Turkey not expected to revise Syria policy
Analysts predict Ankara will continue to refuse active involvement against the Islamic State and retain its current policy until Washington spells out its plans for Syria’s future.
Turkey remains in a difficult situation in the US-led fight against the Islamic State (IS). Ankara’s efforts to keep the focus on regime change in Damascus gained little traction at the 60-nation meeting in Brussels on Dec. 3 called by US Secretary of State John Kerry to assess progress in “degrading and destroying” IS.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s reluctance to get involved militarily in the fight against IS continues to fuel doubts about its commitment to the anti-IS coalition. Allegations that Ankara remains soft on IS — if not aiding it covertly — also continue to hound the government of Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
These allegations resurfaced after the deadly suicide attack in the northern Syrian town of Kobani on Nov. 29. Reuters reported that four IS militants blew themselves up in Kobani, one detonating a car bomb at the Mursitpinar border crossing with Turkey. It cited the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, as well as a Kurdish official, alleging that the vehicle used in the bombing had come from Turkey.
In a related development, Turkey's pro-Kurdish People's Democracy Party (HDP) has contended that IS militants are using Turkish public grain depots in an area patrolled by Turkish security forces as a base from which to attack Kobani.
