Foreign Story. Military intervention in Syria to cost Turkey dearly: Opposition leader
“I am warning them (government officials) not to drag Turkey into an adventure; it would have a high cost,” said CHP leader Ke-mal Kilicdaroglu said on Monday, the Turk-ish Hurriyet daily reported.
The senior oppo-sition figure said that it is ordinary Turkish people and not the politicians who would face the con-sequences of a poten-tial military action against neighboring Syria.
Kilicdaroglu’s comments came a day after several Turkish media outlets reported that Ankara may be considering a ground incursion into Syria.
According to the unconfirmed reports, the government has ordered the army to deploy forces to the border areas in a bid to prevent po-tential significant gains by Kurdish forces fighting against the Takfiri
ISIL terrorists inside Syria.
On Friday, Turkish Presi-dent Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Syrian Kurds of trying to establish a state in the crisis-hit country’s north, saying An-kara will leave no stone un-turned to prevent such an estab-lishment near its borders.
Kilicdaroglu, the Turkish opposition leader, further said he has always criticized the government over its policy to-ward Syria, rejecting claims that Turkey could be a “playmaker” in the Middle East.
He urged Ankara to consid-er the suggestion made by for-
mer Chief of Staff General Ilker Basbug, who has recently advised the Turkish government to revise its policies on Syria and support the Damascus government in settling the crisis in the neighboring Arab state.
Meanwhile, in another report on Monday, Hurriyet said it has learned that the Turkish army mulls pounding Syria with artillery fire from inside Turkish territory in a campaign claimed to be intended to counter purported ISIL threats.
Ankara has been among the major sponsors of the militant groups that have been operating in Syria over the past four years.
MSM/MKA/HJL
