Quote of the Day

Mehmet Tezkan, a columnist for the Turkish daily Milliyet, writing about the dilemma that is Turkish foreign policy with regard to neighboring Syria, as quoted in al-Monitor. Questioning Turkey's opposition to the Kurdish YPG fighting its way into Raqqa, Tezkan asks:

Should Raqqa belong to IS then? No, you say, it should belong neither to IS nor to the YPG. If that is the case, should Assad take the city? No, you say, that won’t do either. So whose should it be? This is Ankara’s dilemma.

Turkey's only apparent alternative is to annex the Raqqa area themselves and try to pacify it, which they know they cannot accomplish. Turkey has no good alternatives in Syria. It isn't clear anyone else does.