ISIL result of US strategic mistakes in Mideast: Academic
Press TV has interviewed Huseyin Bagci, a professor at the Middle East University from Ankara, and David Lindorff, an investigative journalist from Philadelphia, to discuss the role of Turkey and the US in the Syria war.
Bagci criticized 'the strategic mistakes' of the United States in the region, adding that “the ISIS (ISIL) is not falling from the sky, it is the result of the wrong policies of the United States of America and this is why Barack Obama, American President is strongly criticized for his policies.”
Referring to Ankara’s attempts to justify the shipment of weapons to the so-called Free Syrian Army, he says there is a controversial debate among Turkish elite on sponsoring terrorist groups in Syria.
The Turkish government is under pressure inside and outside the country over its role in arming and training foreign-sponsored militants in Syria, he argues, adding that opposition figures criticize the government calling for an official response on Turkey’s involvement in Syria’s unrest.
He also maintains that the Turkish foreign policy has shown in the recent years that Ankara has had direct relations with what it calls 'radical armed groups' but some other countries name them terrorists. He added that the Turkish government, especially President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is in trouble ahead of general elections in Turkey because of its anti-Syria policy.
Syria has been the biggest miscalculation of Turkey’s foreign policy in the past five years, the political expert states, noting that Turkish authorities thought the Syrian government would lose power within months and that Ankara would play a greater role in the neighboring country.
Lindorff, for his part, says the United States has its special forces and especially CIA elements who have been training ISIL terrorists in Jordan and perhaps in Turkey since 2011. He adds that Turkey is a NATO ally after all.
The journalist notes Turkey along with the United States has been training and arming militant groups to fight the Syrian government.
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