“Turkey should not be pulled into a war in Syria based on fabricated and one-sided intelligence reports,” Haluk Koc, deputy chairman of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), said.
“Before all the facts become clear about the Syrian [chemical weapons attack] issue, we need to be very careful about making warmongering speeches and its potential costs to us. At the end of this process, Syria may become an Afghanistan,” Koc said.
“All the terror activities around the world could be sparked from there. These [in the Syrian opposition] are the most radical, backward-minded people … And all these problems could be easily sucked into Turkey. We may end up witnessing same problems [related to extremism ] in Turkey,” he added.
Devlet Bahceli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) also sent a warning to his constituency in a written statement inviting them all to be more skeptical about the allegation that Assad is responsible for the chemical weapons attack in Ghouta.
“It’s only a matter of time for the internal strife in Syria to turn into an all-out regional war. The usage of chemical weapons, which was declared a red line, seems to be the triggering facilitator,” he said, emphasizing that it’s everyone's duty to objectively assess who actually attacked with chemical weapons in Syria.
“It’s not only immoral, but against international law to engage in a warmongering approach with hollow excuses and fabricated evidence. There is no doubt that military deterrence should be pursued as a last resort,” he added.
“Moreover, the unbearable scenes coming out of Syria need to be brought to the attention of the UN Security Council as well as its General Assembly to make sure that whatever action is decided, it is agreed upon as a legitimate operation.” Bahceli noted.
To sum up, Turkey’s political opposition is deeply concerned that this chemical weapons attack could be a setup to invite outside military intervention, which may unfortunately help to further strengthen the al-Qaeda-led extremism in the region.
Many worry that Turkey will end up paying a serious price for this reckless policy.
NJF/NJF