World View: Turkey Will Vote Thursday on Military Action in Syria

This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

• Turkey will vote Thursday on military action in Syria
• Turkey’s Suleiman Shah Tomb in Syria endangered by ISIS
• Hong Kong protesters raise their demands

Turkey will vote Thursday on military action in Syria

Turkey’s Parliament will vote on military action in Syria and Iraq

Turkey’s parliament expects to debate and vote on Thursday on thefollowing motion:

“The Cabinet of Ministers has decided to askpermission from Parliament to send Turkish troops to foreigncountries when necessary for cross-border interventions and toallow foreign troops in Turkey for the same purposes. …

[The intent is to] defeat attacks directed at our country from allterrorist groups in Iraq and Syria.”

There are two “terrorist groups” that are intended targets: theIslamic State of Iraq and Syria (IS or ISIS or ISIL) and the PKK(Kurdistan Workers Party), the terrorists who have fought a civil warwith Turkey.

As I discussed in detail several days ago (“30-Sep-14 World View — Kobani crisis causes Turkey to reverse policy on Syria”), this represents a major reversal ofpolicies that have been in effect since the beginning of the Syrianconflict in 2011.

The motion quoted above has two parts, both of which represent majorpolicy changes:

• Turkish troops will be sent to foreign countries. The purpose will be to fight ISIS and the PKK. But there will be an additional objective to create a “secure region” or “safe haven” in northern Syria to house Syrian refugees, so that they won’t have to enter Turkey. Turkey repeatedly refused to do anything like this in 2011-12.
• Turkey will allow foreign troops in Turkey. This particularly refers to the Incirlik Air Base in Turkey, near the borders with Syria and Iraq. Turkey will now allow American and coalition troops into Incirlik, and would permit bombing raids to take off from Incirlik, rather than having to travel the much longer distances to the Persian Gulf.

The motion is very controversial, but is expected to be approved.Today’s Zaman (Ankara) and Hurriyet Daily News (Ankara)

Turkey’s Suleiman Shah Tomb in Syria endangered by ISIS

Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday insisted that theSuleiman Shah Tomb is not in danger of being attacked by ISIS forces.

The Suleiman Shah Tomb is a Turkish enclave situated in Syria, inthe town of Aleppo, guarded by Turkish soldiers. It’s the burialplace of the grandfather of the Osman I, the founder of the OttomanEmpire. The tomb in Syria is the only Turkish territory outside ofTurkey’s borders. There is a concern that ISIS militants will attackthe Turkish soldiers guarding the tomb and take them as hostages.Erdogan insisted that the tomb is not endangered by ISIS militants.

Daily Sabah (Istanbul) and Today’s Zaman (Ankara)

Hong Kong protesters raise their demands

Hong Kong officials are signaling that they’ll allow the protesters tocontinue the “Occupy Central” protests for days or evenweeks, as long as they remain peaceful.

However, protesters are indicating that they’re going to escalate theprotests by occupying government buildings, something that willcertainly trigger police action. The protesters are now making twodemands:

• They’re demanding the resignation of Hong Kong’s Beijing-appointed leader, Leung Chun-ying.
• They’re demanding that Beijing back down and fulfill its commitment to permit full democracy, as specified in the 1997 agreement that turned the British colony over to China. In particular, they’re demanding that anyone be allowed to run in the 2017 elections, not just candidates selected by Beijing.

Wednesday is the 45th anniversary of China’s of Mao Zedong’s Communistrevolution, and Wednesday and Thursday are public holidays. Reuters

KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan,Syria, Iraq, Kurdistan Workers’ Party, PKK,Islamic State / of Iraq and Syria/Sham/the Levant, IS, ISIS, ISIL,Incirlik Air Base, Suleiman Shah Tomb, Osman 1, Ottoman Empire,Hong Kong, Leung Chun-ying, Communist Revolution
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