Turkish shelling of Syria shows Ankara's support for Daesh: Analyst

Press TV has interviewed William Jones, a member of the Executive Intelligence Review in Leesburg, about Syria taking Turkey’s shelling of its territory to the UN, saying it amounts to “direct Turkish support for terrorist groups.”

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: Well Damascus is complaining to the United Nations about Turkish shelling of northern Syria, is it going to make a difference?

Jones: Well, let’s hope that it does. I mean what this whole incident has shown is where each of the party is, where their interest really lies and I think it shows clearly that Turkey and also Saudi Arabia are really supportive of the Daesh movement rather than fighting ISIL (Daesh). Look, attacking the Syrian government, attacking the Kurdish forces, they have been more successful in dealing with this Daesh, the Kurdish forces are united with the United States, the United States does not accept them as a terrorist group and it made this very clear that the Turks are going to go straight ahead, they are going to try and kill off the forces that are actually in the forefront of the battle against ISIL.

So in effect they are supporting ISIL itself and I think the United States is also at least to some extent concerned because it undermines what Secretary of State Kerry is trying do in Geneva.

Press TV: So do you think that Ankara is not in line with Washington’s policies right now? Is Ankara pursuing an independent policy or is this part of Washington’s policy in dealing with Syria right now?

Jones: Well look, the situation here is very much divided. Obama has been the real protagonist in this war effort in the Middle East and he has been using Turkey kind of as a satrap for his policy. The administration is divided. What Kerry has been doing I think has been very positive, it is an attempt to bring an agreement with Russia which is absolutely essential for any kind of peace in the area, but he is continually being undermined by the members of the White House who are trying to discourage him and to undermine the efforts that he is making.

I think in this situation, the Turks have probably made an independent decision knowing that there is a divided administration and that therefore they are backing on the possibility that the US really is not going to react, that they will protest because they are allied, they are supporting the Kurdish troops but they won’t essentially do anything. So that is a kind of situation I think they have there. They have friends here who are supportive of Turkish efforts as well. That is the problem that we have to deal with here in the US.

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