"Syria & Iraq will haunt Turkey long ..."

[From Taraf] 

"Duzel:  What were Turkey’s worst mistakes?Iskit:  Syria and Iraq. We meddled in Iraq’s internal politics, took a stand against Maliki and supported his Sunni rivals. In Syria, we were too hasty and adopted a militant stand to get rid of Assad; Erdogan regarded Assad as his kid brother who would do what he is told. In fact, Turkey’s analysis of Syria was wrong. We thought everything in Syria was in Assad’s hands and we overlooked the structure of the regime. We ignored the strong roots and networks of the Baath regime, and kept on challenging Syria. It was inevitable that it backfired. Turkey is not a Middle Eastern country and doesn’t know the rules of the Middle East game. That is why we repeatedly make mistakes...."