details, see Michel Chossudovsky, Middle East and Asia Geopolitical Alliances, Global Research, September 17, 2017)

In March 2018, Washington demanded that Qatar’s Al Jazeera News agency register in the U.S. as a “Foreign Agent” intimating that Doha has an “alliance” with enemies of America, including Iran and Russia.

Is this not a prelude to “Qatar-Gate” under the helm of Trump’s newly instated “war cabinet” (with Pompeo taking over from Tillerson at the State Department)?

In November 2017, Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani intimated during a visit to Washington that “Qatar does not rule out the possibility of a Saudi-led military operation against it”. While this option is unlikely, a “regime change” in Doha sponsored by the US and its Saudi ally is a distinct possibility.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon is envisaging moving US Air Force facilities and personnel out of the Incirlik base in southern Turkey:

With NATO in shambles, America’s “war hawks” do not have a leg to stand on.

The alliance between Washington and Ankara is in crisis. NATO is in crisis. In turn, a Turkey NATO-Exit could potentially destabilize NATO.

We are at a dangerous crossroads. The US-NATO military agenda threatens the future of humanity.

How to reverse the tide of war? What concrete actions could be taken?

“NATO-Exit” could become a rallying call, a movement which could spread across the European landscape.

Both the European and North American anti-war movements should concretely focus their grassroots campaign on country-based “NATO-Exit” with a view to breaking the structure of military alliances required by Washington to sustain its global military agenda.

No easy task. This movement will not emanate from the governments. Most of the heads of State and heads of government of NATO member countries have been coopted.

Moreover, many of the West’s civil society organizations and NGOs (financed by corporate foundations) are tacitly supportive of US-NATO “humanitarian wars”.

What this means is that the anti-war movement has to be rebuilt.</s>ANKARA: At least 17 people have been killed and another 36 wounded after a bus carrying illegal immigrants hit a lighting pole in eastern Turkey and burst into flames, local media reported on Friday.

The bus, which crashed late Thursday on the Igdir-Kars highway, was carrying illegal immigrants from Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

According to Anadolu Agency, the bus contained 50 people while the original capacity of the bus was 14.

Fire brigade and emergency management teams rushed to the site, taking the injured to Igdir State Hospital.

Meanwhile, another bus with 13 immigrants which was moving along the same way was held.</s>At least 17 people have been killed and another 36 wounded after a bus carrying illegal immigrants hit a lighting pole in eastern Turkey and burst into flames, local media reported on Friday.

The bus, which crashed late Thursday on the Igdir-Kars highway, was carrying nationals from Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

Images in Turkish media showed smoke rising from the charred bus with its front smashed and migrants lying on the road with bloodied faces.

“When we arrived at the scene we found a… migrant tragedy,” Igdir province governor Enver Unlu told reporters at the scene.

“We are deeply saddened that the frequent smuggling of migrants, which goes on in our province, has ended in a traffic accident.”

Health officials said some of the injured were in a serious condition.

The bus had capacity for 14 people but over 50 people including women were on board, according to Anadolu.

The Igdir public prosecutor has opened an investigation into the incident while officials sought to identify the driver.

Thirteen illegal migrants were detained by security forces inside another bus, which Anadolu said had been on the same journey as the one involved in the crash.

Road accidents are common in Turkey. Turkish state broadcaster TRT said last month that 3,530 people were killed on the roads in 2017.</s>At least 17 people have been killed and another 36 wounded after a bus carrying illegal immigrants hit a lighting pole in eastern Turkey and burst into flames, local media reported on Friday.

 The bus, which crashed late Thursday on the Igdir-Kars highway, was carrying nationals from Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported. Images in Turkish media showed smoke rising from the charred bus with its front smashed and migrants lying on the road with bloodied faces. “When we arrived at the scene we found a… migrant tragedy,” Igdir province governor Enver Unlu told reporters at the scene. “We are deeply saddened that the frequent smuggling of migrants, which goes on in our province, has ended in a traffic accident.”—Agencies</s>ANKARA, Turkey—A road accident in eastern Turkey has killed 17 people, mostly migrants, who had crossed into the country illegally, a senior official said.

The Governor of Igdir province, Enver Unlu, said 36 people were also injured in the accident late on Thursday on a highway linking his province with neighbouring Kars province.

Unlu said a minivan packed with migrants hit a light pole and caught fire. Some of the victims died in the crash while others were killed when they were hurled into oncoming traffic and hit by another minivan that was also carrying migrants.

The state-run Anadolu agency said the migrants were from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran and that their vehicles had crossed into Turkey illegally from Iran.

The cause of the accident was under investigation.</s>ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A road accident in eastern Turkey has killed 17 people, mostly migrants, who had crossed into the country illegally, a senior official said.

Governor of Igdir province, Enver Unlu, said 36 people were also injured in the accident late on Thursday on a highway linking his province with neighboring Kars province.

Unlu said a minivan packed with migrants hit a light pole and caught fire. Some of the victims died in the crash while others were killed when they were hurled onto oncoming traffic and hit by another minivan that was also carrying migrants.

The state-run Anadolu agency said the migrants were from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran and that their vehicles had crossed into Turkey illegally from Iran.

The cause of the accident was under investigation.

At least seven of the injured passengers were undergoing surgery at a hospital in Igdir, Anadolu reported. Some other passengers who were in serious condition were transferred to hospitals in the cities of Erzurum, Kars and Van.

Anadolu quoted Igdir's deputy chief health official, Taner Basaran, as saying as many as 50 migrants were "packed like sardines" into the minivans.

Unlu, the governor, said on arrival at the scene "we were faced with a painful migrant tragedy."</s>ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A minibus packed with migrants from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran crashed and burst into flames in eastern Turkey, killing 17 people, state-run Anadolu news agency said on Friday (March 30).

The bus, designed to carry 14 people, was carrying more than 50 foreign nationals when it hit a lamp post and caught fire after the driver lost control in the eastern province of Igdir, Anadolu said.

A second truck, also carrying migrants, was following close behind and hit some of those that fell out of the first bus, Anadolu said.

Authorities detained the 13 people in the second truck along with its driver, it said.

"It saddened us that migrant smuggling, which occurs frequently in our province, ended with a traffic accident,"Igdir governor Enver Unlu was quoted by Anadolu as saying.

Hundreds of thousands of refugees from Syria and other countries have crossed to Greece and further into Europe via Turkey in recent years. Hundreds have died in the attempt.</s>At least 17 people died and 36 others were wounded when a minibus hit a light pole in eastern Turkey and caught fire, local media reported Friday.

The driver was among those killed, Turkish authorities said, and the injured, some in serious condition, were taken to Igdir State Hospital.

Igdir Governor Enver Unlu said that some of the victims died in the crash while others were killed when they were hit by another minivan that was also carrying migrants.

The state-run Anadolu news agency said the vehicle that crashed late Thursday on the Igdir-Kars highway, was carrying nationals from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran, who entered Turkey illegally from the Iranian border.

The minibus with a capacity for 14 people, was carrying more than 50, including women, according to the agency.

The Igdir public prosecutor has opened an investigation into the incident while officials sought to identify the driver.

Thirteen illegal migrants inside the other minibus were detained by security forces.

Road accidents are common in Turkey. A Turkish state broadcaster reported last month that 3,530 people were killed on the roads in 2017.</s>ANKARA, Turkey — A senior official says 17 people, mostly migrants, were killed in a road accident in the eastern Turkish province of Igdir.

Another 36 were injured in the accident late Thursday.

Igdir Governor Enver Unlu said Friday that a minivan packed with migrants hit a light pole and caught fire. Some of the victims died in the crash while others were killed when they were hurled into oncoming traffic and hit by another minivan that was also carrying migrants.

The state-run Anadolu agency said the migrants were from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran and that their vehicles had crossed into Turkey illegally from Iran.

Unlu said on arrival at the scene “we were faced with a painful migrant tragedy.”
An overloaded bus carrying migrants from Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan crashes into a light pole on the Igdir-Kars highway in Turkey and catches fire. A second bus hits some of the ejected passengers, killing at least 17 people and wounding 36 others.