Enter the fray

For Turkey, the bad news from the combat zone on the Syrian side of the joint border is getting worse: no one has managed to stop the "Islamic State" (IS) terrorist militia's offensive on the Kurdish-Syrian town of Kobane near the border. There is also no end to the bad news of the IS pushing ahead in other regions in Syria and northern Iraq.

On Thursday, the Turkish parliament is to decide whether Turkey's army may launch cross-border operations on Syrian and Iraqi territory. A decision is also expected on whether foreign military forces will be allowed access to Turkish territory in the fight against the IS.

With or without Assad?

But advancing into Syrian territory without official permission from Damascus could cost Turkey and its US-led allies dearly. Since Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime also fears the IS, it should be thankful for support in the fight against the terrorist militia, in particular because the fact of a new common enemy holds out the prospect of a weakening of the tough Western course against Assad. But the Assad regime has not yet given the green light for military operations on its soil.

The Turks, Americans and their allies should by no means simply march into the country and fight against IS. Damascus might view that as a "declaration of war" - with dubious consequences.

On the other hand, neither Turkey nor the United States can make their next course of action dependent on the dictator's approval. The only way out of this dodgy situation is a Untied Nations mandate approved by Russia and China as permanent members of the Security Council.

Uncritical partisanship

For the most part, Turkey itself is to blame for the bind it finds itself in. Ankara expected Assad's overthrow to be quick, and so it carelessly supported all manner of opposition against the dictator, which in turn strengthened violent Islamist fundamentalists. Suspicions that substantial IS groups may have long found a niche in Turkey and may even have formed terrorist cells has shocked society and triggered massive fears.

Should it prove true that IS terrorists surrounded the 36 Turkish honor guards at the tomb of the grandfather of the first Ottoman sultan, there's bound to be a reaction. The tomb is exterritorial Turkish land in Syria.

Act together

As a consequence, fierce debate is in store for Turkey's parliament on Thursday. But is there really an alternative to agreeing to the government draft? Mainly lawmakers from the ruling conservative AKP party will thus accept active interference by Turkey's military in the war on NATO's border to the Mideast.

In view of Turkey's current worries and woes, a peaceful approach of the Kurds threatens to fall by the wayside – yet another negative consequence of Ankara's indecisive Mideast policies.

Their joint fight against the Islamic State, however, should clearly put the brakes on renewed tension between Kurds and Turks in eastern and southeastern Anatolia.