Turkey’s tactical concessions to mend fences with its Arab allies

Turkey has backtracked on some of its policies, write Oraib Al Rantawi (Al Addustoor) and Abdel Bari Atwan (Rai Al Youm)

Iraqi Kurdish forces take position as they fight jihadist militants from ISIL in the Iraqi village of Bashir. Photo: Karim Sahib / AFP

Turkey has experienced two setbacks in the last few days, Oraib Al Rantawi said in the Jordanian daily Addustoor.

The first involved Kobani, with Ankara allowing Kurdish peshmerga forces to cross its territory to defend the Kurdish-majority Syrian border town. The second was when Ankara sent its special envoy, Emrullah Isler, to renew Turkey’s support of Libya’s elected government of Abdullah Al Thinni.

Turkey’s rejection of calls to arm Syrian Kurds who are battling the ISIL militants had incensed the international community, including Ankara’s allies. France and the UK did not approve of Turkey’s intransigent stance, while Washington said that it was “irresponsible” and “morally very difficult” not to support the Kurds. The US rejected holding the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union party (KDU) accountable for the acts of Turkey’s outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Mounting pressure prompted Turkey to make concessions. This came amid reports of talks between the US and the KDU, and news that the anti-ISIL coalition was about to welcome Syrian Kurds into its ranks.

Yet there remain significant differences between Turkey and the US-led coalition, including Ankara’s conditions for joining the fight against ISIL. This has brought Turkey huge criticism that it has sought to contain by making “tactical” and belated compromises.

Mr Isler’s visit to Libya came a month after president Recep Tayyip Erdogan sparked a crisis with Libya’s elected parliament by questioning the Libyan government’s legitimacy. Many Libyans saw this as an act of support for Libya’s Muslim Brotherhood and Ansar Al Sharia, who are fighting the government.

Mr Isler conveyed a clear message to the Libyan government in Tobruk, recognising its legitimacy and calling on anti-government rebels to drop their weapons and join the government. This is a clear U-turn by Ankara regarding Libya’s Muslim Brotherhood, which it has long backed.

Earlier, there was speculation that Ankara might call on some exiled Muslim Brotherhood leaders in Turkey to halt their activities or leave the country, in an bid to stop further deterioration in its ties with Arab countries including Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

The writer said Turkey’s “isolation” and international pressure prompted these tactical moves, designed to safeguard its interests in Libya.

In the London-based news website Rai Al Youm, Abdel Bari Atwan highlighted two events.

One was the US military aircraft mistakenly dropping sophisticated weapons and ammunition intended for Kurdish forces into ISIL-controlled areas of Kobani.

The second was Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu telling Turkey-based NTV television on Tuesday that Kurdish peshmerga fighters from Iraq were yet to cross into Syria from Turkish territory and that talks on the subject were underway. This came three days after he said his country would not allow Kobani to fall and that it opened its borders to Kurdish peshmerga fighters to enter it.

It is hard to tell whether Ankara backtracked out of fear of the Kurdish fighters defending Kobani or from ISIL’s revenge or both. What is certain is that this change of heart will have consequences, including further disagreement with the US-led coalition against ISIL and reviving Western and Arab accusations that Turkey is backing ISIL, directly or indirectly.

A further surprise was the new Iraqi prime minister, Haider Al Abadi, choosing Tehran as his first official visit since taking office. This prompted speculation in Iraq and abroad that the sectarian approach in Baghdad will continue, making hopes of forming an Iraqi national guard modelled on the Sunni Awakening Movement a tough task.

This will particularly disappoint the Gulf countries, which hoped the new Iraqi premier would adopt a more neutral position.

He said these three surprises clearly suggest that both regional and international players are at a loss about how to deal with the ISIL threat, leading some to argue in favour of solving the problem by getting at the root of it and reaching a political agreement with Assad regime.

Translated by Abdelhafid Ezzouitni