I have enormous respect for the work of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting. They work in conflict regions to teach the basic principles of journalism to local journalists, including citizen journalists. They really do get right in to the most difficult situations, and have access to knowledge on the ground that western media organisations often lack. I worked closely with their office in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, where Michael Andersen did a great job.
The fact that IWPR accesses direct first hand knowledge of what really happens during conflicts, almost certainly holds the key to the death of Jackie Sutton. She was killed for something she knew. The official Turkish story that she killed herself in the airport in despair at missing a connecting flight, is risible.
I cannot claim to any idea at present what it was she knew that caused her to be killed. It follows from that I do not know who killed her. But the speed of the Turkish authorities to promote a suicide narrative must in itself raise suspicions.
That’s what I have been suspecting from the outset, Ba;al, when you were dismissing me as a mugger.
It’s all in line with NATO, the Mediterranean Dialogue, and the EU to take care of all the collateral damage,
Well, I suppose it’s something that we haven’t decided to replay Iraq and Syria in Turkey. He’s still our bastard, or at least no-one else’s. And he has a huge, capable and useful army…
A Black Day.
http://www.todayszaman.com/national_bugun-millet-newspapers-come-out-with-black-front-pages-to-protest-media-crackdown_402606.html
Every day is a dark day here, with our political masters dictating what our media publishes.
Described in this piece is a very suggestive, but non-fatal encounter between Turkish police and an American academic (with strong links to the US government) in Ataturk International. The author runs a trekking company in NE Turkey, among many and various other activities.
http://kurdistantribune.com/2015/jacky-sutton-british-journalist-suspicious-death-in-istanbul-airport/
Here’s her hypothesis:
In the case of Ms. Sutton, I speculate the following scenario is what may have happened: The airport immigration police intentionally made her miss her plane. She protested, the same way I protested last December. They told her to go buy a new ticket and may have told her if she didn’t “behave right”* they would arrest her and lock her up. I speculate that they got physical with her, either in public or in a private area. She would probably have struggled. They may have put a strangle-hold on her throat which resulted in her passing out . . . and then dying. Maybe her neck was broken from excessive force.
So then the police would have had a problem: a dead body. The only solution would be to make it look like she hanged herself in the toilet room. Of course, this is just my speculation, like Hurriyet Daily speculating she hanged herself with her shoelaces because she missed her plane.
* see article for context.
Details of any other attempted shakedowns by Turkish airport police would be very welcome.
Think why the police started it all by making her miss her plane more important than similar incidents.
Did Jacky know about the make believe rescue of Kurds by the Americans, and was she planning to tell Taibani about it in Erbil?
Was she meeting a member of the opposition press, and is this partly responsible for the media crackdown”
Did Jack learn something from Gulen’s people before she left London?
Ba’al Zevul, thanks, interesting link and article.
I posted a comment there on that site you provided, Ba’al Zevul, a couple of hours ago – a comment supportive of the article. When I re-checked a minute ago, it seems to have disappeared though, who knows, maybe they go for moderation and then re-appear? Odd.
Try this one on, too:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3222562/Twelve-Turkish-police-officers-charged-death-American-tourist-horrifying-struggle-breathe-restrained-caught-camera.html
Once again, the timing is a little vague on when she flew in and when she intended to depart, but it could have been a shakedown that went wrong.
Fourth hearing on this case ‘to be held in October’ – nothing heard yet. But Republica draws a parallel.
https://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=it&u=http://www.repubblica.it/esteri/2015/10/20/news/jackie_sutton_precedente_tracey_brown-125538748/&prev=search
> Must have taken massive intervention to make them agree that she
> committed suicide.
You don’t need to intimidate or threaten someone to act like this.
(fictious quote from a fictious official)
“This is strictly condidential. As you might know, kidnapping is one of the main financial sources for the Islamic State in this region. We have information that Jacky was trying to support concerned families by offering them contacts, maybe even financial support. There are still numbers of abducted kurdish friends of Jacky, which she wanted to help.
What i want to say is, as honorable your motivation for calls of further investigations might be, more public statements from your side could put those friends of Jacky in danger. I appeal in the name of Jackies friends, to let us do our work. I give you my word, we are trying our best to free those hostages. I’m sure Jacky would have agreed.”
I forgot the part where he says “wait, we have found those pictures in her luggage. This is [female kurdish name]. She is 14.”
Ah, it’s re-appeared. Must’ve been held over for moderation.
**************
Seisen, very good point. The media seems to have forgotten all about her. The new-found acquiescence of family and employer seems to have done the trick.
This story is now officially dead. It did not commit suicide.
Hmmm…
http://www.eudict.com/?lang=japeng&word=seisen
@Ba’al Zevul
Ha, the japanese clue is wrong. Can you imagine how hard it is to make up a nick? Of course you do. But still.. liked your suggestion.
Back to matters,
i like to point out again one thing. As i wrote “it wouldn’t surprise me if she was kept under 24/7 surveillance, no matter what.”
It is known that J.Sutton was a known ‘target’. She had trouble once before at this Airport. The next thing we can be pretty sure of, is that Ataturk Airport is probably crowded with all kinds of personnel from various security agencies (of different countries). These days even more so, given that Turkey is very close to a police state at alert condition, shaken by (or not by) false flag assaults, supporting Daesh, intervening militarily on the northern borders of Syria, and not to forget the upcoming elections. I mean, this county is literally on fire and the nerves, especially of the executive, are on edge.
If these assumptions are correct, it is VERY unlikely that whatever happened to her, did happen without the knowledge of the observing personnel. Either as witnesses or as perpetrators, the responsibilty is beyond all question.
In the Syrian conflict the collaborating Agencies are:
Al-Muchabarat al-‘Amma (Saudi Arabia), MIT, CIA, MI6 and GID (Jordan).
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Mukhabarat_al-Aamah#Conflit_syrien
Seisen, thanks again. Excellent points and info. Yes, I mean it seems a no-brainer that this woman was murdered. Might the employer and family have turned their approach around because they discovered she was not all she seemed to be? What i mean is, might she herself have been a spy and so, possibly a victim of whatever dynamic applied? I know it seems ghoulish to speculate like this, but one is aware that some journalists and aid workers, etc. are also working as spies (and vice-versa, I mean spies use these jobs as cover).
Btw, sorry for my ignorance, but just out of interest, who is that in the picture? is it David Frost (!), or Vladimir Kryuchkov, one-time Chief of the KGB? Or some other luminary?
What if someone was able to produce hard evidence – a smoking gun – of:
1) Turkey/NATO/Saudi Arabia/Israel providing Jihadists with chemical weapons for use in Syria?
2) Turkey/NATO/Saudi Arabia/ Israel transporting many thousands of Jihadist paramilitaries/militaries into Syria?
3) Turkey/NATO/Saudi Arabia/Israel supplying these Johadist forces with massive amounts of ordnance?
4) Turkey/NATO pretending to attack ISIS and actually attacking the enemies of ISIS? Israel is not even pretending. It is supporting the Jihadists, who in turn are assiduous in never ever attacking Israel.
What might happen to that person?
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2015/07/israeli-military-admits-to-supporting-syrian-jihadis.html
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2015/10/seymour-hershs-news-report-banned-in-u-s-is-finally-confirmed-in-turkey.html
Very interesting post and links, Suhayl.
What if Jacky learned of the old article by Seymour Hersh while back in London, and decided to update it by confirming the US military using Ataturk Airport to supply the Turkish assailants of the Assad regime by visiting the Sky Restaurant and Kokpit Bar to observe and take photos of planes landing and leaving, and to visit someone in the women’s Prayer Room to pass along the info?
Did the Turks then murder her and the person she met, that Kurdish woman killed the next day or so?
It’s really odd, Trowbridge, the way the story has simply completely faded from view. The employer and family saying they accepted the official account just seems to have shut down all MSM discourse. I guess thta might have been the intention. or perhaps people are waiting for PM results – I assume there will be a PM? Where will it be done, and by whom?
4) Turkey/NATO pretending to attack ISIS and actually attacking the enemies of ISIS? Israel is not even pretending. It is supporting the Jihadists, who in turn are assiduous in never ever attacking Israel.
Turkey’s ambiguity, at any rate, is no secret. BBC R4 even wheeled in an ex-US ambassador to tell us that last night. Re the silence, there are no reports whatever after the date of the IWPR statement, no interviews of any friends, acquaintances or family members after that date, and no attempt to confirm or deny the piece I linked above –
http://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/haber/turkiye/394871/Kayip_66_dakika_supheleri_artirdi.html#
Surprisingly, though, it hasn’t been taken down. In case it is*, the relevant section is worth recording:
GÖRÜNTÜ YOK: Soruşturmayla ilgili ‘Kapalı Devre İzleme Tutanağı’na göre, 23:15’te uçağa geçmesi gereken Sutton’ın 23:16.43 ve 00:22:21 arasındaki görüntülerine ulaşılamadı.
RUSLAR KAYDEDİLMEMİŞ: Sutton’ı bulan 3 Rus turistin pasaport bilgileri tutanakta yok. Sadece telefon numaralarının yazıldığı tutanakta Rusların ifadesinin de yeminli mütercim tercüman yerine Sutton’ın tartıştığı yolcu hizmetleri memuru T. B. tarafından alındığı ortaya çıktı. 3 Rus, T.A., I.E. ve F.E. Rusça el yazısıyla verdikleri ifadelerde “Havaalanı görevlileri geç geldi” dedi.
GÜVENLİKÇİ GÖRMEDİ: Sutton’ın intihar ettiği söylenen tuvalete saat 01:00’da giren TAV özel güvenlik görevlisi D.A. (37) 2 gün sonra alınan ifadesinde “Şahsı görmedim, şüpheli durumla karşılaşmadım” dedi.
7 CM’LİK İNTİHAR: Sutton’ın kendini astığı yer, boyundan sadece 7 santimetre yüksek. Sağlık görevlileri A.B. ve I.G. de tuvaletin arkasından Sutton’ın ayaklarının yere değdiğini söyledi.
ABLA ‘ARAŞTIRIN’ DEDİ: Sutton’ın ablası Jennifer Sutton “Kardeşim intihar edecek yapıda biri değildi ve bunu gerektirecek bir neden yoktu. Kardeşimin ölüm olayının araştırılmasını talep ediyorum” dedi.
* Cumhuriyet and Erdoğan are not the best of friends…
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/03/turkish-president-erdogan-wants-editor-jailed-for-espionage-in-video-row
Which returns us to the issue of which combatants Turkey is supporting. Turkey wants Assad out, Israel wants Assad out, and the US Israelites want Assad out. Everyone else, with the UK on the fence as usual, wants the killing to stop.
Someone should lean on Anthony Borden, who, before the dramatic change of story, wanted an in-depth, forensic analysis. Was this or will it be conducted? Was it even asked for?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-34576789
Interesting development.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/putin-associate-found-dead-washington-hotel-report-045001097.html#K57VaTx
Spellchecked etc. to remove my dyslexia.
Whatever you do Craig – & my best wishes and appreciation go with you – keep this blog going with articles like this. People who care need to know who different groups agencies people journalist are linked to so we can evaluate what they say.
A misstep or difference re our own ideological purity – should not rule them out for ever or if at all:
e.g. George Galloway – whatever your or Scottish feelings about his stance on the union: it is not ridiculous – not my field I’m Aussie – even if it were look at his record of bravery and achieve meant – against the establishment which has tried to crush him:
Sure he is a self-promotor – but you know yourself you have to earn a living to pursue a good cause – i.e. unlet you have inherited the moula
When I’m really down I don’t even turn on the radio or the computer – I’m your comrade re this Craig. But to feel better I watch George on YouTube – despite being formally respectful – taking down that US Senate committee – especially the smug Republican Chairman.
But I also like the real respect he shows to Senator Levin indicating that he does respect his quality and principles – compared to the main inquisitor. Fantastic performance he’s in my good books for that forever.
A good example of the service re “knowing your enemy is your info on Baroness Valerie Amos.
Back in 2012 I started researching the Syrian situation. I found the 4 biggest boosters of the attack on Syria [using the name Assad] as shorthand were: Ken Roth-HRW; Valerie Amos – UnderSec UN and the duo of Martin Chulov – Guardian + Michael Weiss – HJS.
Wikipedia is very useful especially by following the foot notes. This had Clare Short dissing Amos.
I remembered from reading some of the Chillcott papers that Clare Short told some truth and had at least resigned – even if after the invasion. She provided the info that Amo s – who replaced her, had previously gone round Africa, trying to strongarm and bribe states to support Blair-Bush on the UN Iraq resolution.
I checked Amos out at the UN and found that 70% of Amos’ media releases were on Syria, 25% on South Sudan and 5% everything else in her portfolio. Petty strong evidence what her full time job was.
*** BUT then a post of your gave extra info about what a criminal Amos was and the unelected nature of her Parliamentary career. More info to put into the file and the near certainty that Amos is a ‘class A’ criminal re my concerns.
**** So even your anecdotes come in useful. Keep making them – keep referring to them and repeating them – “AS THEY ARE GOLD DUST ***.
Also you site attracts knowledge people who have information to share [as well as cranks].
BIG warning always try and verify information from several sources you trust -run it down to the start – as often multiple sources ultimately come from one place.
This is especially true if the info matches you own biases. That is why extra info like the stuff you supply is very useful – given your history – and bravery like Galloways. Of course you have some deep set bias yourself – as do I and most of the people who comment on the blog…
[I really started digressing here as my mood is a bit elevated but I’ll end now.
but once again – Whatever you do Craig my best wishes and appreciation go with you
A post to keep comments open