Erdogan ditches previous policy priorities to pursue new aims

What the Arabic press are saying about Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent strategic moves in Syria

Ankara is trying to please the Americans by effectively contributing to the war against ISIL and ousting it from Jarabalus. Rodi Said / Reuters

In the past few days, the Americans have given Ankara the green light to support factions of the Free Syrian Army heading to Jarabulus in a bid to get a grip on the city after ousting ISIL forces.

Writing in Al Arab newspaper, Iraqi columnist Marwan Yassine Al Dulaimi said this marks a shift in the US stance and is directly related to the repercussions of the Syrian conflict on Ankara.

In light of the quick turn of events on the northern front, Al Dulaimi considered the timing and importance of such a shift, noting that “it is closely related to the White House’s attempts at mending its relationship with Ankara after the failed coup in an attempt to confirm the key role of Turkey as an indispensable strategic partner in the region”.

That said, the writer does not see any change in the position of the Americans vis-à-vis Ankara.

“They continue to support Ankara’s national security and are not trying to squander their special historical relationship. Turkey being a member of Nato implies that US support for the Syrian Democratic Forces will not be at the expense of such a regional force and strategic partnership.”

For its part, Ankara is trying to please the Americans by effectively contributing to the war against ISIL and ousting it from Jarabalus.

“As such, Ankara will be withdrawing this card that the other parties are unremittingly waving in its face because they feel that it has not exerted any military efforts to confirm the credibility of its opposition to ISIL,” Al Dulaimi opined.

“Ankara knows all too well that the US is capable – on its own – of making the Democratic Syrian Forces retreat to the east of Euphrates on its orders without putting up any fight”, he noted.

Until last Wednesday, before factions of the Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army took control, the US had forbidden Turkey from making any military move or from taking part in the Syrian conflict, contrary to its recent position.

“Such a shift reveals that Turkey was subjected to the international will represented by the US and that it could not act outside this will. Countries of the region have carefully drawn borders that it could never overstep without orders that give it freedom of movement,” the writer concluded.

“Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has once again turned around since the failed coup,” wrote the columnist Raghida Dergham in the pan-Arab daily newspaper Al Hayat.

“By redefining and re-enacting Turkey’s role in Syria as a national authoritarian priority, he flouted previous agreements with Gulf countries and broke the US-led international coalition in Syria,” Dergham noted.

“Mr Erdogan had placed the containment of the Kurdish expansion at the top of his priorities and has agreed with Iran on preventing the progress of Kurdish nationalism, even eliminating it if need be. He took on the destruction of ISIL through the Russian window without closing the American door on this priority, hence becoming indispensable to both sides,” she said.

“He has forsaken his previous priorities and as such, post-coup Turkey shows greater readiness to approve a transitional phase where Bashar Al Assad remains ‘temporarily’, without any time limit”.

The main concern caused by Mr Erdogan’s new policy, Dergham continued, is the belief among Gulf leaderships that Turkey’s fight against ISIL and the Kurds means that it is directing the war against them instead of the regime in Damascus. Hence, Mr Erdogan has become part of an axis that includes Iran, Russia and a new Syria based on Mr Al Assad’s temporary stay in power.

“At a certain point, Turkey was a friend of Mr Al Assad and Israel before supporting his enemies, including ISIL. Today, Mr Erdogan has changed his alliances and friendships, reconciling with Israel strategically and with Mr Al Assad tactically and deciding to fight ISIL, his new enemy.”

“Mr Erdogan’s Turkey used to consider the West and the Gulf as its allies, today it takes as allies whoever shows support for Mr Erdogan’s government,” Dergham concluded.