What airport attack means for Turkey's Syria policy
Until now, Ankara had sought to refocus the anger against IS on Kurdish groups, but does Tuesday’s attack mean this strategy will change?
Turkey has been the target of Islamic State (IS) bombing attacks seven times since the general election a year ago. But the IS attack at Istanbul Ataturk Airport on June 28 that killed 42 people and wounded 239 others needs closer attention for its target selection, timing and possible links to regional developments.
The attack came after Turkish officials had taken steps to improve relations with Russia and hoped Russian tourists would start returning; Israel and Turkey had just struck an agreement to normalize relations. Pro-government media immediately concluded that the airport attack was meant to sabotage Turkey’s peace process with its neighbors. Nobody seems to question Ankara’s bankrupt Syria policy that provided guns, training and logistics support to dangerous organizations over the past five years and granted border crossing privileges to jihadis.
The pro-AKP daily Sabah, under the headline “Treacherous ambush of peace,” commented, “Gangs of betrayers exposed themselves as [Turkey was] reconciling with Israel and Russia.” Pro-government media was overflowing with comments that linked the airport attack to attempts to surround Turkey, to hinder its progress and to isolate it.
But there is not the slightest indication that IS is uncomfortable with Turkey normalizing relations with Israel. The countries' return to the old days of good ties has no bearing on IS operations in Iraq and Syria. To the contrary, Israel is delighted with Turkey’s contribution to a proxy war against its top enemy, Syria.
