Credit: Asia Times
Turkish foreign policy, codified by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, used to be known in shorthand as “zero problems with our neighbors”. When Turkey started calling for regime change in Syria, it turned into “a major problem with one of our neighbors” (even tough Davutoglu himself admitted on the record the policy change failed). Now, in yet another twist, it’s becoming “all sorts of problems with two of our neighbors”. Enter – inevitably – Ankara’s ultimate taboo; the Kurdish question. Ankara used to routinely chase and bomb Kurdish PKK guerrillas crossing from Anatolia to Iraqi Kurdistan. Now it may be positioning itself to do the same in Syrian Kurdistan.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan came out all guns blazing on Turkish TV; “We will not allow a terrorist group to establish camps in northern Syria and threaten Turkey.” He was referring to the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Party (PYD) – affiliated with the PKK; after a quiet deal with the Assad regime in Damascus, the PYD is now in control of key areas in northeast Syria. So Ankara may provide logistics to tens of thousands of Syria’s NATO “rebels” – which include plenty of hardcore Sunni Arab “insurgents” formerly known as terrorists; but as long as Syrian Kurds – which are part of the Syrian opposition – demonstrate some independence, they immediately revert to being considered “terrorists”. It’s all conditioned by Ankara’s immediate nightmare; the prospect of a semiautonomous Syrian Kurdistan very closely linked to Iraqi Kurdistan.