President Erdoğan is obviously very confused

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan talked to reporters in New York. He has assessed the joint operation carried out by the United States and some Arab countries against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

He said, “This cannot be done through air bombardments. What happens after you bomb them from the air? They mobilize again afterward. Thus, air strikes do not solve the essence of the problem. For a solution, a no-fly zone, especially on the Syrian side should be declared. If this is done, then there will be a buffer zone along our border, a security zone. It is important that those people who have taken shelter in Turkey go back and settle in their own land. In order to provide this, a security zone must be formed.”  

I think President Erdoğan is the only person who thinks it is necessary to declare a no-fly zone in Syria to fight ISIL.

ISIL does not have an air force. It does not carry any of its operations from the air because it does not have a plane. On the other hand, there are no military elements of the Bashar al-Assad regime in the region ISIL controls. The Syrian regime does not have any air defense system in that region.

What kind of a connection is there between declaring a no-fly zone in Syria and fighting ISIL?

Erdoğan also said, “While fighting ISIL, one should see the entire picture. If you look carefully, those who are the extension of [outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party] PKK in that region did not fight. They retreated, just like the Iraqi forces fled from Mosul. If terrorism is to be fought internationally, then all of them should be fought against. Not only ISIL or similar organizations, but fighting the separatist organization [meaning PKK] is also included in this.”

The extension of PKK is the Democratic Union Party’s (PYD) forces in Rojava and as far as we know, they are the only force resisting ISIL in Kobane. What the president is saying and what is going on in the “field” do not match each other.

He wants the coalition against ISIL led by the U.S. to also fight the “separatist organization.”

This is a weird situation because Turkey is conducting “peace process negotiations” with the leader of this organization, which he calls “separatist.” Turkey is the country that is now tolerating the armed guerrillas of the “separatist” organization to wander freely in the mountains as long as they are not involved in any incidents. Turkey is also the country that has made an undeclared truce with the “separatist organization” and has ordered its soldiers to “avoid close contact with the PKK.” It is again Turkey that wants the international coalition to fight the PKK.

What a coherent political stance this is, isn’t it?

The name of the nameless anti-hero, please

An epic story is being written about the hostages being saved from the hands of ISIL. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu paid a thank you visit to the National Intelligence Organization (MİT). But the opposite should also be done. Davutoğlu said there were numerous nameless heroes behind the operation.

I am curious about the “nameless incompetent anti-hero” behind this entire hostage taking incident. According to the consulate staff, there was an evacuation plan, but it was cancelled at the last minute. Whoever decided for this cancellation is also responsible for the captivity of 49 people for 101 days in the hands of this merciless organization.

Since the competent are rewarded, how about a penalty for the incompetent? Could it be that this nameless incompetence stems from the duo at the top of the state right now and so they prefer not to go into this matter at all?