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| The Grand Turk | |
| Turkey's high-risk power play | |
| 2014-06-25 | |
| by Caroline B. Glick [Jpost] For most Westerners, Turkey is a hard nut to crack. How can you understand a state sponsor of terrorism that is also a member of NATO? How can you explain Turkey's facilitation of Kurdish independence in Iraq in light of Turkey's hundred-year opposition to Kurdish independence? What is Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyep Erdogan trying to accomplish here? Is he nuts?
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| Posted by:g(r)omgoru |
| #4 OS he might be covered a bit in the medium run as well. If Northern Iraq is recognized as an independent Kurd nation and is a part of the UN it works for Turkey. As you said he can dump Kurds into it as fast as he can, and when the situation quiets down and if the Kurds start supporting insurgents, Turkey is still a member of NATO. Any bets that Turkey will milk that for all its worth if the Kurds cause issues? An attack on one is an attack on all. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2014-06-25 15:21 |
| #3 A "rump" Kurdistan carved from Iraq can be pretty effectively neutered. And then used as a place to push Kurdish dissenters from Turkey, as well as a political club internationally - as in "See we support Kurdistan" all while repressing the Kurds in Turkey. Problem for Turkey starts when Iraq resolves itself (i.e. sunni and shia run out of throats to cut on each other), and the Kurds set their focus North. An insurgency fed from a neighboring country, even a small one, can cause all kinds of havoc when there are large indigenous ethnic populations to support it. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2014-06-25 13:28 |
| #2 Erdogan can control the Kurds. The others, he cannot. A good play on his part actually. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2014-06-25 10:11 |
| #1 Erdogan still hasn't given up on the idea of Turkey being the power player of the Islamic world. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2014-06-25 10:06 |