Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Turkey’s government, led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is among those which have pledged to help in the fight against ISIS.
However, the actual result of Turkish military intervention hasn’t been exactly what its Western partners expected. While Turkey did assist the United States in conducting airstrikes against key ISIS strongholds in Syria, it’s also begun an airstrike campaign against Kurdish forces in the region. While the Turks and Kurds have no love lost in their nearly centuries-old, on and off conflict, this is quite problematic as the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) has become an ally in the global effort against ISIS.
The PKK continues to be both an asset and a liability for anti-ISIS forces, as the Kurdish militants are simultaneously considered terrorists by America and the European Union as well as acting as an effective buffer against continuing ISIS expansion.
The Wall Street Journal reported on the fallout from the recent Turkish-Kurdish violence: “After endorsing the strikes on the PKK in Iraq, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said … that it was impossible to continue peace talks with the group …
“As lawmakers gathered in Ankara to discuss the deepening crisis, a blast hit the Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline near Turkey’s border with Iraq, the Energy Ministry said” (Dion Nissenbaum and Yeliz Candemir, “Turkey Hits Kurdish Militants in Iraq in Largest Airstrike Yet,” July 29, 2015).
Violence and confusion are the hallmarks of human efforts to engineer peace in the world. God knows the human heart, and He knows what the way of man produces in the world. That’s why He inspired the prophet Isaiah to speak out about the confused ways of the nations: “The way of peace they have not known, and there is no justice in their ways; they have made themselves crooked paths; whoever takes that way shall not know peace” (Isaiah 59:8). To find true peace, we must look to God’s ultimate solutions, not man’s vain striving. (Source: The Wall Street Journal. )
However, the actual result of Turkish military intervention hasn’t been exactly what its Western partners expected. While Turkey did assist the United States in conducting airstrikes against key ISIS strongholds in Syria, it’s also begun an airstrike campaign against Kurdish forces in the region. While the Turks and Kurds have no love lost in their nearly centuries-old, on and off conflict, this is quite problematic as the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) has become an ally in the global effort against ISIS.
The PKK continues to be both an asset and a liability for anti-ISIS forces, as the Kurdish militants are simultaneously considered terrorists by America and the European Union as well as acting as an effective buffer against continuing ISIS expansion.
The Wall Street Journal reported on the fallout from the recent Turkish-Kurdish violence: “After endorsing the strikes on the PKK in Iraq, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said … that it was impossible to continue peace talks with the group …
“As lawmakers gathered in Ankara to discuss the deepening crisis, a blast hit the Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline near Turkey’s border with Iraq, the Energy Ministry said” (Dion Nissenbaum and Yeliz Candemir, “Turkey Hits Kurdish Militants in Iraq in Largest Airstrike Yet,” July 29, 2015).
Violence and confusion are the hallmarks of human efforts to engineer peace in the world. God knows the human heart, and He knows what the way of man produces in the world. That’s why He inspired the prophet Isaiah to speak out about the confused ways of the nations: “The way of peace they have not known, and there is no justice in their ways; they have made themselves crooked paths; whoever takes that way shall not know peace” (Isaiah 59:8). To find true peace, we must look to God’s ultimate solutions, not man’s vain striving. (Source: The Wall Street Journal. )
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