​Terror and coalition

TURKEY - In Brief 21 Jul 2015 by Atilla Yesilada

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I apologize for delaying this update on the horrific terror attack in the town of Suruc, Sanliurfa Province, only miles away from the Syrian border, to cover Tuesday’s AKP-CHP meeting, as well. The terror attack confirms what has been claimed in our Weekly Trackers many times: Turkey has become part of the Syrian War, and such incidents will increase in frequency, complicating reconciliation talks between Ankara and Kurds, as well as undermining economic confidence. AKP member Mr. Omer Celik and his CHP counterpart Mr. Haluk Koc only agreed to form additional teams to study the question of coalition formation, which may take “at least 10-12” days according to their separate statements. While no talks on matters of substance were held, Koc made it clear in his subsequent press conference that the Syria policy needs to be overhauled drastically, for which I assume Erdogan has no appetite at this point. As I write these lines, premier Davutoglu pretty much confirmed that the suicide bomber was affiliated with ISIS, while the body count reached 32, with at least 6 more severely injured. The targets were socialist youths being sent-off to Syrian Kurdish town Kobane to help with rebuilding after the devastating ISIS siege. I believe ISIS had four objectives: · To punish Turkey’s Kurds for assisting Syrian Kurds in their successful campaign to capture Kobane and Tel Abyad (Eastern Kurdish town Haseke may be added to the list as of today). · To further divide the Kurds between pro-PKK/PYD and Islamist factions, hoping to increase its following among the latter. · To warn Ankara to ditch its plans to establish a buffer zone inside Syria. · To avenge the recent detentions of ISI...