The Syrian people's demand to live in a democratic and free country was not acknowledged by the members of the United Nations' Security Council and particularly by the United States. During the five-year long civil war, almost all the international forces interpreted Syria as a realm of the international power struggle. The Syrian civil war, in this respect, demonstrates that the new world order is no longer functional and that alliances have become more complicated than ever.
Since the beginning of the Syrian civil war, the barren, inactive and hesitant Syrian policy coming out of the U.S. has rendered the policies of the members of the European Union and Turkey in Syria unproductive and ineffective. Soon enough Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia and the U.S. along with an international coalition of 60 members, established against the specter of DAESH, took the stage. Yet, while Assad's regime continues to exist and DAESH looks as if it will be eradicated from Syrian lands within the foreseeable future, the Syrian branch of the PKK, poses a grave threat for Turkey and the territorial integrity of Syria and is proceeding to establish an autonomous canton state in northern Syria. Regrettably the U.S., which leads the aforementioned grand coalition against DAESH, has to rely on a terrorist organization in implementing their policies in Syria.
For more than a year, both the PKK and DAESH have committed various terrorist activities in Syria and elsewhere. While DAESH has conducted many suicide attacks in Turkey, France and Germany, the PKK and the Democratic Union Party (PYD) militants carried out bombing attacks in various city centers in Turkey without distinguishing between civilian and military targets after having crossed the Syrian border.
So Turkey has decided to take action to resolve her security problems by fighting against those terrorist elements directly in the lands where they reside. In fact, such a direct method of dealing with those terrorist groups will not only eradicate terror in Turkey, but also significantly influence the future of the Syrian civil war. The consequences of Turkey's Jarablus offensive are as follows:
1. Turkey ensures the territorial integrity of Syria by preventing the unification of the PKK's cantons.
2. Turkey secures her Syrian borders by expelling DAESH from northern Syria.
3. Turkey proves that the PKK, which currently continues to commit terrorist activities in Turkey by relying on acquisitions in Syria, will not last long in that country.
The Syrian regime, Iran, Turkey, Russia, and many other states strongly support Syria's territorial integrity. Through her Jarablus offensive, Turkey openly strengthens the aforementioned position. The military elements of the PKK in Syria, on the other hand, aim at deepening the Syrian crisis by attempting to establish an autonomous state with the aid of the U.S. Therefore, whether the U.S. will embrace the territorial integrity of Syria or support a terrorist organization and deepen the Syrian chaos is yet to be seen. It is my conviction that the U.S. with their strong democratic tradition will sooner or later question their support of the PKK through a self-critical perspective.
In short, Turkey's Jarablus offensive, which aims at resolving Turkey's security problems directly through her own forces, both weakens DAESH and strengthens the territorial integrity of Syria.
About the author
İhsan Aktaş is Chairman of the Board of GENAR Research Company. He is an academic at the Department of Communication at Istanbul Medipol University.
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