What is Turkey up to? The question gained fresh urgency today as Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik and Land Forces Commander Gen. Zeki Colak inspected troops in Hatay near the Syrian border a day after Turkish forces backed by tanks and other combat vehicles massed near the town of Silopi on Turkey’s border with Iraq. In a related development, Turkey’s chief of general staff, Hulusi Akar, flanked by the country’s powerful spy chief, Hakan Fidan, met with his Russian counterpart, Valery Gerasimov, in Moscow to talk about Syria.

“Turkey may start a series of shocking interventions,” predicted Ibrahim Karagul, the editor-in-chief of the pro-government Yeni Safak, in a column today.

"Turkey is preparing itself for all contingencies” with regard to the developments in the region, said Isik Nov. 2. “Turkey respects Iraq’s territorial integrity, but [Ankara] is determined to ward off any terror threats arising from Iraq,” he added.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi reacted harshly to the Turkish moves. “We do not want war with Turkey," he said Nov. 1. “But if a confrontation happens we are ready for it. We will consider [Turkey] an enemy and we will deal with it as an enemy.”