The Costs of Turkey Joining the Anti-Syria Coalition
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu created excitement by saying Turkey would be part of a coalition of the willing in an operation against Syria — but can Turkey do it?
When Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu declared that, should the Security Council be unable to decide because of Russian and Chinese vetoes, Turkey would join the coalition of the willing, what role the Turkish military could play and the limits of its capacity became a hot discussion topic.
Although Turkey has participated in some international operations under US leadership, it had not been a combatant partner since the Korean War. The subtext of the Turkish call that "the international community must intervene in Syria," after giving up hope on the United Nations, is a wish to repeat the Kosovo model in Syria, led by the United States, Britain and France.
Contrary to expectations, Turkey did not foresee a combatant role for itself while calling for meaningful intervention. But Ankara’s perceptible desire to join the coalition of the willing inevitably led to the question of whether Turkey was asking for a different role this time. While the core group of the Friends of Syria was meeting in Istanbul on Aug. 26 with the Syrian National Coalition, Turkey was also participating in the Amman meeting of the military wing. These meetings boosted expectations that Turkey is likely to have a major role in the coalition. But then government officials felt the need to reiterate that Turkey will not be assuming a combatant role in case of a military intervention in Syria. Nevertheless, the final configuration is not yet clear.
Fragility and inexperience
