Kurdish PKK States NATO Turkey is Protecting ISIS in Syria: Timidity of ISIS Towards Turkey
Nuray Lydia Oglu, Noriko Watanabe and Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times
It is abundantly clear that the failure of ISIS (Islamic State – IS) to erase the fighting capabilities of the Kurds in Northern Syria became a serious issue for President Erdogan of Turkey. Indeed, during the hours of need for Kurds in Kobane (Kobani) the armed forces of Turkey merely watched events from close proximity. Similarly, another barbaric attack that led to many Kurds being butchered by ISIS in Kobane had Turkish footprints all over it. After all, ISIS openly manipulated the Turkish side of the border with Syria. However, despite NATO Turkey being an open conduit for international jihadists and Takfiri killers, the Kurds somehow held out against all the odds in Kobane and in other adjacent areas related to the border of Turkey.
The upshot of the failure of ISIS against the Kurds in Northern Syria is the open manipulation of events by Turkey in relation to allegedly upping the ante against ISIS. Yet the new so-called policy of Turkey in attacking ISIS is a mere cover for bombing the PKK (Kurdistan Worker’s Party) and arresting left wing individuals. In other words, the minor bombing of ISIS by Turkey is in stark contrast to the heavier bombing of the PKK.
Cemil Bayik, a very senior and important individual in the PKK, told the BBC “The Turkish claim they are fighting Islamic State… but in fact they are fighting the PKK…President] Erdogan is behind IS massacres. His aim is to stop the Kurdish advance against them, thus advancing his aim of Turkishness in Turkey.”
In a similar vein, Time reports “It’s obvious that Ankara is alarmed by the progress Kurdish fighters in Syria are making against ISIS and Assad, which they fear will only stoke the independence dreams of Turkish Kurds. In response to the Suruç bombing, Turkish police launched security raids across the country, rounding up more than 1,300 suspects in a matter of days. But the number of PKK militants detained outnumber ISIS affiliates more than 6 to 1. Between July 23 and July 26, 75 Turkish jets flew 155 sorties against 400 or so PKK targets. Number of ISIS targets hit? Three.”
Indeed, while ISIS is at pains to show its utter barbarity to the world, for example beheading Christians on beaches in Libya, burning alive a Jordanian pilot in a cage, selling Yazidi women into slavery, beheading Syrian soldiers – and so forth; the same ISIS appears extremely constrained when it comes to Turkey. In time, this may change if ISIS really deems Turkey to be an enemy based on former masters not being able to control what they helped to create. However, at the moment it is only the PKK that is responding to the bombing campaign of Turkey and not ISIS.
The Gatestone Institute reports: “Had the Turkish military attacked the PKK alone, and not in addition to attacking ISIS, it would probably have received widespread international condemnation. So to add “legitimacy” to its attacks against the Kurdish PKK — whose affiliate Democratic Union Party (PYD) in Syria and its armed wing, the Kurdish People’s Defense Units (YPG) have been resisting ISIS and other Islamist terrorist groups since 2013 — Turkey declared that it will also attack ISIS. This would give it cover for its attacks against Kurdish fighters.”
The directives of the President and Prime Minister of Turkey against the Kurds also highlight the abject failure of President Obama of America. After all, it is abundantly clear that Turkey is heavily focused on the Kurdish question and not the containment and eradication of ISIS.
The Independent reports about the huge differences and objectives of America and Turkey by stating “Even if this dispute is ultimately resolved, it highlights the contradiction at the heart of US policy: Washington is teaming up with a Turkish government whose prime objective in Syria is to prevent the further expansion of PYD/YPG territory which already extends along 250 miles of the 550-mile-long Syrian-Turkish border. In brief, Ankara’s objective is the precise opposite of Washington’s and little different from that of ISIS, which has been battling on the ground to hold back the PYD/YPG advance.”
Overall, it is clear that NATO Turkey is focused on containing and then reducing the power bases of the Kurds in Northern Syria. After this, Turkey under Erdogan hopes to overthrow the government of Syria. In other words, the ISIS threat isn’t on the radar when it comes to the policies of Ankara towards the Kurds and the government of Syria.
This reality is behind the timidity of ISIS towards Turkey alongside other factors in relation to economic interests, maintaining the jihadist conveyor belt that utilizes the geography of Turkey openly and other important factors. Given this reality, ISIS isn’t openly targeting Turkey because the hand that feeds – and the hand that tolerates – is still a valuable asset. Therefore, with Turkey mainly focused on the PKK issue, it does appear that the bombing campaign against ISIS is nothing more than a cover for the real motives of Ankara.
In other words, it is all about containing and then eradicating the power bases of the Kurds in Northern Syria and within the body politic of Turkey.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33818282
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/6223/turkey-isis-kurds
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