Ankara’s many fronts of attrition
IF THERE was a true trouble spot on the globe, one would have to say it is the Turkish-Syrian border and the frequent assaults on the Turkish people. The latest attack on a police station in which 11 people were killed underscores the pressures the Erdogan government is under and the fact that the most attractive tourist destination in the Middle East-European sector is becoming a battlefield. Turkey has always been a balancing factor in two distinct value systems and played the role of a bridge.
Now, largely deserted by its western allies and its Nato connection more a technical haven, the country has to face the cruel and harsh reality of a fight within a fight within a fight, rather like those Russian Matryoshka dolls.
Erdogan faces the war on the Syrian front. He faces the Kurdish insurgency and their frequent raids into towns and villages. This issue becomes a political conflict because it pits Turkey against the traditional allies which are the US forces and the coalition who are using the Kurds to take on Daesh.
If this doesn’t end the travails, Ankara has to contend with Daesh who is continuing its attacks on soft targets in areas where it has control. Ironically, by projecting this conundrum the Kurds accuse Turkey of siding with Daesh.
While the intensification of attacks in Turkey could be traced to its newly reworked foreign policy where it establishes relations with Israel and soft pedals its tensions with Russia, Turkey may well be looking for a hand-holding from without.
What makes this plausible is that the nation itself is still rocky after the attempted coup and the level of trust in government after the arrest of over 40,000 people from all walks of life including senior ranking officials has created an atmosphere hardly conducive to a collectiveness of intent.
That purge is ongoing and with every arrest or detention, there is a negative impact. If suspicion becomes paranoia then the loyalty factor is dismissed and the damage is devastating. Perhaps the Erdogan regime should ease up on the cleansing and concentrate on the now major pressures on his government and the insecurity, which is rife in the public.
There seems little doubt that terror attacks on civilians whether from the PPK or Daesh are not going to stop.
How much more can Turkey take before the wall begins to crumble, and can the world afford another Syria?