Turkey’s Syrian Gamble: Enter the Kurds

The car bomb explosion that rocked the southern Turkish city of Gaziantep on August 20 in 2012, killing nine people including three children, had sharpened debate as to whether Turkey’s support for Syrian rebels was boomeranging in the form of greater separatist violence at home. After protracted efforts to persuade Assad along the path of reform, Turkey was then firmly committed to regime change in Syria. Critics of Turkish policy, including the main opposition Republican People’s Party, said the Turkish approach had backfired and some are calling for Turkey’s foreign minister to resign. Syrian bombing raids on towns near the Turkish border had strained Turkey’s resolve and credibility. Meanwhile Kurdish PKK separatists, perhaps emboldened by other Kurdish action in the region, had escalated attacks. If this continues, Turkey might feel compelled to attack Syria.