Turkey using ISIL to get US-NATO backing

Press TV has conducted an interview with Bill Jones, a member of the Executive Intelligence Review in Washington, to discuss Turkey’s ongoing airstrikes against ISIL hideouts in Syria and the military positions of Turkey's Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in neighboring Iraq.  

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: Well this fighting or air attacks by the Turks in northern Iraq, how much of it has to do really with trying to stop ISIL and how much of it has to do with basically trying to up the ante inside of Syria in your perspective?

Jones: I think it is more the latter than the former. Obviously Turkey is also threatened by ISIL, all the nations in the region are threatened by them and it has been for Turkey I think a convenient pretext for getting US-NATO backing for what they really want to do and that is to stop the advance of the Kurdish forces which have been bearing the brunt of the fight against ISIL.

And given the numbers that are coming out now I think it is quite clear that the Turks really want to clean up from what they consider the worse problem for them and that is the Kurdish forces in the region and the Kurdish opposition in Turkey because the Kurdish party won extensively in the last election, throwing a monkey wrench into President Erdogan’s attempt to establish a new order in Turkey.  

Press TV: So is this sort of revenge all around one on the PKK and in general continuing Ankara’s aggression against Damascus?  

Jones: Absolutely. This is also the name of the game is “Get Assad” and in that respect the US agreement with Turkey on these issues is also I think a strengthening of the forces within the United States who really want to go after Assad.

Remember that there have been a lot of changes in the military leadership in the United States which have been rather hesitant of moving against Assad because they did view ISIL as the main threat but now you have a change in leadership, a new chief for the Joint Chief of Staff who would be more willing to move into the direction that the White House is pushing all the time - that is to have some kind of a military force which can overthrow Assad.

So in one respect I think you have a strengthening of that faction within the United States which then has kind of coalesce with what the Turks want to do which is also to get rid of Assad. So I think that is really on the table and it is a violation of the sovereignty of a nation. People have talked about Ukraine and Crimea. Believe me, this is an intervention into the internal affairs of a country in a big, big way much bigger than anybody else has done in recent history.

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