The AKP's public relations disaster

The evacuation of the Süleyman ?ah tomb, and its relocation a hundred meters from the Turkish border, is a public relations disaster for the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government.

President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an and Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu, with support from their spin doctors in the media, are trying to present this as a major military success. They will have a hard time convincing a large segment of the population.

There is bound to be some doubts even among AKP supporters given what is surfacing about the operation and the degree to which Ankara cooperated with Syrian Kurdish forces that are allied with the Kurdistan Workers? Party (PKK).

Süleyman ?ah was the grandfather of Osman, the founder of the Ottoman Empire. His tomb is the only piece of sovereign Turkish territory outside of Turkey, based on a 1921 agreement between Turkey and France, the mandated power in Syria at the time. Not many Turks knew of the existence of the tomb until the Syrian civil war. Since then it has been the cause of much chest-beating by the government.

Davuto?lu is on record saying the tomb, and the Turkish soldiers garrisoned there, would be defended to the end, especially after it was encircled by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Given this backdrop it is not hard to understand why the whole affair is a public relations disaster for the government. 

Last year?s raid against the Turkish consulate in Mosul by ISIL, and the taking hostage of its personnel ? including the consul general ? is clearly not something Ankara wanted to see a repeat of. 

Given that the consulate building is reportedly being used by ISIL as its headquarters, the possibility that something similar might happen at the...