Turkey's 'Syria' Problem

Turkish Dilemma -- Karen Leigh, Foreign Policy

Turkey's voluble prime minister has talked himself into a corner on Syria. Will the spiraling unrest next door finally force him to back up his words?

ISTANBUL — On Sept. 4 in Ankara, in a meeting with members of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan loudly threw down a gauntlet for next-door neighbor President Bashar al-Assad.

"The massacres in Syria that gain strength from the international community's indifference are continuing to increase," he said. "The regime in Syria has now become a terrorist state. We do not have the luxury to be indifferent to what is happening there."

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My Comment: He has backed himself in a corner .... and blaming the U.S. for not providing leadership to face the Syrian regime is falling on deaf ears. Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan is now left with only three options .... (1) do nothing, (2) continue to support the Syrian rebels at the level that they are providing now, and (3) escalate their support of the Syrian rebels by providing them heavy weapons and military support. By prediction is that they will stick with #2.

Tensions Between Turkey And The West Increase

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, center, of Iran welcoming Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey. European Pressphoto Agency

From The New York Times:

ISTANBUL — With Turkey’s prospects for joining the European Union growing more elusive and the country reaching out to predominantly Muslim countries with a vigor not seen in years, a longstanding question is vexing the United States and Europe: Is this large, secular Muslim country turning East instead of West?

When President Obama visited Turkey in April — a symbolic gesture that underlined Turkey’s geostrategic importance — he emphasized the country’s role as a bridge between East and West, acknowledged its mediation in the Arab-Israeli conflict and threw his weight solidly behind Turkey becoming a European Union member.

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My Comment: The Government in Turkey is not a secular government. They are fiercely Islamic, and they are making sure that their policies on religion be enacted. If not now .... to make sure the groundwork is laid so that it will be enacted in the future.

Will this bring about a conflict with Europe. Definitely. The cultural and religious differences will guarantee it.

But Turkey is an independent country, and they are free to pursue policies that are important to them. Their position in the Middle East, and the neighbors that they must deal with, will also result in differences in opinion on some cases, an open revolt on others. Their close alliance with Iran is a case in point. They must deal with this neighbor even though we in the West preferred that they did not.

From my own point of view, we are not in a position to tell Turkey what to do. They have a long and proud history, and they will do what they feel is in their best interest. In short .... they are like everyone else who has an independent foreign policy and goals that are unique to their own government and country. The sooner that we accept that, the sooner that we can then go forward.