The imposed war on Syria has led to a waste of military and paramilitary resources in the country and thus has increased the chance of a political dialogue among warring parties.

Many countries including Turkey have, however, devised a more aggressive approach with regards to the developments in Syria. Despite Turkey’s approach toward the Syrian conflict many opposition parties such as the People’s Republic Party, the National Movement party, and the Peoples’ Democratic Party as well as the general structure of Turkey do not support Ankara’s interference in the Syrian conflict. Even the former joint chief of staff of the Turkish armed forces has called for cooperation with Syria to fight terrorism.

Former President Abdullah Gul told an Iftar gathering in Istanbul that his country should revise its Middle East strategy. According to him, Turkey must again become a source of inspiration it used to be for people from Libya to Yemen, and for the Persian Gulf Arab countries.

Immediately after Gul’s remarks, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan insisted on his country’s ideological foreign policy, saying everyone should move along with his moralities to end the five-year long horror that has engulfed Syria.

It seems however that Erdogan has not yet learned from what happened in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya and keeps insisting on its past policies, the policies that led to the infiltration of some Turkish nationals into Syria and to the transfer of terrorists to Syria from Turkey and the movement of those coming from Europe and other regional countries to Turkey to join terrorists in Syria.

Along with the developments near the Turkey-Syria border and parallel with the victories of the Democratic Union Party against Daesh terrorists, Ankara has deployed its forces to border regions and some are now speaking of Turkey’s imminent military intervention in the Syrian conflict.

The reasons for such a policy include Turkey’s stance with regards to the Democratic Union Party as being affiliated to the PKK organization. It has also announced its opposition to the party. Despite negotiations of Oslo-Imerali, Ankara is seeking to stop the expansion of this party and prevent the formation of a coalition between the Free Syrian Army and Kurds. Now the Alruqee Army and the Abu-Issa Group support the party and Turkey wants an end to such cooperation.

Turkey seeks to form a buffer zone to prevent the strengthening of Syrian Kurds along its borders. Ankara also supports Sunni Arabs. And instead of supporting the Democratic Union Party, it backs other democratic parties that are close to Barzani.

More interestingly, Ahmad Tuma said in an interview with the Jumhuriyat Daily that he advocates Turkey’s intervention in Syria and wants an end to the cooperation of the Free Syrian Army and Kurds, just like the stance taken by former fugitive Yemeni President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

The other factor is the role of the United States in Turkey’s security outlook vis-à-vis the developments in Syria. The U.S. favors a campaign against Daesh and other terrorist groups over a conflict with the Syrian system and has formed an anti-terrorism coalition.

The U.S. cooperated with the Democratic Union Party against Daesh and used its Apache helicopters for the first time in the Tal al-Baiz operation. They could jointly push Daesh back from its positions.

Bearing in mind the role of NATO and the Patriot missiles in defending Turkey and the U.S. role, the cooperation between Turkey and the United States has now increased. The exchanges of meetings among the two countries’ defense and security officials, the two countries’ agreement on a campaign against Daesh, Turkey’s permission for using its bases for flights of drones, and the training of anti-Syria rebels in Turkey and Jordan have also boosted the cooperation, despite the fact that the priority of the U.S. is to fight ISIL and other terrorist groups. However, the priority of Turkey is to fight against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

It therefore seems that Turkey might be further troubled unless it notes the suggestion offered by opposition parties and those of Gul on revising its Middle East policy.

The slow progress of the Oslo-Imerali talks, ceasefire with the PKK, the empowerment of the Syrian Democratic Union, and threats against dams and vital water resources of Turkey are the consequences of the country’s security policy in Syria. This issue recalls the role of Pakistan in Afghanistan in the Cold War era, after which Islamabad lost its position and faced great economic challenges. If Turkey pursues such policies, it would soon be recognized as a destabilizing state in the Middle East and in international equations.

MD/P