Turkey Reconsiders Support For Jabhat Al-Nusra
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan tells US President Barack Obama he is “disturbed” by the rise of extremist groups in Syria.
Signs are increasing that Ankara is gradually, albeit somewhat reluctantly, giving up its support for the radical Islamist group known as Jabhat al-Nusra, which it once promoted as the most effective force in Syria against President Bashar al-Assad.
Turkey had criticized as “premature” the US designation of al-Nusra as a terrorist organization in December 2012, given the advances the group appeared to be securing for the Syrian opposition at the time. During a visit to Washington in January, Turkish Foreign Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu reportedly told his American interlocutors that “it was more important to focus on the ‘chaos’ that Assad has created instead of groups such as al-Nusra.”
Circumstances have changed since then, however, including the United Nations also listing the group as a terrorist organization. Meanwhile, al-Nusra’s presence in Syria, alongside other similar radical groups, has turned into a diplomatic handicap for Ankara in its efforts to secure weapons from the international community for the Syrian opposition.
Even Security Council members Britain and France, both once keen to arm the opposition, have stepped back, fearing that the sophisticated weapons required to tip the balance against Assad could end up in the hands of al-Nusra, or similar groups, and eventually be used against Western targets.
