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Turkish Empire: From Syria To Nagorno-Karabakh

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By Theodore Shoebat
In July of 2016, there was a failed coup against Erdogan. In the next morning, Erdogan declared: “This uprising is a gift from God to us because this will be a reason to cleanse our army.” And this is exactly what happened. Soldiers and high ranking officers were accused of being a part of a conspiracy with the Islamist Gulen movement, the arch enemy of the Erdogan regime. By December of 2016, the number of Turkish military personal was reduced by a third, and the number of generals and admirals was dropped by almost half. With this major reduction of Turkish soldiers, the military became purged of people who were more resistant to Erdogan’s agenda. Soldiers who were more loyal to the AK Party’s policies now dominated, which meant there was no impediment to government actions. Those generals who survived the purge were quite enthusiastic to show their allegiance to Erdogan and support his policies.
The generals who were pro-NATO were being overridden by generals who wanted Turkey to become closer to Russia as opposed to the American sphere of influence. Hence why we see Russia and Turkey collaborating in Nagorno-Karabakh. This purge of the generals enabled the Erdogan regime to pursue its military entrance into Syria. An invasion of Syria was something that many of the generals resisted, but now that these were removed, the policy could be executed without hinderance. “The generals who survived the 2016 purges were determined to show their loyalty to the regime,” writes Francesco Siccardi, “for example, by intervening in Syria, a policy they had long opposed in the past.” It is not surprising, then, that in August of 2016, the month right after the failed coup, Turkey commenced its invasion of Syria under the title of “Operation Euphrates Shield.” It was done (supposedly) for the purpose of crushing ISIS and repulsing Kurdish forces. The US government’s support for the Kurds is what triggered Turkey to enter Syria. The Americans believed that the Kurds were the most reliable force to use as a proxy against ISIS. The negative effect of helping the Kurds on the US’s alliance with Turkey was not taken into serious consideration. In order to push the Americans to abandon the Kurds, Turkey started a war with them, and the US would eventually leave the Kurds at the mercy of an invading Turkish force. In the words of Carnegie Europe:
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“The United States’ difficulty in keeping Kurdish forces under control—in the Syrian town of Manbij in the summer of 2016, for example—was one of the triggers of Operation Euphrates Shield. From January to March 2018, Operation Olive Branch was partly aimed at deterring the United States from backing the PYD.”
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But, in 2018, Turkey started another mission in Syria — “Operation Olive Branch” — which was being done to remove the Kurdish militia, the People’s Defense Units (YPG) from the Afrin Canton. However, there was another objective in Operation Olive Branch, and that was (according to Carnegie Europe) to “Rebuild the Turkish army’s morale and restore Turkey’s confidence in its military”. So while the Turkish government wanted to vanquish and purge out Kurdish paramilitaries, it also wanted to boost and reinvigorate the Turkish people’s faith in, and exuberance for, the military. Syria was thus the testing ground to reanimate Turkey’s militarist culture and to demonstrate the country’s capacity for empire. This idea proved successful. Turkey — glorying in its own strength and the awe the world would give it — would expand itself to the South Caucasus, to Nagorno-Karabakh where the earth would witness Turkish drones slaughtering Armenians. 
In order for militarism to have the backing of the masses, there needs to be an enemy. In this case, the enemy was the Kurds. And so by pursuing military action against the Kurds, the government has the energy of the people. Another factor for successful militarism is nationalism, and this is something that Erdogan’s regime — regardless of its universalist Islamism — has had to utilize. Erdogan’s success in Syria has garnered for him favor from Turkish nationalists. In connection to this Islamist-nationalist alliance, it is essential that we briefly explain how Erdogan’s Islamist AK Party ended up forming a coalition with the far-Right Turkish organization, the Nationalist Movement Party or MHP. This coalition formed as a result of the AK Party’s rivalry against the far-Left, pro-Kurdish and pro-minority organization, the People’s Democratic Party (HDP). In June of 2015 — for the first time since 2002 — support for the AK Party declined and did not have the majority presence in the parliament that he desired. This was due to the growing popularity of the HDP which had won 13% of the vote and became the second largest opposition party (right after the nationalist CHP). With the rise of the HDP, Kurdish politicians now posed a threat to Erdogan’s pursuit to increasing the power of the presidency. This had to be squashed to remove any impediments to Erdogan’s will to power. 
A propaganda strategy had to be utilized, and pro-Erdogan media began to report about how the HDP was connected with the Left-wing terrorist group, the Kurdish Worker’s Party or PKK. The strategy was effective and in November of 2015, voters gave the parliamentary majority that Erdogan wanted. But, it wasn’t enough to give Erdogan the executive power he wanted (a constitutional referendum requires three-fifths of the parliament to succeed). Nonetheless, Erdogan had enough to establish an AK Party-led government. Erdogan did not cease in his campaign against the PKK and YPG. He wanted to convey the message that his political rival, the HDP, was the same as the PKK and the YPG. For the eighteen months after the November 2015 election, the AK Party-controlled government used all of its power to impede the influence of Kurdish politicians. HDP lawmakers were detained on charges of disseminating terrorist propaganda. But the reality was that much of what these politicians were saying was that the Turkish administration was supporting ISIS, and for stating this they were arrested and confined. These arrests were enabled in May of 2016 by a parliamentary vote to strip HDP members of parliament of their immunity from prosecution. Sentiments against Kurdish militants were intensified even more when, in August of 2016, Turkey entered Syria to fight against Kurdish paramilitaries.
The government devastated the HDP in November of 2016 when it had two of its leaders, Demirtas and Figden Yuksekdag, arrested and charged with terrorist propaganda. The AK Party then needed another party to make a coalition with so as to get its referendum to raise the presidential power. This led the AK Party to form a new alliance with the far-Right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). The move opened the door for Erdogan to a new, nationalist audience. And what type of audience is the MHP and its followers? In July of 2015, during tensions between Turkey and China over treatment of the Uighurs, there was a wave of violence against Korean tourists in Turkey because they looked Chinese. Members of the fascist organization, the Grey Wolves, carried out the attacks and hung a banner at their Istanbul headquarters with the words: “We crave Chinese blood”. The leader of the MHP, Devlet Bahceli, downplayed the incidents by saying: “These are young kids. They may have been provoked. Plus, how are you going to differentiate between Korean and Chinese? They both have slanted eyes. Does it really matter?” MHP’s ideology is one of nationalism and Islamism merged together in a sort of synthesis. <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/our-bodies-are-turkish-our-souls-islamic-rise-turkeys-ultra-nationalists">This</a> is embodied in one of its slogans: “Our bodies are Turkish, our souls Islamic. A body without a soul is a corpse”.
Turkey’s militarist expansion into Syria must be seen in the context of its nationalist surge. Operations Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch were absolutely essential to stoking up the support of far-Right nationalists that Erdogan needed. It all worked in his favor. In April of 2017 the constitutional referendum <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Turkish_constitutional_referendum">was approved</a> (with a thin majority of 51 percent of the vote of Turkish citizens) leading to the abolishing of the office of prime minister, and the president was given more control over appointments to the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK). In March of 2018, Turkey landed its military victory over the Kurdish forces in Afrin, further establishing Turkey as a major military power and increasing the wave of nationalist fervor for Erdogan.
Turkey’s military operations in Syria did several things: while it reinvigorated the Turkish people’s fervor for militarism, it raised an awareness for nationalism, it also gave the Turkish military experience in the battlefield, and allowed Turkey to test and demonstrate its military capabilities. In the words of Carnegie Europe:  “In all these respects, Turkey has used Syria as a test case and a training ground.”
Turkey also showed the world the effectiveness of its combat technology, specifically multibarrel rocket-launcher systems, air-to-ground precision-guided munitions, and drones. The destructiveness of such drones would be fully witnessed by the world in 2020 at Nagorno-Karabakh where these Turkish machines of death wreaked havoc and enabled the Azeris to prevail over Armenian soldiers. The demonstration of Turkish drones boosted the demand to purchase them. Thus, Turkey’s operations in Syria led to the rise in its defense industry. In 2002, Turkey’s industry’s exports was worth $248 million, and in 2019 it went up to $3 billion, with countries like Poland, Qatar, and Ukraine purchasing Turkish drones. As we read in <a href="https://www.defensenews.com/unmanned/2021/09/29/ukraine-is-set-to-buy-24-turkish-drones-so-why-hasnt-russia-pushed-back/">Defense News</a>:
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“The Ukrainian government announced Sept. 15 that it’s seeking 24 Bayraktar TB2 combat drones in the coming months. Two years ago, TB2 producer Baykar Makina won a contract to sell six TB2s to Ukraine. The $69 million contract also involved the sale of ammunition for the armed version. The private firm has also won contracts to sell the TB2 to Qatar, Azerbaijan and Poland.”
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In the summer of 2018, Turkey wanted to do another military operation in Syria, and began to pressure Washington to be allowed to do so. In December of 2018, president Donald Trump announced the US’s withdrawal from Syria:
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“We’ll be coming out of Syria, like, very soon. …Let the other people take care of it now. Very soon, very soon, we’re coming out … We’re going to get back to our country, where we belong, where we want to be.”
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Whats interesting is that this announcement was made after Trump had a phone conversation with Erdogan. This is not surprising since in March of 2018 Trump spoke with French president Emmanuel Macron about deepening cooperation with Turkey in Syria. As a Whitehouse statement explains:
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“President Donald J. Trump spoke today with President Emmanuel Macron of France. Both leaders expressed support for the West’s strong response to Russia’s chemical weapons attack in Salisbury, United Kingdom, including the expulsion of numerous Russian intelligence officers on both sides of the Atlantic. President Trump stressed the need to intensify cooperation with Turkey with respect to shared strategic challenges in Syria.”
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In October of 2019 Turkey commenced “Operation Peace Spring”, and in just a matter of days the Turkish military and its proxies were able to conquer a 62 mile strip of land between the border towns of Tel Abayad and Ras al-Ain and repulsed the YPG out.
Writing on the rise of Turkey would be quite lacking if we did not at least mention the country’s work and tensions with Russia. They will have diplomatic ties (such as in the Astana agreement) but at the same time there has been violence between them. Russia and Turkey are rivals (they have historically been enemies), and all the while they will use each for their own geopolitical ends. When Turkey was going to war with the Kurds in Syria (in Operation Euphrates Shield), the head of the Syrian Kurdistan Region, Rodi Osman, called on Russia to put pressure on Turkey and stop shelling Kurdish areas. But, Moscow did not intervene. Russian analysts believe that Operation Euphrates Shield was agreed upon by both Putin and Erdogan in St. Petersburg. In return, Erdogan promised Putin help in the fight against jihadists from Jabhat al-Nusra in Aleppo.
In Libya, Turkey backed the NATO proxy Government of National Accord, while Russia supported its enemy, Khalifa Haftar. In 2019, Russia and the Syrian government joined forces to fight Turkish backed rebels in the Idlib provence. In early 2020, Turkish troops fought to take territory specifically along the M4 and M5 highways and at their intersection in Saraqib, an important junction for controlling northern Syria. Violence between Turkey and Russia really manifested in February of 2020 when the Moscow backed Syrian air force slaughtered at least 34 Turkish troops in the village of Baylun. Turkey did not point the finger at Russia, but it did militarily respond to the Syrian government by launching Operation Spring Shield in order to stop the Assad regime’s advance on Idlib.
Eventually there was a ceasefire between Ankara and Damascus made in March of 2020, negotiated by Erdogan and Putin. Although Turkey lost its advance by agreeing to the ceasefire, it still got to control most of the Idlib Governorate, thus enabling Turkey to maintain a foothold in the region. It also further established Turkey’s position of influence over Syria’s future. Regardless of the ceasefire, violence still occurred. In October 26th of 2020, Russian fighter jets struck and slaughtered 78 members of Failak al-Sham, a rebel group that is being backed by Turkey.
Failak al-Sham’s kept a strong presence in Idlib in order to maintain Turkey’s foothold in the provence, and representatives of the rebel group were even involved in the peace talks in Astana. Erdogan <a href="https://novayagazeta.ru/articles/2020/11/07/87874-siriyskiy-ubiytsa-bratskiy-vozhd-livii-i-karabah-zachem-rossiya-i-turtsiya-periodicheski-nakalyayut-svoi-vzaimootnosheniya-ostavayas-pri-etom-krayne-vygodnymi-drug-dlya-druga-partnerami-issledovanie-ekateriny-sokiryanskoy">reacted</a> sharply to Russia’s attack: “The Russian attack on the forces of the Syrian national army in Idlib shows that they do not want long-term peace and tranquility in the region.” Strangely, not long before this strike took place, Putin praised Erdogan for pursuing an independent foreign policy; and a few days earlier before this, Erdogan received the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise from Ukrainian President Zelensky for “supporting the independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine.” Ukraine honored Erdogan for his support of Crimea against the Russian annexation. “Turkey does not and will never recognize the ‘annexation’ of Crimea” Erdogan once said.
But, while there are tensions between the two countries, there is collaboration. Russia and Turkey need each other at this time; Russia needs Turkey because it is the dominating Islamic power in the Middle East and thus cannot be ignored in the negotiating table. By working closer with Russia, Turkey is defying the United States, and is thus defying, and declaring its own independence of, American power and control — something that Russia desires. This was seen in Turkey’s purchasing of the Russian missile system, the S-400, and conducting tests of the weapon, which greatly exasperated American-Turkish relations. Regardless of American pressure, Erdogan continued in his defiance of the American empire, declaring:
<blockquote readability="7">
“It is true that tests have been carried out … What are we supposed to do, not test these capabilities? Obviously we’re not going to ask the U.S. [for permission].” (Brackets mine)
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What we are witnessing is a Turkish rebellion against the American empire. And now we see Turkey and Russia in Azerbaijan as a result of the recent war between Azeris and Armenians over Nagono-Karabakh. Turkey backed Azerbaijan and provided the drones that would slaughter and vanquish the Armenians, who the Turks tried to annihilate during World War One. So here we can see the connection between Turkey’s war in Syria and its war in Nagorno-Karabakh. As we said before, Syria provided the testing ground for Turkey’s military capabilities and its drones. These very drones would then be used to defeat the Armenians. Turkey in Syria marked the revival of its power, and after demonstrating its force and strength, it manifested its capacity for empire, thus giving Turkey the geopolitical position to expand itself in the South Caucasus. Russia is an ally of Armenia, but at the same time sees Azerbaijan as a strategic partner in the South Caucasus. Thus, Russia — not wanting to jeopardize relations with Azerbaijan —  sees no purpose (at least for now) in resisting Turkey in this particular conflict. But, we cannot forget the reality of history: Turkey and Russia are historical enemies and have had numerous wars against each other. Diplomacy will continue on — for now — but if history is any indication, the Russian eagle and Turkish wolf will be caught up in a fray yet again.   
 
 
source <a href="https://shoebat.com/2021/10/03/turkish-empire-from-syria-to-nagorno-karabakh/">https://shoebat.com/2021/10/03/turkish-empire-from-syria-to-nagorno-karabakh/</a>

armageddon Turkish Empire: From Syria To Nagorno-Karabakh

By Theodore Shoebat In July of 2016, there was a failed coup against Erdogan. In the next morning, Erdogan declared: “This uprising is ...

Iran Asked US To Unfreeze $10 Billion To Show Good Will: Minister

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Iran has been unable to obtain tens of billions of dollars of its assets in foreign banks (File)
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Dubai:
Iran's foreign minister said on Saturday that US officials tried to discuss restarting nuclear talks last month, but he insisted Washington must first release $10 billion of Tehran's frozen funds as a sign of good will.
Iran has rejected direct talks with the United States, and indirect talks on reviving a 2015 nuclear accord aimed at keeping Iran from being able to develop a nuclear weapon stopped in June.
The United States used intermediaries at the United Nations last month to attempt to make contact, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian told state television.
Iran has been unable to obtain tens of billions of dollars of its assets in foreign banks, mainly from exports of oil and gas, due to U.S. sanctions on its banking and energy sectors.
"The Americans tried to contact us through different channels (at the U.N. General Assembly) in New York, and I told the mediators if America's intentions are serious then a serious indication was needed ... by releasing at least $10 billion of blocked money," the minister said.
"They are not willing to free $10 billion belonging to the Iranian nation so that we can say that the Americans once in the past several decades considered the interests of the Iranian nation," Amirabdollahian said in the TV interview.
Western powers have urged Iran to return to negotiations and said time is running out as Tehran's nuclear programme is advancing well beyond the limits set by the deal.
Amirabdollahian reiterated that Iran would "soon" return to the stalled nuclear talks in Vienna, declining to give a date.
Tehran says its nuclear steps are reversible if Washington lifts all sanctions. Iranian and Western officials have said many issues remain to be resolved before the accord can be revived.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/iran-asked-us-to-unfreeze-10-billion-to-show-good-will-minister-2561952">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/iran-asked-us-to-unfreeze-10-billion-to-show-good-will-minister-2561952</a>

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Iran has been unable to obtain tens of billions of dollars of its assets in foreign banks (File) Dubai: Iran's foreign minister sai...

World War I Shipwrecks Are A Seabed Museum In Turkey

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="World War I Shipwrecks Are A Seabed Museum In Turkey" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-10/aa2aj95s_world-war-1-underwater-museum_625x300_03_October_21.jpg" title="World War I Shipwrecks Are A Seabed Museum In Turkey" /></div>
The Ottoman resistance remains a point of deep pride in modern Turkey.
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Seddulbahir, Turkey:
Turkey's newest park is an underwater museum of fourteen shipwrecks that lie beneath the waves of the Dardanelles Strait, a glimpse into the fierce battles between Ottoman and Allied forces in World War I.
Turkish photographer Savas Karakas was one of the first to board a motor boat and then dive to the seabed grave when the park opened on Saturday. There, he says, he was able to reconnect with his grandfather who fought in the Gallipoli campaign of 1915.
"My grandfather's hands were disfigured and burned in action, and I was always scared of them," said Karakas, who lives in Istanbul and whose given name means "war", after the battle.
"But when I come to Gallipoli and dive, the rusted metal and steel of the wrecks reminds me of my grandfather's hands and I hold his hand under the water."
The Gallipoli Historic Underwater Park opened 106 years after Ottoman and allied German forces halted an invasion by British, French, Australian and New Zealand troops.
The Ottoman resistance remains a point of deep pride in modern Turkey. At the time, it thwarted the Allies' plan to control the straits connecting the Aegean to the Black Sea, where their Russian naval allies were penned in.
Heavy British losses included the 120-meter HMS Majestic battleship, which is the first stop for divers at a depth of 24 meters off the coast of Seddulbahir.
It and other vessels are largely intact on the sea floor.
"We are a fortunate generation because we ... can still visit those monuments," said Ali Ethem Keskin, another underwater photographer from Istanbul.
"When I started diving ... I felt the moment that they were sunk, and I felt the stress of war," he said. "I sensed the panic they felt at that moment."
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/world-war-i-shipwrecks-are-a-seabed-museum-in-turkey-2561937">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/world-war-i-shipwrecks-are-a-seabed-museum-in-turkey-2561937</a>

news world World War I Shipwrecks Are A Seabed Museum In Turkey

The Ottoman resistance remains a point of deep pride in modern Turkey. Seddulbahir, Turkey: Turkey's newest park is an underwater m...

3 Workers Died, More Than 70 Injured Building Dubai Expo: Officials

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="3 Workers Died, More Than 70 Injured Building Dubai Expo: Officials" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-10/8eg8qft8_dubai-expo-generic_625x300_03_October_21.jpg" title="3 Workers Died, More Than 70 Injured Building Dubai Expo: Officials" /></div>
More than 200,000 workers constructed the huge site on the outskirts of Dubai
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Dubai:
Three workers died and more than 70 suffered serious injuries building Dubai's Expo 2020 site, officials said on Saturday, insisting safety standards were "world-class".
The figures were revealed after the European parliament called for a boycott of the six-month world fair, criticising the United Arab Emirates' human rights record and "inhumane" practises towards immigrant labourers.
More than 200,000 workers constructed the huge site on the outskirts of Dubai, which features hundreds of pavilions and other facilities on a showground twice the size of Monaco.
The UAE and fellow Gulf nation Qatar, host of next year's World Cup, are frequently in the crosshairs of activist groups over their treatment of labourers, often from South Asia, who build their ambitious developments.
"Unfortunately, there have been three work-related fatalities, 72 serious injuries to date," an Expo statement said, calling the welfare of labourers its "top priority".
It said 247 million work hours had been completed at the site, adding that the frequency of accidents was lower than Britain's.
"We have established world-class policies, standards and processes that protect and support the health, safety, and wellbeing of everyone involved in Expo 2020 Dubai," the statement said.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, who visited Expo on Saturday, said France was "not part of" the European parliament's resolution.
"Our relation with UAE is a strategic one, it's very close, and we can say things in all transparency and if we need to say something to UAE government, well we do so but behind close doors," he told reporters.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/3-workers-died-more-than-70-injured-building-dubai-expo-officials-2561934">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/3-workers-died-more-than-70-injured-building-dubai-expo-officials-2561934</a>

news world 3 Workers Died, More Than 70 Injured Building Dubai Expo: Officials

More than 200,000 workers constructed the huge site on the outskirts of Dubai Dubai: Three workers died and more than 70 suffered serio...

Facing Crises, UK PM Boris Johnson Says He Will Take "Bold Decisions"

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Boris Johnson is now faced with an outcry by those unable to fill up their cars with petrol (File)
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London:
Prime Minister Boris Johnson will promise on Sunday to take "big, bold decisions" to transform post-Covid Britain, hoping to set the tone of the governing Conservative Party's conference already buffeted by fuel, gas and Christmas food crises.
Johnson had wanted to use the conference this week to turn the page on more than 18 months of COVID-19 and to refocus on his 2019 election pledges to tackle regional inequality, crime and social care.
Instead, the prime minister finds himself on the back foot more than nine months since Britain completed its exit from the European Union - a departure he said would hand the country the freedom to better shape its economy.
He is now faced with an outcry by those unable to fill up their cars with petrol, by retailers who fear there may be shortages of Christmas fare and by gas companies struggling with a spike in wholesale prices.
In a statement released on the eve of the conference in the city of Manchester, Johnson did not refer to the ongoing crises and instead talked up what he called his government's "track record of delivering on the people's priorities".
"We didn't go through Covid to go back to how things were before -- to the status quo ante. Build Back Better means we want things to change and improve as we recover," he said.
"That means taking the big, bold decisions on the priorities people care about - like on social care, on supporting jobs, on climate change, tackling crime and levelling up."
He repeated his mantra that the government did all it could to prop up businesses during the pandemic, to protect jobs and had successfully rolled out a mass vaccination programme.
But for many critics, this often repeated statement underscores a refusal to acknowledge missteps in the early days of the pandemic when the government seemed reluctant to lockdown the economy to stop the spread of the virus.
At the conference, the withdrawal of a top-up to a state benefit for low-income households and the end of a COVID jobs support scheme might also attract criticism from some lawmakers, particularly those from regions in northern and central England which have traditionally supported the opposition Labour Party.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/facing-crises-uk-pm-boris-johnson-says-he-will-take-bold-decisions-2561928">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/facing-crises-uk-pm-boris-johnson-says-he-will-take-bold-decisions-2561928</a>

news world Facing Crises, UK PM Boris Johnson Says He Will Take "Bold Decisions"

Boris Johnson is now faced with an outcry by those unable to fill up their cars with petrol (File) London: Prime Minister Boris Johnson...

UK Could Issue More Temporary Visas To Solve Lorry Driver Shortage: Boris Johnson

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The government has said 200 military tanker personnel will help deliver fuel from Monday. (File)
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London:
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Saturday he would keep immigration rules under review, and did not rule out issuing more temporary visas in an effort to help ease a tanker driver shortage which has led to fuel shortages.
Britain said last week it would issue temporary visas for 5,000 foreign truck drivers and 5,500 poultry workers to try to solve acute labour shortages that have disrupted the supply of fuel to gas stations and caused difficulties in food production.
Britain's Road Haulage Association (RHA) says the country is facing a shortage of some 100,000 drivers, a result of workers leaving the industry, the pandemic putting a stop to driver training and testing for about a year, and post-Brexit immigration rules which prevent hiring drivers from Europe.
Speaking to reporters during a visit to a hospital, Johnson did not rule out the possibility of issuing more temporary visas.
"What we have now is a system that allows us to control immigration, and that gives us flexibility. We can open up our markets if we need to, and of course we'll keep everything under review," Johnson said.
The government has said 200 military tanker personnel will help deliver fuel from Monday.
"What we don't want to do is go back to a situation in which we basically allowed the road haulage industry to be sustained with a lot of low wage immigration," Johnson said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
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news world UK Could Issue More Temporary Visas To Solve Lorry Driver Shortage: Boris Johnson

The government has said 200 military tanker personnel will help deliver fuel from Monday. (File) London: British Prime Minister Boris J...