Turkey may try to secure its presence in Syria, turkologist says
Giving a green light to Turkey for launching an offensive against Syria will turn into headache for those centers of power, who authorized it, turkologist Levon Hovsepyan told Panorama.am, suggesting military operations unleashed in Syria by Turkey were coordinated with the US, Russia, and partly Iran.
“Military operations in northern Syria are obviously conducted within certain arrangements, reached with those centers of power,” Hovsepyan said.
To his words, the permission was given for limited actions, even though one may not rule out Turkey will try to secure its presence in some northern parts of the Syrian territory.
“That appears to be Turkey’s goal. I think the agreement reached through diplomatic channels and interactions, referred to limited military plans. However, I do not think Turkey will be satisfied with that,” the turkologist stressed.
Hovsepyan reminds that Turkey’s primary aim is to solve own security issues, in particular the Kurdish issue, under the veil of combating the Islamic State.
“At present, much depends on how the centers of power will react to Turkey’s actions and how extensively Turkey will proceed with the operations. I do not tend to think those operations are short-term, quite the opposite, Turkey may stuck into war processes, which may result in serious repercussions on the domestic front,” said Hovsepyan, adding, the main goal of the Turkish leadership is to neutralize the Kurdish threat and prevent the establishment of the Kurdish corridor.
“By and large, this is not a struggle against the Islamic State, rather elimination of the Kurdish threat and securing a presence in the north of Syria,” Hovsepyan maintained, suggesting military actions will allow Turkey to break the geopolitical and diplomatic deadlock it faces.
To remind, on August 24 Turkey launched a ground incursion into Syria targeting Islamic State and Kurdish fighters near the town of Jarablus. Ankara said it wanted to take the town to stop cross-border attacks, while the Kurds warned that Turkish troops would get into a quagmire.