For NATO Turkey seems to be a very uncomfortable and crazy ally. It keeps supporting ISIS, trading with ISIS, giving a shelter, curing and training ISIS leaders, keeps shelling Syrian territories and killing Kurds. And … still no punishment, no sanctions, nothing.
Moscow has started taking concrete steps towards ceasefire in Syria, the Russian Defense Ministry said. Meanwhile, shelling of the Syrian territory is continuing from Turkey despite the peace deal.
Russia takes concrete steps towards Syria ceasefire, Turkey continues shelling – MoD
Dr. Ernst-Jorg von Studnitz, former German ambassador to Russia said despite Turkey has a very separate interest in this whole affair and feels threatened by Kurdish developments in Syria; he trusts that American influence will be strong enough in order to keep the Turks in line.
‘Those who breach Syrian ceasefire should be dealt with severely’
US calls on Turkey to stop shelling, citing Syria cease-fire
US calls on Turkey to stop shelling PYD, citing Syria cease-fire
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he feared a U.S.-Russian ceasefire plan would do little more than benefit Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and accused the West, Russia and Iran of only seeking to further their own interests. "The West, the United States, Russia, Iran, the European Union and United Nations have unfortunately not managed to stand tall by the honor of humanity," Erdogan said in a speech in Ankara broadcast live on television.
Turkey's Erdogan says U.S.-Russian Syria plan could benefit Assad
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ISIS leaders remain in close contact with Ankara – Lavrov
Russian intel spots 12,000 oil tankers & trucks on Turkey-Iraq border - General Staff
Captured ISIS fighter says 'trained in Turkey, ISIS thinks it’s safer here than Syria'
“Turkey is facing a multifaceted catastrophe,” said Gokhan Bacik, professor of international relations at Ankara’s Ipek University. “This is a country that has often had problems in the past, but the scale of what is happening now is beyond Turkey’s capacity for digestion.”
“Erdogan has mismanaged foreign policy because of hubris,” Barkey said. “He was overconfident in 2010 that Turkey was the darling of the world, and that went to his head. There are setbacks that are not of his doing, but how he managed those setbacks are his doing.”
“I’m not saying that Turkey has lost its mind and is poised for war, but the posture in Ankara is very strange and could lead to surprises,” he said. “What’s happening in Syria is a question of survival for Erdogan, so it is not possible to rule anything out. “For Turkey,” he added, “there is no good scenario from now on.”
Turkey’s increasingly desperate predicament poses real dangers
