Turkey's Syria policy in the Aleppo-Russia test

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Dec. 6 said the situation in Aleppo case was a "disgrace" for the West.

While she was speaking, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım was in Moscow shaking hands with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev before meeting with President Vladimir Putin. 

Ankara has been the most determined supporter in the fight against the Bashar al-Assad regime throughout the five-year civil war in Syria. It has also been a firm advocate of the opposition resistance in Aleppo against the al-Assad forces, backed by Russia.

A vote on Dec. 5 in the U.N. Security Council on a proposal for a week-long cease-fire to supply humanitarian goods to trapped people in the city was vetoed by Russia and China, two of the five permanent members. Encouraged by the vetoes, Damascus stated on Dec. 6 that there would be no cease-fire until the rebels are wiped out of Aleppo. Merkel's remarks came after this vote.

They could also be taken as strong and belated self-criticism on behalf of the West. Turkey's Syria policy has had a number of contradictions and inconsistencies, but who in the West has had a consistent and responsible Syria policy? Turkey got into risky relations with Islamist groups in the Syrian opposition, leading to awful consequences such as a greater wave of terrorism. But the U.S., a NATO ally, has gotten into risky relations with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), after idly watching the emergence of ISIL for years.

Again on Dec. 6, outgoing U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said there were actually six wars going on in Syria, referring to Turkey in three of them. It seems that for Kerry, Turkey has been a bigger problem in Syria than the...