Erdogan and Jihad

Published in El País
(Spain) on 9 October 2014
by (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Miken Trogdon. Edited by Emily Chick.
Turkish passivity in the face of the siege against Kobani weakens Obama’s precarious coalition.

The precariousness of the coalition headed by the U.S. that fights the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, and the lack of a clear strategy, are dramatically displayed in the jihadi siege of Kobani, the Syrian city of Kurdish majority on the Turkish border. Kobani, from which almost 200,000 people have fled, is on the verge of falling into extremist militant hands in spite of continuous U.S. bombings and the indifference of Turkish tanks lined up one mile from the front.

The collapse of Kobani not only threatens the security of this semi-autonomous Kurdish region in Syria, but it also heats up a crisis between Washington and Ankara. In Turkey itself the implications are very serious. There are scores dead in the final hours of disturbances led by the oppressed Kurdish minority that feels abandoned in protecting their own.

Washington is demanding heavier involvement from Turkey and sees its NATO ally’s passivity as disloyalty during a crucial battle. President Erdogan, whose parliament just passed a law that allows his troops to enter Syria and Iraq to fight “terrorist groups,” sees it differently. He basically demands (but not alone) that the allied offensive include among its objectives the defeat of Bashar al-Assad, something that Obama rejected. Turkey isn’t the only government with this ambition, which is also shared by the White House’s Sunni allies, but it is the only one to formalize it to get seriously involved with Syria.

Nevertheless, there’s a darker argument to the Turkish position. Defenders of Kobani align themselves with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the internal archenemy of the Turkish state for more than 30 years. Erdogan uses the Syrian city’s suffering as leverage to weaken the Kurdish minority’s position in its peace negotiations with Ankara. Turkey’s worst nightmare is the emergence of a new Kurdish entity, dominated by the PKK, along its enormous border with Syria.

The military strength exhibited by the Islamic State group and Turkish reluctance endanger cohesion of the coalition against jihad. Those who died yesterday in Turkey prove that Erdogan is mistaken. The terrifying threat of the totalitarian Islamic caliphate installed on the same border of a country that aspires to incorporate itself into the EU is well beyond internal political maneuvers or personal ambitions.


Erdogan y el yihadismo

La pasividad turca ante el asedio de Kobane debilita la precaria coalición de Obama

La precariedad de la coalición encabezada por Estados Unidos que combate al Estado Islámico (EI) en Siria e Irak y la carencia de una estrategia definida se pone dramáticamente de manifiesto en el asedio yihadista de Kobane, ciudad siria de mayoría kurda en la frontera con Turquía. Kobane, de donde han huido casi 200.000 personas, está a punto de caer en manos de la milicia fanática, pese a los continuados bombardeos estadounidenses y ante la pasividad de los tanques turcos alineados a dos kilómetros del frente.

El desplome de Kobane no solo amenaza la seguridad de la región semiautónoma de mayoría kurda en el norte de Siria. Incuba también una crisis entre Washington y Ankara. En la propia Turquía sus implicaciones son gravísimas. Hay una veintena de muertos en las últimas horas en disturbios protagonizados por la postergada minoría kurda, que se siente abandonada en la protección de los suyos.

Washington reclama un mayor compromiso de Turquía y percibe la pasividad de su aliado en la OTAN como deslealtad en una batalla crucial. El presidente Erdogan, cuyo Parlamento acaba de aprobar una ley que permite a sus tropas entrar en Siria e Irak para combatir a “grupos terroristas”, lo ve de otra manera. Exige básicamente (pero no solo) que la ofensiva aliada incluya entre sus objetivos el derrocamiento de Bachar el Asad, algo que Obama rechaza. Turquía no es el único Gobierno con esa pretensión, que comparten los aliados suníes de la Casa Blanca, pero sí en formalizarla para implicarse seriamente en Siria.

Hay sin embargo un argumento más oscuro en la posición turca. Los defensores de Kobane se alinean con el Partido de los Trabajadores del Kurdistán (PKK), el supremo enemigo interno del Estado turco desde hace 30 años. Erdogan utiliza la agonía de la ciudad siria como palanca para debilitar la posición de la minoría kurda en su negociación de paz con Ankara. La peor pesadilla turca es el surgimiento de una nueva entidad kurda, dominada por el PKK, en su enorme frontera con Siria.

La fortaleza militar que exhibe el EI y la renuencia turca ponen en peligro la cohesión de la coalición contra el yihadismo. Los muertos de ayer en Turquía prueban que Erdogan se equivoca. La pavorosa amenaza del califato islamista totalitario instalado en la misma frontera de un país que aspira a incorporarse a la UE está muy por encima de maniobras políticas internas o ambiciones personales.
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