Turkey's Fidan Discovers Basic Geopolitics, Blames Israel First
Al-Monitor reports Fidan's assertion that Israel's Gaza operations are making the SDF less amenable to Turkish demands. Missing from this remarkably myopic analysis is the inconvenient, decades-long history of Turkish-Kurdish conflict, and the fact that the U.S. has been openly arming and supporting the SDF (who Turkey views as terrorists) for years, long before the latest Gaza escalation. Perhaps
Fidan forgot the 2018 Turkish incursion into Afrin against the SDF, or the 2019 'Operation Peace Spring' after a US troop withdrawal. These clashes occurred without direct Israeli military action in Gaza. Blaming Israel for the SDF's 'hardened stance' is less about geopolitical reality and more about conveniently deflecting from Turkey's own long-standing, complicated, and often bloody
interventions in Syria. It appears Ankara has found a new scapegoat for its historical grievances, repackaged as fresh outrage.