Thursday, July 23, 2015

Turkey Turns Guns on Islamic State as Clashes Spread Into Syria

I have often thought that since Turkey is a member of NATO that Turkey might be a better Choice (for NATO members) to be in charge of Syria than Iran or ISIS. So, what we might be seeing the the beginning of that. However, this wouldn't be good new for the Kurdish people because Turkey doesn't want Kurds to have their own country or countries in that region.

Turkey Turns Guns on Islamic State as Clashes Spread Into Syria

Turkey’s army clashed with Islamic State fighters across the Syrian border, signaling the NATO member may be ready to take a more active role in the fight against jihadists. There were also reports that Turkish special forces were carrying out operations inside Syria, and that the government will…
Bloomberg
Thu, Jul 23, 2015, 4:52pm EDT - US Markets are closed

Turkey Turns Guns on Islamic State as Clashes Spread Into Syria

Bloomberg
Turkey’s army clashed with Islamic State fighters across the Syrian border, signaling the NATO member may be ready to take a more active role in the fight against jihadists.
The exchange of fire on Thursday left one soldier and at least one of the militants dead, the army said on its website. There were also reports that Turkish special forces were carrying out operations inside Syria, and that the government will accede to a longstanding U.S. request and allow use of a key airbase for the fight against the militants.
Turkey officially joined the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State yet it has hitherto stayed in the background, putting a higher priority on ousting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and preventing Syrian Kurds from creating their own statelet.
The apparent change of course follows a suicide bomb blamed on Islamic State that killed more than 30 people, mostly pro-Kurdish activists, in a border town on Monday. Since then, a wave of violent reprisals has alarmed authorities and spooked markets, because it suggested that the four-year civil war in Syria was spilling into Turkey.
The country’s benchmark stock index was the world’s worst performer on Thursday, posting a 3.6 percent drop. Bonds and the lira also plunged.
Haberturk television said Turkey has taken the fight against jihadists into Syria, with special forces crossing the border to carry out operations there. It didn’t give details, and the report couldn’t immediately be confirmed.
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American RequestTurkey’s National Security Council met on Thursday. CNN-Turk television said that officials have agreed to give the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State access to the airbase at Incirlik, which has regularly been used in the past for American military operations in the Middle East.
U.S. President Barack Obama and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier discussed enhanced cooperation against Islamic State by telephone, according to the White House.
Under Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkey has been accused by its NATO allies, as well as the domestic opposition, of getting its priorities wrong in Syria.
While the U.S. has provided air support to Syrian Kurds, who have been among the most effective fighters against Islamic State, Turkish leaders have shunned them because of suspicion about ties with autonomy-seeking Kurds in Turkey.
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Coalition Vacuum
Critics, including the Kurds, also say that Turkey’s emphasis on the need to topple Assad has led it to turn a blind eye to Islamist militants fighting against him.
The lira slid 1 percent against the dollar on Thursday, hitting a one-month low, and yields on benchmark two-year debt jumped 17 basis points to 9.5 percent. Investors cited the combination of spreading violence from Syria and political stalemate at home.
In elections last month, Davutoglu’s party lost its parliamentary majority for the first time in more than a decade. It hasn’t yet been able to stitch together a coalition, raising the risk that the country will be forced to repeat the vote.
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