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No reason acceptable for intervention, CHP politician says
In a written statement released on Sunday, main opposition CHP Deputy Chairman Faruk Loğoğlu, Turkey's former ambassador to the US, said the Syrian crisis has become even murkier and more complicated, and has entered a new phase, which holds traps for Turkey.
According to Loğoğlu, the blustering of the Turkish government for months has pushed the country to the brink of war with its neighbor. He berated the government for sending tough messages such as, “We are running out of patience,” “the Syrian issue is part of our domestic politics” and “even if no one acts in the face of unabated violence in Syria, we won't be indifferent to the ongoing slaughter of civilians and will do something on our own.”
“The Justice and Development Party [AK Party] has eloquently demonstrated that it has pursued a foreign policy dependent on those of foreign powers by employing such a contradictory approach lacking prescience and legitimacy,” Loğoğlu said, adding that this resulted in a one-sided policy, which failed to build a bridge between the Syrian opposition and the regime. According to him, the AK Party has flagrantly failed to conduct an independent policy in the Syrian case and has created a deadlock in communication channels between the Syrian opposition and the government by only supporting one side.
Loğoğlu stated that either voluntarily or unconsciously, the ruling AK Party is acting like a puppet of some powers in the region. The government's recent diplomatic efforts to find peaceful solutions to the problems are far from being convincing and are too late. Its objectives are also ambiguous, he noted.
Loğoğlu wondered whether the AK Party will try to bring in the international community to topple the Syrian government, as in the Libyan case. He criticized the government for its backing of authoritarian regimes in the past before the Arab Spring broke out, while saying that the CHP has always stood by the people of the Middle East. He said the CHP issued necessary warnings to reform both to the government and the regimes before the Arab Spring.
Regarding the official talks that began on Feb. 13, he said the US will most probably increase pressure on Turkey to take bold action in the Syrian case. Noting that Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu must reject the US request, Loğoğlu said no reason, including the issue of humanitarian aid, will legitimize a Turkish intervention in Syria.
According to him, without a doubt, this kind of intervention will worsen the Syrian case rather than solve it. “A [military] intervention will seemingly upset balances in the region. It could trigger Russian and Iranian involvement in the case and would result in a harsh reaction from the Arab world to Turkey,” he said.
In early September 2011, the CHP sent a delegation to Damascus to discuss the prolonged political turmoil in the country. The CHP team, led by Loğoğlu, openly announced they were against any kind of intervention in Syria. After returning to Turkey, Loğoğlu held a press conference to share his observations about the ongoing impasse in Syria and said Bashar al-Assad's government had made efforts to address the Syrian people's demands for freedom, equality and equal opportunities.
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