Anti-war protests in Istanbul erupted on Friday after the Turkish Parliament's decision to authorize war powers. Many citizens have become critical of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's support for the Syrian opposition, and although he said the authorization of military force was a deterrent to prevent further cross-border incidents — fresh cross-border shelling has already been reported on Friday.
To add to the growing negative image of the Syrian opposition in Turkey, an unverified video has surfaced on YouTube showing a Syrian opposition leader stating he is going to kill a group of 48 Iranian pilgrims if Tehran and Damascus do not satisfy the rebels conditions. Those conditions require the government to free all rebel POWs, stop their assaults on cities such as Aleppo, and for President Bashar al-Assad to relinquish his authority to the opposition groups.
From the lastest cross-border conflict and hostage situation, it is safe to say the situation in Syria has grown more than out of hand. Without any sort of unity or action on the part of the international community, it has become clear that the bloodbath that is the Syria civil war will spill over into a regional conflict. In my opinion it is not longer an "if" it will happen, but "when" it will happen. When it does and Turkey finally goes to war with Syria, the U.S. will have to provide military assistance under NATO stipulations. The major question now is what sort of regional implications will a Middle Eastern war have on the area, and how will major players like Iran and Russia react to a western intervention.
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