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EMEP: Turkey is being dragged into an impasse in Idlib

EMEP criticises Turkey’s Idlib operation and AKP government’s foreign policy and says Turkey must lead the peace efforts.

EMEP: Turkey is being dragged into an impasse in Idlib

The Labour Party of Turkey (EMEP) issued a statement following Turkish army’s Idlib operation. EMEP drew attention to the developments in Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and said the AKP government should stop interfering in the affairs of its neighbours and its claims on their towns.

The statement says “Imperialist states are using Idlib as an arena for their rivalries and are trying to claim their own spheres of influence in the war torn Syria. Turkey should not become part of this proxy war but become an agent for peace in the Middle East.”
It went on to say that “Following the independence referendum in the KRG, Turkish government began to threaten its leadership with closing the oil pipes and has undertaken military operations on its borders.

“The AKP government connects every development in the Middle East with state survival and the protection of the borders, interferes in the affairs of its neighbours, claims rights over Mousul and Kerkuk and harasses the Kurdish cantons in northern Syria. Thus, it has become a country posing threat to the peoples of the Middle East.

“The Idlib operation is the most critical threshold in the war in Syria. The role undertaken for Turkey for the clear-up of the armed groups in this town is not in the interest of the people of Turkey or the peoples of the Middle East. Because Idlib is the arena where imperialist states wage war against each other to expand their sphere of influence in Syria which was drawn into a civil war. And Turkey should not be part of this proxy war.

“The AKP government expects three results from its participation in the Idlib operation: 1) to prevent Afrin, one of the three Kurdish cantons in northern Syria, from geographically uniting with the other two cantons, and thus help eliminate the “Kurdish threat” domestically, 2) to take the biggest share in the reconstruction works in the region after the war, and 3) to become a key player in the region in terms of oil transport.
“These are the reasons for AKP government’s voluntary entrance into the Idlib quagmire. It is also trying to recover its tarnished legitimacy with this operation. But the cost of the Idlib operation could be very heavy. Turkey, preparing to be the main actor in the land operation in the city centre is being dragged into an impasse.

“Turkey should not get involved in this war. It should instead lead the peace efforts in the region. However, this cannot be achieved with this government, with its claims on Kerkuk or Mousul.
“It is the workers and the working people in general who can wage the struggle for peace, freedom and democracy. It is them who can invalidate war policies. And Turkey must abandon its Idlib plans.”


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