In the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris, the third one this year in France, many people wondered whether Europe can ever be the same again.<\/p>\n
The heightened anxiety over security all over Europe will not go away anytime soon.<\/p>\n
Only days after Paris, another plot in Hannover was uncovered. With seven planned attacks foiled in the last six months in the UK, fears have been confirmed that another jihadi atrocity in Europe may be imminent. It is not \u2018if\u2019, but \u2018when\u2019, security experts, say.<\/p>\n
A week after the Paris attacks, westerners were targeted not on Europe, but in a West African former French colony, Mali. Islamist gunmen stormed the Radisson Blu hotel in Mali\u2019s capital Bamako on Friday, resulting in at least 27 deaths.<\/p>\n
The new sense of urgency to mount a more effective and coordinated response to the unprecedented threat from Islamist terrorism brought the EU\u2019s home affairs ministers together in Brussels this week.<\/p>\n
Introducing new border checks in the passport-free Schengen zone, strengthening controls at the external borders and adopting an intelligence-led approach to European security, the EU ministers agreed on a series of new measures, including steps to fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.<\/p>\n
Confronted with a major terrorist attack, the EU is in danger of rushing towards a fortress Europe. But the urge to act is not limited to tightening internal and external borders. \u00a0Shifting dynamics in Europe will create long lasting foreign policy consequences for everybody.<\/p>\n
We have already seen a significant change of attitudes towards Russia and a modified approach to the crisis in Syria.<\/p>\n
The European governments are facing growing pressure from their public to stem the inflow of refugees, and to work harder towards finding a solution to the Syrian conflict.<\/p>\n
Both as a gateway for refugees heading to Europe and as a key player in the Syrian crisis, Turkey is now bound to come under the spotlight more than ever.<\/p>\n
Along with other key players, Turkey has thought to have revised its Syrian policy in recent weeks. \u00a0Yet, listening to Turkey\u2019s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, you may wonder how far the changes go and how committed Turkey is in its support for the anti-ISIS coalition.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the Atlantic Council\u2019s annual Energy & Economic Summit in Istanbul on the 19th<\/sup> November, \u00a0President Erdogan has acknowledged that the terrorist attacks in Paris brought everyone to a new turning point. However, as far as Syria is concerned, three issues have remained important for him: creating a no-fly zone, and a safe zone together with the training and arming of Syrian opposition.<\/p>\n Did not the Americans and Europeans moved on and the Russian presence in Syria made those demands unworkable anyway?<\/p>\n Mr Erdogan again referred to ISIS and the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) as the two groups with no difference between them. He blamed al-Assad\u2019s regime for being the root cause of recent extremist violence, adding \u201cThose who are standing behind him are at least as guilty as he is.”<\/p>\n So, no sign of Turkey prioritising the fight against ISIS, then.<\/p>\n As for the highly embarrassing episode of Turkish football fans booing and shouting during the one-minute silence for the victims of the Paris killings and \u00a0the rendition of the Greek national anthem this week, the President only chose to chide<\/a> the disrespect shown to the Greek anthem but not to the people that died in Paris.<\/p>\n Initially, along with its NATO allies, Turkey had reluctantly accepted the recent Russian involvement in Syria. But on Friday, the 20th<\/sup> November, Turkey has summoned Russia\u2019s ambassador in an angry protest over the bombing by the Russian planes in the Bayirbucak area of northwest Syria, close to Turkey’s border. Calling for an immediate end to military operation, Turkish foreign ministry warned Russia of serious consequences.<\/p>\n The Bayirbucak Turkmens of Syria and the nature of Turkey\u2019s support to them are sensitive subjects. Turkey has been accused of supplying weapons to radical Sunni groups in Syria under the guise of sending humanitarian aid to Bayirbucak Turkmens. In Turkey, there has been a strict news-blackout for many months and those daring to investigate and reveal the murky goings-on have been prosecuted.<\/a><\/p>\n Together with the widely reported allegations<\/a> of Turkish involvement in marketing of ISIS oil, there are many unanswered questions about Turkish intelligence service\u2019s alleged role in arming radical Islamist groups in Syria.<\/p>\n