Turkey is sinking into the quagmire of Syria

With urban conflicts and major terrorist attacks, Turkey is looking more and more like its war-ravaged neighbour.

Ankara might want to stop focusing on destroying the PKK, YPG, and Assad and ticking off Putin, and get its own house in order, writes Lepeska

olunteer aid workers breakfasting near the Syrian border. A massive, joyous peace rally in the centre of Ankara, the nation's capital. Foreign tourists taking in centuries-old monuments in the heart of old Istanbul. And, finally, a convoy of military personnel, again in central Ankara.

 

With nearly 200 people killed in just seven months, the beat goes on in Turkey. Four attacks, four targets, one goal: more terror, chaos, and violence. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu quickly sought to turn the latest bombing to Turkey's geopolitical advantage. 


He announced that the attacker, Syrian national Saleh Najjar, had ties to the Syrian Kurdish military group known as the People's Protection Units (YPG), which Davutoglu says received guidance on the plot from the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.

The PKK, which Turkey, the US and EU have labelled a terrorist group, has fought an off-and-on war with Turkey for more than three decades and has been battling Turkey's military across the southeast since the Suruc bombing last July.

Davutoglu called on allies such as the US - which has relied on the YPG in its fight against ISIL - to cease co-ordination with the group. "It is out of the question for us to excuse tolerance towards a terrorist organisation that targets our people in our capital," he said.

Deteriorating security situation
As Turkey's military began a fourth straight day of shelling YPG positions in northern Syria, the PYD and PKK denied any involvement in the attack. But at this point, the perpetrator is nearly irrelevant.
The more pressing issue is security. Turkey is a NATO-member state, with a respected military and a vast intelligence and security apparatus. It's also a sort of flood wall, helping to keep the swirling maelstrom of Syria out of Europe: after Turkey, the deluge.