How will Turkey gain power abroad when it can't protect its borders?
Turkey's ineffectiveness in protecting the city of Kilis on the Syrian border points to how unlikely it is that the government will fulfill its ambition to become a regional power.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is very effective and convincing when it comes to intimidating dissenters in Turkey or bullying the European Union. But so far his words have carried no weight in tackling the Islamic State (IS) next door.
Since January, IS has been raining missiles down on Kilis, a Turkish city on the border with northern Syria. The assaults have taken the lives of 21 people, including eight Syrian refugees, and wounded scores of others. Many buildings have been devastated. The people mostly remain indoors, day and night.
