After the British parliament voted against supporting an American strike in Syria and US President Barack Obama decided to seek congressional approval for any military operation against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime for the Aug. 21 chemical attack on civilians in Ghouta, Turkey, too, seems to be backpedaling on its initial commitment to the “coalition of the willing.” After the weekly council of ministers meeting on Sept. 2, Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said, “If there were to be a coalition of the willing, and if that were to be serious — if there were to be an invitation to Turkey to take a role, then we would have looked at the authority we have in hand, and could work around something within the limits of that authority. But … the United States will unilaterally decide to conduct such an operation.”
This statement is more nuanced and less binding in comparison with Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s unwavering commitment on Aug. 23 on taking a role. “We lived a similar thing in Bosnia at Srebrenica," Davutoglu said. "The UN Security Council did not show a reaction against ethnic cleansing, [and] as a result, 8,000 people were killed in one night. Then the international community built a “coalition of the willing countries” who wanted to take action together, and they did so. The UN Security Council now needs to make a firm decision. If the council does not do that, we should act together with the willing countries.”
