According to the Turkish Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlioglu, Turkey is to begin a ground operation in Syria against terrorists of Islamic State in the coming days. He also noted that as many countries as possible should participate in the fight against ISIS, as this terrorist group poses a threat not only to Turkey.
According to Sinirlioglu, as before, Ankara will assist Northern Iraq, which is resisting the terrorists
A correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza tried to interview experts about the probability of an operation, as well as how these first serious steps in foreign policy can be explained after the elections.
Political analyst Burhan Ozkoshar was skeptical about the statement of the head of the Foreign Ministry, saying that a ground operation in Syria is out of the question. "If you had such plans, Turkey would not have taken out the tomb of Suleyman Shah from Syria to Turkey this February." This measure was taken in order to protect themselves from any provocations. But today Turkey is trying to fight Kurdish separatists beyond the country’s birders. ISIS can be included in this,’’ he said.
According to analyst Youssef Chinar, the idea of a ground operation Turkey is belated. "Such operations should have been started before the crisis in Syria in order to prevent the worsening of the situation in the region at least. Today it is irreversible. 2 million refugees are in Turkey, and the country spends about $8 billion from its budget on them. I believe that now these efforts to conduct a ground operation against ISIS won’t yield any significant results,’’ the expert noted, adding that after the ‘Arab Spring’ in Syria, Turkey operated together with the United States. So if Ankara starts operating in Syria alone, it won’t have any effect.
In addition, these steps will be negatively interpreted by Russia and this could negatively influence the relations between the two countries. "Despite the fact that the two countries have common interests in the fight against ISIS, I think Russia will negatively interpret such negative actions. I don’t think that the US will agree to conduct such an operation," Youssef Chinar said.
According to Youssef Chinar, Turkey today needs to have a lot of allies, rather than act alone, trying to demonstrate its strength. The expert didn’t rule out the probability of a ground operation, especially after a series of terrorist attacks in Ankara. "Turkey is very concerned about the attacks, so this operation can have a symbolic meaning, which demonstrates the strengthening of Turkey's role in the region," the expert concluded.
