Turkey endangering own society by striking Kurds: Analyst

Press TV has conducted an interview with Kevork Almassian, a political commentator from Beirut, to discuss Turkey’s controversial airstrikes inside Iraq and Syria.

Following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: How do you perceive Turkey’s recent airstrikes on Iraqi and Syrian territory?

Almassian: I believe Turkey’s decision to strike both ISIS and the Kurds at the same time is a kind of reaction to the recent developments on the northern border of Syria, especially knowing that most of the territories which were previously controlled by ISIS are now freed by the PKK and the PYD (The Democratic Union Party) - the Kurdish forces. So the presence of strong Kurdish military forces on the Turkish borders with Syria is a redline for Turkey. We all know that since the beginning of the crisis, the redline for Turkey is to create a kind of Kurdish presence or a Kurdish canton on its southern border with Syria. But opening two fronts together against ISIS and the Kurds is a very dangerous thing. I believe Erdogan is trying to export the internal problem that he faced in Turkey into its neighboring countries. We all know that Erdogan lost the elections - the majority in the parliament. So by exporting this crisis into its neighbors, by striking ISIS and the PYD, he wants to obstruct the negotiations between the AKP (The Justice and Development Party) and the other opposition groups in Turkey. By doing so, he is going to early elections in Turkey in order to maybe guarantee the majority again. However, if Turkey succeeded by doing so, by eliminating the Kurds, this will have its own repercussions inside the Turkish society and we might see an Armageddon coming. One of the articles today on Huffington Post was saying that Turkey is on the road to Armageddon, and this is very true, because you are striking the Kurds, who have a strong presence inside Turkey itself. So by doing so, you are endangering your own society and you are putting it on the brink of a civil war in Turkey.

Press TV: What is the end game in all this for Turkey?

Almassian: In my opinion, Turkey should advance the negotiations with the Kurds on the internal level first. Erdogan should put his personal ambitions aside and make peace with the Kurds and combat the ISIS. We all know that ISIS enjoyed a lot of facilities and support by Turkey, so now it’s time for Turkey to make peace with the Kurds, to share power, to make a unity government with the opposition groups, with opposition parties, and also join the international coalition against ISIS to destroy this terrorist organization on the northern part of the Syrian border because nothing is more dangerous than this lunatic group called ISIS on the border with Turkey, because at the end of the day ISIS is a very dangerous group and they will target Turkey sooner or later.

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