On Tuesday, the Turkish military fired across the border with Syria onto positions of the jihadist group known as the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). This action marked a first for the Turks, spurringcommentary that Ankara has finally become aware of the supposed danger of its permissive border policy with Islamist groups in Syria.
Perhaps. Or perhaps the shelling was an attempt by Turkey to deflect criticism from the US, as the incident occurred as anonymous US officials have taken to the media to criticize Turkey and other regional backers of the Syrian rebels. The likely purpose of this media campaign is to get allies to fall in line behind the White House’s preferences in Syria and the direction of its regional policy more broadly.