TURKEY: A MESS THAT IS STEADILY GROWING

Now comes a showdown between the takfiri mercenaries and their beloved 'Pasha' who gets a dose of his own medicine.

But should this really surprise Rajjab Erdogan?  Did he really never expect that these terrorists could some day become just as deadly a nuisance for him as they have been for his enemy, Bashar al-Assad?  Was he unable to read the ambitions of these thugs for the past four years who have been trying to embark on a global and not a local (Syria alone) so-called jihad?

Turkish army, police and security have been diligently assisting ISIL for years colluding with their Western and gulf Arab allies.  Turkey has been a safe haven and  primary gateway for ISIL and ANF criminals slipping into Syria.  Erdogan has adamantly refused to help the Kurds fighting ISIL in Syria.  It recently led to the death of two Turkish police officers by the military wing of PKK because "the security officers were cooperating with the ISIL Takfiri group operating in neighboring Syria" stated by Press TV.

The persistent ugly policies of the Turkish government have helped inculcate a destructive framework.  Official sources in Turkey claim that Turkish citizens constitute a very small circle of ISIL fighters and supporters. However, there are evidences of significantly large numbers of Turks helping ISIL militarily and also chaperoning weapons and recruits from countries like Libya and Mali into Syria and Iraq.  Segments of rural Turkey are still tribal communities. Analysts and researchers within Turkey are of the opinion that ISIL supply routes are handled by prominent tribal leaders as contractual assignments who work as smugglers along Turkey's borders. 

On July 20, ISIL claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing at Suruc, a Turk-Kurdish border town, killing 32 civilians and injuring many more.  The killer was identified as a young Turkish university student and a supporter of ISIL.  Most of the victims were also students who congregated at Suruc preparing to travel to Kobani for rebuilding the town. 

On July 24 came the big escalation when ISIL ambushed Turkish forces at Dag military post in Kilis, killing one Turkish soldier and wounding four that led to an open confrontation between the two loving allies and Turkey gathering its F-16 fighter jets and tanks aimed at ISIL near the border on Syrian soil.

Subsequently Turkish police arrested over 300 people in Istanbul and within twelve Turkish provinces.  Enough to give an idea how wide Turkey has allowed this terrorist network to expand!  Al Qaeda militants aren't just a few thousand fighters restricted along the borders.  They are a network across Turkey because the Turkish government welcomed them for establishing that network.

ISIL's immediate reaction?
Last month (June 2015) ISIL started a Turkish language magazine that viewed Turkey as a close and trustworthy friend in its first edition.  The second edition of the magazine in July called Istanbul an 'occupied territory' and stamped Erdogan a 'tyrant.'

But allegedly by far the majority of arrestees aren't ISIL terrorists. They're Kurdish Turks who have been effective fighters against ISIL. Also, reportedly Turkish Air Force has carried out more than a dozen air strikes against Kurdistan Workers Party in Iraq (an affiliate of Syrian Kurds) and only two or three strikes against ISIL. Is Ankara's military intervention in northern Syria against ISIL a pretext to halt the advances of Syrian Kurds? 

Additionally unconfirmed whispers are swirling that Obama and Erdogan have agreed on a no-fly zone over Syria.  Why?   To neutralize the war planes of Bashar al-Assad?

The latest bluff by US, Britain, Saudi Arabia and Turkey is that they are training "Syrian rebels" to fight ISIL.   That simply means strengthening the international band of Al Qaeda terrorists (ISIL included) for more aggressive proxy invasions of countries like Yemen and Syria.  There is nothing such as "Syrian rebels" any longer.  That's an old saga.  The CIA had put them on the stage in April 2011 as a very small indigenous group of Muslim Brotherhooders to blend with the so-called Arab Spring in the name of "Free Syrian Army" for toppling Bashar al-Assad.  But they had no resources, no logistics and very little local support.  They were wholly dependent on Al Qaeda for military sustenance since day one.  They have long defected and disbanded, joining either ANF or ISIL - both of which have solidly sprouted from the ideology of Al Qaeda as proliferating splinter groups.  The former "Free Syrian Army" is now a phantom named "Syrian rebels."  Differently put, 'Syrian rebels' is a cuddly nickname for Al-Qaeda invented by CIA, MI6 and Mossad.

To shorten a long story, let's not get too excited over the Turkish Pasha's skirmishes with his longtime ally.  Despite the sudden change of relations with ISIL and consequent clashes, Mr. Erdogan definitely won't quit the idea of tinkering Syria.  For years he made no bones about his dependency on ISIL;  and he is still desperate to topple ""Assad the dictator.""  With two key points - toppling Assad and preventing the establishment of a contiguous Kurdish territory - ISIL is the least of Turkey's woes no matter how many Turkish soldiers it kills. And Obama appreciates that, of course. 

Beyond a shadow of a doubt, Turkey's obsession with ISIL .. errr  ""Syrian rebels"" ... will continue and contribute to the mess within Turkey at a steady pace.

Dag military post at Kilis near Turkish/Syrian border killing a Turkish soldier.  Image shows 2 ambulances leaving Dag military post.
Source: Reuters