"Remove This Obstacle Of Turkey And We Will Finish Daesh"

NEW DELHI: Turkey, once a bastion of secularism in West Asia has turned into a receptacle for Daesh under Recep Tayyip Erdogan who has set back the clock for the country that had once served as the progressive face of the region.

Syria and Turkey that had worked in the past together, fell out when Erdogan enthusiastically joined the US led initiative to oust the Bashar al-Assad government in Syria. Since then Turkey has become the front state for this war against the Syrian government, using the common border to flush in the fighters, weaponry, funds and as Russian President Vladimir Putin has himself said, “oil” to keep the fighters of Daesh going.

Despite the strong evidence, Turkey supported by the US and Nato countries, has continued to support what eventually became Daesh in a bid to bring down arch enemy Assad. Putin’s entry into Syria has acted as a major constraint, more so as at the G20 he made it clear that Russian intelligence had information and evidence of at least 40 countries ---including many G20 nations---giving direct support to Daesh.

Putin has reportedly moved into Syria, armed with sufficient evidence corroborating the Syrian government’s claim of close links between the Erdogan government and Daesh. Turkey has now responded to these allegations by shooting down a Russian fighter, although it is still not clear as to how this wanton act will help it to weather the storm that it has further fuelled in the region. In fact it has stepped up the ante leading Russia to snap military relations with Turkey, and basically ensure that is far removed from the current ongoing battle against Daesh. It is almost certain that Russia---that had been requesting Erdogan till date--- will now militarily seal the borders with Turkey as a hostile act.

Significantly information of Turkey’s close links with Daesh have come regularly from the Kurds, in particular the KCK (Group of Communities) Executive Council that has been in touch with The Citizen. The Co-President of the Executive Council Cemil Bayik was almost prophetic a few days before the Russian plane was shot down by Turkey when he said what Putin and Assad subsequently reiterated, that ground forces could finish Daesh and regain even Raqqa with little fuss with the only obstacle being Turkey. “The international powers should remove this obstacle of Turkey,” he said in a statement to The Citizen.

The Syrians have been maintaining throughout that if the borders with Turkey are effectively closed, it will not take time to finish Daesh, and secure Syria again. Bayik said the same maintaining ““SDF is capable of pushing the ISIS out of Jarablus within a short time. They can take Raqqa as well unless there happens a support to the ISIS from Turkey's side. International powers should remove this obstacle of Turkey.”

In fact when Turkey moved its Air Force to bomb what it claimed were Daesh targets it is the Kurds who busted the propaganda through a singular campaign of articles, reports and photographs to prove that actually Erdogan’s jets were targeting them as they were fighting Daesh. The Kurds made it very clear in a campaign that convinced the world and turned public opinion against Turkey that Ankara was actually helping Daesh and not harming its fighters.

Bayik has now disclosed"Just like what happened during Turkish national team's previous soccer match in Konya, another national soccer game in Istanbul has witnessed a protest of the slain people. Victims of the Paris attacks were booed and the minute's silence was turned into a public expression of respect for the suicide bombers. This is the point Turkey has got to today. These cases have clearly manifested the sameness of the AKP mindset and ISIS mindset.”

He further added, “The AKP government has made Turkey into a country where massacre of civilians is welcomed with joy. Nothing could ever be as terrifying as leading the society up to such a point. The praise of murderers and protest of victims in Konya and İstanbul didn't just happen suddenly for no reason. This is a situation created by the AKP government. Besides the political and financial support, ISIS also gets the greatest moral support from Turkey. From this point of view, it is a major illusion to assume that Turkey will fight against the ISIS. Those from the same mindset do not fight but only strengthen each other.

The Paris massacre has proved that Turkey pursues a policy that is dangerous for the whole world in addition to the Kurds and the Middle East. Just like the Ankara massacre which was perpetrated in collaboration with AKP, the Paris massacre was also a consequence of the policies pursued by Turkey. Whoever ignores this truth cannot wage a straight fight against the ISIS. It is no more possible to get rid of the ISIS without an elimination of the AKP mindset and policy. ISIS suffers heavy blows one after another in the hands of the Kurdish people's freedom forces but it sustains owing to the policies of the AKP government which blackmails the whole world in an unprecedented manner as a political power.”

The Kurds have joined Syria in pleading action against Turkey by the world. As Berkel said there was little point in the world adopting a stance against Daesh as it will not be possible until and unless Turkey adopts the same policy. Syria has been demanding Turkey close its borders. As the Syrians officials told The Citizen “we can win this war now with our ground troops and Russian bombers provided Turkey closes its borders and cooperates.”

Bayik went a step further to state, “Kurds, Arabs, Syriacs, Armenians, youths, women and other communities across Syria can easily clear their territory of ISIS and Al-Nusra. Once the obstacle of Turkey is eliminated, it will mean ISIS has come to an end. This reality needs to be known by the whole world. If international powers want to defeat ISIS, they should firstly stop Turkey from being an obstacle in front of this struggle.” He also warned against active efforts by Erdogan and his government to divide the Kurds, and split them into warring factions.