Ankara corrects mistakes

The Turkish Grand National Assembly's providing the armed forces with a mandate to carry out the trans-boundary operations against Syria after the recent incidents on the border of the two countries were perceived by various political forces inside Turkey ambiguously.

Thus, the largest opposition Republican People's Party considers a mandate for trans-boundary operations, as the involvement of Turkey into the war. At the same time, the Nationalist Movement Party said that the parliamentary decision is very important and timely.

It is useful to recall that earlier, a similar mandate was granted by the Parliament to conduct the military operations in northern Iraq against the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). This caused no objections that period. Of course, the situation with the PKK is quite different from that one in Syria. If military operations in northern Iraq are directed at combating the PKK militants, perceived by most countries as a terrorist organization, the trans-boundary operations in Syria mean that the country's army will resist the Turks.

The recent shooting in the Turkish territory, when five civilians were killed, acquires particular importance in the last sequence of the strained relations between Ankara and Damascus. It is not ruled out that the attack was organized by Syrian forces resisting Bashar al-Assad's regime and supported by Turkey.

While analyzing the current events, one can conclude that the problem occurred not only between Ankara and Damascus, but has much deeper roots. Ankara's watchfulness toward the Kurdish issue in Syria, rather than the desire for self-defense is observed amid the Turkish Parliament's mandate giving process.

According to the information disseminated by the Turkish media at the official website of PEJAK organization, which is the Iranian wing of the terrorist PKK, stressed that while threatening to Ankara, Syrian President Bashar Assad said that he will provide the PKK with weapons.

Although official Damascus has not responded to PEJAK's statement, Ankara believes that the Syrian authorities cooperate with the PKK against Turkey. This is much more serious for Turkey than PKK militants' attacks in northern Iraq.

One must not rule out that the incident on the Syrian-Turkish border may happen again, and Ankara will use its right of self-defense.

Turkey is unlikely to be defeated in the "war" with Syria, but it does not mean that Turkey will fully win the war because the country which mobilized most part of its army to fight against terror, will have to concentrate its efforts on this direction in case of military actions against Syria. This will inevitably lead to a weakening of the fight against terror in the country.

It is not a coincidence that one of the topics discussed today is whether the Turkish army will enter Syria or not.

One can conclude that the partial entry of Turkish army in Syria is in the interest of Ankara, in the first place, in terms of creating a safe zone on the Syrian border. But on the other hand, it would break the relations between the PKK and the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Syria (Partiya Yekitiya Demokrat), controlling the northern part of Syria. A transition to a more serious form of intensifying and worsening relations between Ankara and Damascus is not ruled out.


Rufiz Hafizoglu /Trend/