Syria hit Turkish troops when Russians were in Ankara
Murat Yetkin writes: Countering the threat outside of Turkish borders can be a security policy; but who thought first to send Turkish soldiers into the quicksand before taking necessary measures? I don’t mean Erdoğan, he’s the final decision-maker; who was the one who brought this idea into the system? Who talked the decision-makers into it?
Duvar English
Journalist Murat Yetkin in his personal blog penned a piece to analyze a Russian delegation's recent visit to Ankara as well as the last Syrian mortar attack which killed five Turkish soldiers at Taftanaz air strip near Idlib.
"Putin had sent his Special Syria Envoy Aleksandr Lavrentiev and Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin to Ankara with military and intelligence experts to talk to their counterparts. The Russian delegation was at the Turkish Foreign Ministry by lunch time on Feb. 10 to Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Önal and then went to Presidential Palace to meet İbrahim Kalın, Erdoğan’s Chief Security and Foreign Policy Adviser. There was nothing new in what Russians said but there was this bitter news coming from Idlib," Yetkin wrote.
According to Yetkin, the Syria policy of Erdoğan government presents Turkey with much more serious problems. "In addition to a new influx of migrants, there is the possibility that Russia may severe the ties between the U.S. and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)-related People’s Protection Units (YPG) in Syria, and make YPG reach a deal with the Syrian government," he argued.
"Despite the hollow heroism pumped by the pro-government Turkish media, it’s not likely the Turkish soldiers went into Syrian territory to teach Syria’s Assad government a lesson. Besides, it’s impossible to carry out any meaningful military operation without air-cover control," Yetkin added.
Murat Yetkin's piece in full can be reached here.