Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 17
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
Turkey's army, with its high potential, can without any problems cope with the "Islamic State", which is a real threat to the entire Middle East.
Moreover, an operation against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the "Islamic State" and other terrorist organizations in the region could have given an indispensable experience to the Turkish army.
Turkey, according to its mandate granted in 2012, has a right to hold military operations in Syria and Iraq. The mandate allows Ankara to take any actions to fight terrorism and other threats, repel the danger that may spring from terrorist groups in Iraq and Syria, as well as protect the country's interests before and after a crisis, and, if necessary, to use its army in operations in other countries (Syria and Iraq).
But despite this, Turkey has been so far contenting itself with defense of its borders, with only starting to bomb the "Islamic State" in Syria on Oct. 15.
Turkey has also been building a 36-km long wall on the Syrian border to protect itself from the "Islamic State".
It is worth noting that Turkish army throughout almost the entire history of the Republic of Turkey has had a special status in the country. However, during the rule of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) the possibility for the army to interfere in politics was completely eliminated.
This is especially evidenced by the prevention of two coup plans known as Balyoz (Sledgehammer) and Ergenekon.
Under the Balyoz, it was planned to topple Turkey's government taking advantage of a chaos that would emerge after explosions during Friday prayers at Istanbul's Fatih and Bayazid mosques, an attack on the country's military museum, and destruction of several fighter jets, which Turkey's armed forces would consequently blame on Greece.
But both the Balyoz and Ergenekon plans were exposed, and after this, Turkish armed forces underwent a wave of resignations. The government, in turn, announced at the time that the resignations won't affect the army's functions.
Turning back to our days it should be noted that a number of Turkish opposition parties, which are against Ankara's Syria policy, explain the authorities' inactivity against the "Islamic State" and the PKK by their concerns that the army's ratings can increase, while such a thing isn't in the interests of the current political elite of Turkey.
Possibly, this factor is the main barrier for start of a massive military operation against the "Islamic State" and the PKK.
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Rufiz Hafizoglu is the head of Trend Agency's Arabic news service, follow him on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
