One feet away from the swamp


Turkey is beıng pushed steadily toward the war. Turkish participation is actively sought and demanded internationally ın a conflict that it is not part of and does not have the capability to solve. Why there is such pressure and what is really asked from Turkey remains totally obscure. Most recently, Bernard-Henri Lévy, the famous French philosopher who convinced French the president, Nicolas Sarkozy, to attack Moammar Gadhafi's forces in Libya, openly asked Turkey to enter the war.A philosopher may ask for such things and for very good reasons from his viewpoint perhaps, but at the end of the day, such declarations do not change the international agenda. But this one did. Starting from U.S. mass media outlets, Turkey has been under constant pressure for the last two weeks to solve the problem. It virtually turned into a major culprit regarding the situation in Kobani.From The Guardian and Corriere della Sera to Le Figaro and The New York Times, newspapers are depicting and underlining the "unwillingness of Turkey to enter the war." It would probably take not one, but at least three Turkish armies to settle the situation in both Iraq and Syria. Besides, sending in the armed forces will result in probably more problems. The U.S., with all its incredible military might, invaded Iraq in three weeks in 2003 against an already crippled Iraqi army. They started to implement a "democratic structure" just afterward.The situation today shows us all that it is totally impossible to implement a democratic structure through warfare and liberties are not saved by foreign occupation. Turkey had 49 staff members from its consulate in Mosul, Iraq abducted by the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) recently. The whole period during when the hostages were held by ISIS militants gave way to incredible conspiracy theories including that Turkey willingly left its diplomats in the hands of the terrorists to stay out of the conflict. After the release of the diplomats, the same circles came up with a new theory saying that Turkey would never become part of the international anti-ISIS coalition formed by the U.S. and should therefore be ultimately taken out of NATO.President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, during his visit to the U.S., openly declared that Turkey will not only be part of this coalition, but moreover, will remain at the center of it. Since this moment, there is a "total, all azimuth propaganda war" against Turkey. Lévy declared it openly: "In 1991, Turkey only reluctantly joined in operations to support the civilian population of northern Iraq. On March 1, 2003, Turkey's Grand National Assembly, in a vote that cast a long shadow over the country's relations with its allies, voted against allowing 62,000 American troops to pass through Turkey on their way to Baghdad or to be based in Turkey. If Turkey stands down a third time - if Kobani becomes the name of yet another Turkish default, this one inexcusable - its future in NATO is in doubt."Erdoğan has come up with a simple and feasible strategy. First, have a no-fly zone established by the international community to prevent Bashar Assad's air forces to back ISIS fighters. Second, establish a safe zone for Syrian refugees to be kept in their own country. Third, establish a program for training and arming a democratic opposition and let them fight for their own freedom. He is the only leader to have proposed a feasible strategy based on the solidarity of all the coalition partners. Ankara, despite huge efforts spent on humanitarian aid and support, has been and is being accused for not doing enough. There will soon be a time when Turkish public opinion will say "enough is enough," and this moment is nearing.