News Analysis: Turkey decelerates engagement in Syrian crisis
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E-mail Xinhua, October 10, 2012
News Analysis: Turkey decelerates engagement in Syrian crisis
ANKARA, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- Turkey slows down its engagement into the Syrian crisis as Ankara could not get support from international community, Turkish experts said here on Tuesday.
"Turkey was moving fast (on its policies regarding Syrian crisis), but has put on the brake as Ankara could not receive support on its arguments," Prof. Dr. Huseyin Bagci, chairman of Department of International Relations at Middle East Technical University, told Xinhua on Tuesday.
However, it is very difficult for Turkey "to stop the car" at this stage, since it has engaged too much into the Syrian course, Bagci added.
The Syrian shelling of the border town of Akcakale of Sanliurfa province in southeastern Turkey last Wednesday, which killed five civilians, marked a sharp escalation on the Turkish-Syrian border.
The Turkish military has been responding artillery shelling in kind since then to mortar bombs flying over its border.
Syrian forces and rebels have clashes at several sites near Turkey's border. It was not clear whether the Syrian shelling into the Turkish side was intentional or simply the result of overshooting attacked rebels.
Following the deadly shelling in Akcakale town, last week Turkish parliament gave the government authorization to use military force, if necessary, against Syria.
Syrian continued firing mortar bombs, while Turkey bombarded Syrian army targets again on Monday after a new shell strike on another border town. A day later, Turkey warned Damascus again that it would not hesitate to retaliate for any strike on its soil.
"It has become inevitable for our military to retaliate in kind as the Syrian administration maintains its aggressive position," Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his deputies as the country's Chief of General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces Necdet Ozel visited troops stationed at the Syrian border.
But Turkey has also made clear that it would be reluctant to launch any major military operation on the Syrian soil, and then only with international support.
Turkey did not aim to attack Syria, Bagci said, adding that case would be destruction for the country.
Although the Turkish government took permission from the parliament to use military force against its neighbor, the motion was "for deterrence" against Damascus, Bagci noted.
"Maybe the government would engage militarily if it could receive support from NATO and the U.S., but there is not such a signal," he said.
Although Ankara backsteps on its Syrian policy at the moment, it could take a new stance, according to the new U.S. president after the elections, Bagci said.
NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Tuesday that the alliance had "necessary plans in place to protect and defend Turkey if necessary."
Yet, NATO did not have intention to militarily support Turkey, Bagci said.
NATO member Turkey was once an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but turned against him after protests sparked in the conflict-hit country, in which activists say 30,000 people have died since the unrest started 18 months ago.
Turkey is sheltering nearly 100,000 Syrian refugees in camps in its southeast region, and hosts rebel leaders.
Turkey's relations with Syria was like a "wedding house," as the Turkish prime minister was close friend to Syria's Assad, but those ties turned into a "funeral home" at the moment, Bagci said.
Turkey proposed to establish a buffer zone into Syria, but could not receive international support since such a decision from the UN Security Council is not possible at the moment, Kamer Kasim, deputy head of the International Strategic Research Organization, told Xinhua on Tuesday.
Despite the parliament authorization for military presence in Syria, the Turkish government would not take a unilateral step for a buffer zone into its neighbor without international legitimation, he added.
Turkey had the military capacity to instantly respond Syria through the parliament authorization, Kasim said, citing for the moment Ankara keeps responding merely by retaliatory fires on Syrian targets.
"If the incidents came at a point out of control and if other Turkish nationals killed in its territory by Syrian shelling, then Turkey may consider responding by all means including air strike," Kasim noted. Enditem
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