Turkey paying price for misguided policies: Pundit

Press TV has conducted an interview with James Dorsey, senior fellow with the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, to discuss the recent car bomb attack in Turkey’s southeastern province of Sirnak.

Here is a rough transcription of the interview:

Press TV: I would like to get your opinion, if I may, on the security situation here when it comes to Turkey and its fight against the PKK?   

Dorsey: Well I think basically what you have since last July is re-ignition of the war between the PKK and the Turkish government despite the fact that at that moment they were fairly close to concluding an agreement to end what is a war of more than 30 years.

The developments over the last years certainly with the Turkish invasion into Syria which targets not only the Islamic State (Daesh) but also the YPG, an affiliate organization of the PKK, it was almost logical that you were going to see an escalation in Turkey itself. That is assuming that this attack this morning was carried out by the PKK. We do not know that for sure yet.

Press TV: Well presuming that the PKK did carry out this attack, of course there is that question of whether Turkey can return to stability, so to speak, when it comes to its precarious security situation, be it because of Daesh at its doorstep in Syria, be it because it has allowed certain terrorist groups to be trained and armed on its soil according to reports or be it the breakdown in its peace deal with the PKK?

Dorsey: Well Turkey is obviously dealing with two issues. One is the issue of Daesh, the Islamic State and the other is the issue of the Kurds who constitute up to 20 percent of its population and with whom it has - a radical fringe of that or a radical segment of that community - it has been at war with for quite some time.

The solutions are quite clear. What you are seeing is Turkey is paying a price for what have been until now misguided policies. The Kurds have moved a long way from demanding an independent state to demanding cultural and political rights at a degree of self-rule within the Turkish state.

On the other hand Turkey long, tacitly at least, supported the Islamic State because its primary concern was the PKK.  What that has resulted in is that the Islamic State has launched numerous attacks inside Turkey, devastating attacks, and has now become a major problem, [in] other words the policy has backfired. Similarly with the PKK, instead of pursuing a political solution, President Erdogan opted for a more confrontational relationship just simply for its own domestic political reasons.

Press TV: But has he learned from these strategic mistakes, so to speak?

Dorsey: I do not think there is any indication that he has learned from those mistakes. There is no indication that he would want to put the peace talks back on the table. Let me correct myself. He has not learned in terms of the Kurds. In terms of the Islamic State he apparently has and the military actions over the last few days demonstrate that.

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