Late last week, Turkey significantly escalated its involvement in Syria’s civil war by carrying out airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria and announcing it would allow U.S. military aircraft targeting the terrorist group to fly sorties out of Turkey.
Late last week, Turkey significantly escalated its involvement in Syria’s civil war by carrying out airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria and announcing it would allow U.S. military aircraft targeting the terrorist group to fly sorties out of Turkey.
These moves by Turkey, a NATO member that has one of the most powerful militaries in the region and has long been wary of deeper engagement in the Syrian war, could substantially bolster efforts to fight the Islamic State. But that shift was immediately followed by a dangerous development that will create even more turmoil in the region.
On Friday, Turkish warplanes launched airstrikes against the camps of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, a guerrilla group that operates out of remote regions in northern Iraq. The attack ended a truce between the Ankara government and the Kurdish militants that has largely held since 2013. Turkey’s opportunistic decision to conflate the risks posed by the Islamic State with its three-decade conflict with Kurdish separatists could set back the broader efforts of the U.S.-led coalition.
This new phase of the war against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, which appears most likely to lead to the establishment of a de facto no-fly zone over regions of northern Syria, is unfolding with virtually no meaningful input from Congress. Having failed to reach a consensus over the scope and nature of an authorization of war that would have set parameters for Washington’s involvement in Iraq and Syria, lawmakers appear resigned to allowing the Obama administration to slide ever more deeply into a complex war.
Having sought Turkey’s greater involvement in Syria for a long time, U.S. officials appear reluctant to criticize Turkey’s bombing of the PKK. Brett McGurk, a State Department official who is among those leading the effort against the Islamic State, noted in a statement over the weekend that the United States played no role in the airstrikes against the Kurdish group, but recognized Turkey’s “right to self-defense.”
In launching new attacks against the PKK and engaging in the war against the Islamic State, Turkey appears motivated by a desire to stem the proliferation of armed Kurdish groups along its border. The Kurds, an ethnic group in Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey, have long wanted to carve out a sovereign state in the region. That threat will not be reduced by escalating the conflict, which could potentially be resolved through negotiation.
In the short term, Turkey’s action is counterproductive for fighting the Islamic State. A Syrian offshoot of the PKK known as the People’s Protection Units, or YPG, has been among the most reliable allies for the U.S. military in Syria, as it has desperately sought fighters it can trust in Syria to hold down terrain.
If Turkey were to focus on routing the Islamic State, the multinational fight could possibly gain more traction. Allowing U.S. war planes to operate out of Turkey significantly cuts down flight time to and from targets. Turkey also appears more willing than ever to take meaningful steps to choke off the Islamic State’s pipelines of fighters and money. Those are important steps. But Turkey’s simultaneous campaign against the Kurds could seriously undermine those efforts.
