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The Grand Turk
Poor Turkish strategy
2014-10-16
[DAWN] THE Turkish government's decision to bomb the bases of Kurdish Death Eaters inside Turkey must look very odd to all those who were expecting Ankara to put its shoulder to the wheel and focus on the more important job of resisting the self-proclaimed Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
's relentless advance. Both the attack by the PKK on a Turkish military outpost and the government's response threaten to undermine a ceasefire that has been under way since the two sides agreed to a grinding of the peace processor two years ago. What led to the PKK attack on the military post can be guessed: Kurdish anger over the Turkish failure to join the US-led coalition against the IS. But the attack on the outpost wasn't exactly the best way to express disgust as the Kurds aren't the only ones angry over Ankara's decision to sit on the fence while Kobane's fate hangs in the balance. The Alevi minority is also seething with anger, and there have been demonstrations across the country against the government's shocking neutrality at a time when the entire Middle East is looking to Turkey and to powers beyond to help crush the IS, whose success threatens to create a new order that would undermine civilisation as we know it.

Evidently, Turkey's priority is Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Lord of the Baath...
's head. In fact, it has been criticised for allegedly allowing its soil to be used by Death Eaters as a transit route to Syria. Ankara also feels that bombing IS forces will mean indirect support to Kurdish guerrillas fighting 'caliph' al-Baghdadi's army. But the Kurdish problem has been there for decades, and it is the IS 'blitzkrieg' that has completely upset all other calculations, for Turkey must realise that if the myrmidon hordes aren't crushed in Syria, they will sooner or later enter Turkish territory to wreak havoc on the Middle East's most democratic and stable country. Given the turmoil within, it is time Ankara reordered its priorities and realised the danger which the IS poses to Turkey itself.
Posted by:Fred

#5  I'm a bit surprised Erdogan hasn't directly attacked Assad.

There was that Turkish Phantom which was flying about over Syria and got shot down. Turkey also shot down a Syrian Aircraft.

I remember some arm waving on the former, calls for NATO protection. The latter may have been Turkey protecting a toll booth, or just wanting to shoot down a Syrian aircraft. That is, trying to pick a fight.

And if I remember correct, the Phantom shoot-down led to calls for a buffer zone and flight restriction so supplies from Turkey could go to Syrian refugees; basically ceding a chunk of Syria to Turkey. When that stalled, we had the dubious chemical weapon use incident, then the red line affair, in an attempt to bring world power against Assad.

Turkey has been trying to get Syria Assad for what, two three years now? without using the Turkish Military in a direct action.

I think Ed sums it up in a nice paragraph. Keep in mind Turkey has a say in Hellespont/Black Sea activities, as well as Cyprus/Israel activities.
Posted by: swksvolFF   2014-10-16 12:58  

#4  Ah excellent Ed, that actually makes sense.
Posted by: Shipman   2014-10-16 09:22  

#3  Poor strategy? Turkey has three problems here: Assad, ISIS, and the Kurds. When this all plays out, they'll have one problem. They just don't know which one it'll be, and in the meantime, their opponents can slag each other.
The biggest threat to Turkey is that the surviving opponent emerges stronger than before. That's what the 'strategy' is intended to prevent.
Posted by: ed in texas   2014-10-16 08:27  

#2  Oh, the fantasy of walling off the entire middle east, bar Israel, and letting the Turks, Arabs, Persians and Pashtun fight to the death while the rest of the world enjoys hot, buttered pop-corn.
Posted by: AlanC   2014-10-16 07:38  

#1  Turkey wants Assad gone and Syria a Sunni state. ISIS are a means to that end and screw the West.

I'm a bit surprised Erdogan hasn't directly attacked Assad.
Posted by: phil_b   2014-10-16 00:59  

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