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People in Turkey oppose Ankara’s Syria policies: Analyst

Friday, 19 February 2016 7:29 AM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 24 February 2016 8:07 AM ]

Firefighters try to extinguish flames following an attack that targeted a convoy of military service vehicles in Ankara, February 17, 2016. (Photo by AFP)

Press TV has interviewed Richard Becker, with the ANSWER Coalition, about the recent car bombing in the Turkish capital of Ankara and the reaction of Turkish opposition figures to the incident.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: What do you think was the incentive behind this bombing?

Becker: Well, I think it’s very hard to say; but I think that the statements by the Turkish government are highly suspect, to say the least. They have claimed that because they say they know the identity of the person who carried out the bombing and that that person comes from northern Syria, that, ipso facto, the YPG is responsible.

Of course, this is a decision... this was a political decision to make this claim, and is a political decision based upon the Turkish government’s extreme hostility toward the Kurdish people and particularly toward the developments in northern Syria and the advances by the YPG... So, this is a convenient explanation, to say the least.

Press TV: Well, of course, what will it provoke Turkey to do?

Becker: Well, that’s a very good question, because Turkey has been threatening to carry out more aggressive military action inside Syria. Of course, we know that Turkey has been carrying out aggressive military action for a very long time, much of it indirect, facilitating the passage of thousands of fighters, weaponry, other supplies to the opposition and in many cases to ISIS inside of the country.

But you can also see that what the Turkish government is trying to do is cause the US government to decide whether it’s going to continue supporting with airstrikes the YPG or whether it’s going to swing in a different direction behind its NATO ally Turkey.

Press TV: And how much will the wave of terror in the region set foot in Turkey and cause a backlash there, as a result of what the opposition party recently said a not-so-well governed country?

Becker: Well, and I think it’s not the only the Republican People’s Party but I think that the majority of people in Turkey are opposed to this interventionist position that the Turkish government has taken.

And of course we see that by doing what it’s been doing for the last five years inside Syria, pursuing the strategy of regime change, that now there’s a backlash that the Turkish government is feeling; but the people in the country clearly do not want this kind of intervention and this kind of war.

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