At Ankara’s Esenboga Airport, upon Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's arrival from Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, Aug. 28, he said, “The existence of a regime that uses chemical weapons against its own people in a barbaric way, right next to our country, is a risk in itself. We have never attempted to bring down a regime, but we have taken a clear stand against a regime committing crimes against its own people. I’m stating this to correct some incorrect perceptions [regarding Turkey’s position.] It’s not right to think that Turkey will follow in the footsteps of some plans or some decisions taken on its behalf.”   

Davutoglu is right that under his vision Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government has put in place an independent policy toward Syria, which did not work. In fact, on Aug. 28, experts at the 21st Century Turkey Institute discussed the potential military strike against the Bashar al-Assad regime and drew attention to four main points.

First, while no one blames Turkey for triggering Syria's civil war, many hold Turkey responsible for the escalation of the crisis. Turkey allowed its border to turn into a free-passage zone for anyone and everyone, and Turkey also kept a close eye on the flow of radical Islamist groups into Syria in an attempt to bring down the Assad regime. Second, many argued that Turkey declared a policy of regime change in Syria without having the necessary tools to back it up, putting Turkey’s national interests at risk. Third, although the use of chemical weapons drew strong condemnations, many at the conference expressed doubt over whether the regime was responsible. And last but not least, many question the legality of any outside military operation in the absence of a UN Security Council resolution. They also questioned the wisdom of Davutoglu declaring from day one — without obtaining parliamentary approval — that Turkey will take part in the “coalition of willing.”

Haldun Solmazturk, a retired brigadier general, for example, wondered why there is no nuance in the Turkish media about the military strike. “You don’t see this in the international media, but here in the Turkish media — possibly due to close control [of newsrooms by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government] — they build a public perception that the military strike is already a given, which is not even open to question. This is an outright attempt to shape public opinion without discussing the legality of such operation,” he said.