Turkey must halt belligerency against Syria to avoid Mideast quagmire: CHP leader

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who heads the Republican People’s Party (CHP), said the “sovereign powers of the West are preparing the ground to get Turkey to enter into Syria for an armed conflict.”

“If Turkey enters, getting out will be very difficult. I am warning the government about this,” he added.

Kilicdaroglu made the remarks in an interview with the Turkish Hurriyet Daily on July 27.

    “The AKP’s policy on Syria has fully collapsed. It is a shortsighted policy and it is influenced by other countries’ policies,” Kilicdaroglu stated, referring to the policies of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), led by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

On July 11, Kilicdaroglu said Erdogan is the sub-contractor of the Western hegemonic powers.

Relations between Turkey and Syria have deteriorated over the past months.

    According to local sources, the Turkish army staged tank exercises near its border with Syria on Wednesday.

Nearly 25 tanks took part in the exercises in the Nusaybin district of Mardin Province, just two kilometers away from the Syrian border.

The NBC News reported on July 31 that nearly two dozen MANPADs (man-portable air-defense systems) have been delivered to the insurgents in Syria by Turkey.