In a country like Turkey where the agenda is overwhelmingly hectic because of unending warlike situations in Syria, Libya or elsewhere, it’s very hard to find time to tackle existing social problems stemming from democratic and economic deficiencies.
A much-anticipated meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Russian President Vladimir Putin has produced three additional measures for the normalization of the situation in Syria’s chaotic province of Idlib.
Turkey’s massive military response to the killing of its 34 troops in an aerial attack by the Syrian regime forces in Idlib was accompanied by two separate diplomatic moves.
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar yesterday disclosed the name of the Turkish Armed Forces’ (TSK) fourth operation into the Syrian territories as “Operation Spring Shield.”
A Syrian attack against the Turkish army came as the Russian and Turkish delegations were in another futile talk on Idlib. Thirty-three troops were killed on the day Russian presidential spokesman Dimitry Peskov refuted President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s claim that Russian President Vladimir Putin would come to Istanbul on March 5 to discuss the situation in Idlib.
Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), dedicated a good part of his weekly parliamentary address on Feb. 25 to the problems stemming from the deterioration in judicial impartiality.
As Turkey sits at the crossroads of three continents with huge opportunities but at the same multiple challenges and risks, it has to dote on three main institutions – the Foreign Ministry, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) – to manage and capitalize its geopolitical privilege.
Last week witnessed a heightened quarrel between Turkey and Russia over developments in Idlib province of Syria. The war of words has later turned into a concrete conflict on the field after the Russian air forces conducted an attack against moderate groups backed by the Turkish artillery.
Turkey held one of the largest anti-FETÖ campaigns in the recent times on Feb. 18 as 766 people, including military, police department and Justice Ministry personnel, were ordered to be detained over their alleged links with the terrorist network accused of staging a failed coup in July 2016.
