Al-Hayat, London, Originally Posted in Arabic on July 24
Last year, when members of the international coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) convened in Brussels, one important conclusion was made: Turkey must put an end to the flow of foreign fighters into its territory.
Unfortunately, such a decision was outside the authority of the coalition – which included many member states, but not Turkey. Ankara refused to attack targets in Syria until the allies would make an explicit commitment to remove [Syrian President] Bashar Al-Assad from power once the Islamic State has been weakened.
Today, however, this position changed. The Turkish military has carried out numerous raids against Islamic State deep in Syrian territory. Turkish military bases were opened up to Western air forces in recent days, in order to carry out strikes against the Islamic State. However, this change of heart is not guided by Turkish altruism. Rather, it is aimed at weakening Turkey’s Kurdish enemy.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is determined to prevent the formation of a Kurdish autonomous state in Syria, and is using the operation as a guise for Turkey to target Kurdish forces. By changing demographics on the ground and weakening the PKK, Turkey can ensure that a democratic resolution in the region – reached sometime in the future – will not allow for Kurdish autonomy in Syria.
Turkish forces have even been accused of secretly providing Islamic State fighters with weapons to target Kurdish villages, all while striking them from the air. Ankara seems to be more willing to leave Assad in power; so long as Kurds in Syria do not follow their counterparts in Iraq, and form an autonomous region.
It quickly adopted the mantra of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”. – Daud al-Shiryan