Will Turkey Fight Against ISIL?

It appears that the Erdoğan we saw before he talked to US Vice President Joe Biden in New York was different to the Erdoğan after. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who previously mentioned that Turkey would join the campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) with humanitarian aid alone, pledged to participate in the ground operation; this raised confusion in Turkey.
Obviously, Biden convinced Erdoğan. Nothing remains confidential in the world and we will see soon the source of Biden's powers of persuasion. For the present time, what matters is that Turkey will join the coalition forces; but will it fight against ISIL like Saudi Arabia? Perhaps the Western media has published reports suggesting that Turkey supported ISIL in order to persuade Erdoğan. It is impossible that the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government helped ISIL and maintained some sort of organic relationship with it. In addition, it is hard to believe that Turkey will subscribe to a policy focusing on ISIL.
Even though ISIL is an imminent threat for Turkey, the experienced and rational political actors in Turkey are aware that this group is not a structural problem in the Middle East and that it is a product of what has happened over the last decade. The proper method to deal with ISIL is to eliminate the circumstances that created it. For this reason, it is logical to believe that the war waged against ISIL is an operation to divert attention from the actual purposes. After Saudi Arabia actively joined the coalition, there was no problem for Turkey to take part in this war in terms of regional equilibriums. When joining this operation of diversion, you need to have some other calculations. What could be Turkey's calculation? The answer to this question should be sought in the dynamics that created ISIL and the balances it changed, including the Iranian factor and the Syrian civil war.
The way ISIL perceives and interprets Islam is the same as the official religion of the Saudi state. The only difference between the Salafi orientation of the Saudi state and the Salafi ideology held by ISIL is the latter's reliance on violence. This faith which identifies Shiites as its enemies is actually fostered by strong Arab nationalism. After the dramas in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Iraq and Syria, this interpretation has become pretty attractive in the Sunni world. Turkey is still the only country that is able to respond to this appeal differently. Turkey is home to a moderate Sunni version of Islam that is inconsistent with the Salafi ideology and tendency. It is a pretty complicated task to categorize or classify the different strands and forms of Islam from a theoretical perspective. Instead, you should take a look at the practices and lifestyles that are products of these different religious interpretations to see the difference. Salafism generates pretty violent and radical movements that rely on extremism. The civilian versions of Islam involving the sects and communities in Turkey, on the other hand, promote coexistence and tolerance. The merciless war Erdoğan is staging against the Gülen movement poses greater problems and troubles than whether or not he will take part in the coalition against ISIL. Because of the comfort associated with immunity to such extremist movements, Turkey views ISIL as a conjectural problem produced by regional affairs rather than a lasting and permanent threat.
The opportunity for peace the ISIL threat offers because they are attempting to destroy the Kurds is one of these conjectural opportunities for Turkey. The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) threatens Turkey with terror all the time, but this threat is not credible when the Kurds seek refuge in Turkey as they flee ISIL terror. Deputy Prime Minister Yalçın Akdoğan, who is responsible for the settlement process, criticized the PKK leadership, saying, “You should fight against ISIL instead of staying in Kandil minding your business.” This statement is the product of this comfort. Turkey may fight against ISIL, but it will make its final decision based on the decisions of other actors and its own dynamics instead of how ISIL is doing.

MÜMTAZER TÜRKÖNE (Cihan/Today's Zaman)