Your trusted source

A prominent political commentator says the administration of US President Obama will not make any statement in order to condemn a recent crackdown by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan against opposition.

William Jones, with the Executive Intelligence Review, made remarks during an interview with Press TV from Leesburg on Tuesday.

“You know Obama administration made no statement about Erdogan’s crackdown on opposition. It probably wouldn’t make it at all,” he said.

The remarks come after Turkish police raided a television station and a newspaper close to self-exiled US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, and detained a number of people, including the paper’s editor-in-chief.

Elaborating on the reason behind the US silence, the analyst noted that Washington was seeking Turkish assistance in order to purse a common agenda across the region with regard to the ISIL.

“I think it is still a very important relationship. The US now getting involved in the major military operation in the region against the ISIL has been playing very nice with Turkey. It is a kind of soft-peddling,” he stated.

Turkey has so far been reluctant to take part in combat operations against the ISIL militants, or allow a US-led coalition to use its airbases. Ankara is believed to be a main supporter of the ISIL.

The remarks come as a US-led coalition is striking ISIL positions in both Iraq and Syria, but there is skepticism on both sides of the border about the real objective of the airstrikes.

Touching upon the Turkey’s internal situation, Jones suggested that Erdogan was in trouble and his heavy-handed tactics against opposition wouldn’t serve his long-term objectives.