Turkey is a member state of NATO. The USA is required to come to the defense of Turkey should that country be attacked, and vice versa. That ought to make Turkey a friend of the USA, right? Well, not exactly.
Turkey has one of the largest military forces in the world. Its troops have good equipment and training. Turkey has a formidable fighting force. In addition, Turkey just happens to be located on the northern border of Syria and Iraq. If one wanted to find a military force to confront ISIS, the Turks would be good choice. Obviously, Turkey has no obligation to fight ISIS; the Turks can sit on the sidelines and watch the people in Iraq and Syria getting slaughtered, and they have chosen to do that. Turkey, however, does have an obligation not to assist ISIS if it wants to remain on good terms with the USA. As a result, the Turks have given lip service to fighting ISIS while doing just the opposite. Since ISIS became a threat, the supply lines to ISIS have run through Turkey. The fighters who come from around the world to join the ranks of ISIS make their way to Syria through Turkey. Somehow, tens of thousands of these foreign "volunteers" have no trouble going to Turkey and crossing into Syria to reach ISIS. The Turks make no effort to stop them. On the other hand, when the Kurdish city of Kobane in Northern Syria was under siege by ISIS last year, the Turks had no trouble preventing thousands of Kurdish volunteers from crossing the border to join the fight against ISIS.
Now we are seeing yet another move by the Turkish government to help ISIS. Reuters is reporting that the Turks are greatly reinforcing military forces along the border with Syria. The Turkish minister of defense says that no action is imminent; this is just a "precaution". The key, however, is what that minister says could cause action by the Turkish troops. He talks about the danger of the war in Syria spilling over into Turkey, but that danger has been in place for over a year and nothing has happened. The minister then says the should the Kurds continue to advance and take control of more of the border on the Syrian side, that would be an event the would likely cause a Turkish reaction. Think about that. When ISIS controlled much of the border between Syria and Turkey, the Turks did nothing. When the Kurds in Syria pushed the ISIS terrorists out of much of that area, however, Turkey is threatening action AGAINST THE KURDS. That would put Turkey fighting on the same side as ISIS.
Turkey is one of the four countries that have significant Kurdish population. Something like 20-25% of the population of Turkey is Kurdish. That's a bigger percentage of Kurds than in Iraq, Iran or Syria. One of the great fears of the Turkish government is that the Kurdish success in Syria will encourage the Kurds in Turkey to join with them to try to form their own country. The governments in Iran and Iraq have similar fears about the Kurds in their countries.
Right now, president Obama has the USA doing next to nothing to help the Kurdish forces fighting ISIS. Obama is too busy trying to win favor with Iran to allow any meaningful help to go to the Kurds. It is an extremely shortsighted policy. The Kurds are and have been friends of the USA. They are the one fighting force that is actually taking the fight to ISIS. They need weapons but they don't ask for US soldiers. When Americans fought in Iraq, the Kurds were firmly on our side while the Iranians smuggled bombs and other weapons in to those who fought our troops. It is simply wrong for Obama to put the USA on the side of those who murdered our soldiers instead of those who have been our allies.
I doubt that Obama is likely to change the US policy regarding weapons for the Kurds any time soon. Nevertheless, the USA needs to warn the Turks that actions across the border against the Kurds will be viewed very unfavorably by America and that there will be major negative consequences for Turkey should that action be taken. Of course, such action by Obama would require both an understanding of the realities in the Middle East and the courage to do what is right. That makes the chances of that action ever happening quite small.
Turkey has one of the largest military forces in the world. Its troops have good equipment and training. Turkey has a formidable fighting force. In addition, Turkey just happens to be located on the northern border of Syria and Iraq. If one wanted to find a military force to confront ISIS, the Turks would be good choice. Obviously, Turkey has no obligation to fight ISIS; the Turks can sit on the sidelines and watch the people in Iraq and Syria getting slaughtered, and they have chosen to do that. Turkey, however, does have an obligation not to assist ISIS if it wants to remain on good terms with the USA. As a result, the Turks have given lip service to fighting ISIS while doing just the opposite. Since ISIS became a threat, the supply lines to ISIS have run through Turkey. The fighters who come from around the world to join the ranks of ISIS make their way to Syria through Turkey. Somehow, tens of thousands of these foreign "volunteers" have no trouble going to Turkey and crossing into Syria to reach ISIS. The Turks make no effort to stop them. On the other hand, when the Kurdish city of Kobane in Northern Syria was under siege by ISIS last year, the Turks had no trouble preventing thousands of Kurdish volunteers from crossing the border to join the fight against ISIS.
Now we are seeing yet another move by the Turkish government to help ISIS. Reuters is reporting that the Turks are greatly reinforcing military forces along the border with Syria. The Turkish minister of defense says that no action is imminent; this is just a "precaution". The key, however, is what that minister says could cause action by the Turkish troops. He talks about the danger of the war in Syria spilling over into Turkey, but that danger has been in place for over a year and nothing has happened. The minister then says the should the Kurds continue to advance and take control of more of the border on the Syrian side, that would be an event the would likely cause a Turkish reaction. Think about that. When ISIS controlled much of the border between Syria and Turkey, the Turks did nothing. When the Kurds in Syria pushed the ISIS terrorists out of much of that area, however, Turkey is threatening action AGAINST THE KURDS. That would put Turkey fighting on the same side as ISIS.
Turkey is one of the four countries that have significant Kurdish population. Something like 20-25% of the population of Turkey is Kurdish. That's a bigger percentage of Kurds than in Iraq, Iran or Syria. One of the great fears of the Turkish government is that the Kurdish success in Syria will encourage the Kurds in Turkey to join with them to try to form their own country. The governments in Iran and Iraq have similar fears about the Kurds in their countries.
Right now, president Obama has the USA doing next to nothing to help the Kurdish forces fighting ISIS. Obama is too busy trying to win favor with Iran to allow any meaningful help to go to the Kurds. It is an extremely shortsighted policy. The Kurds are and have been friends of the USA. They are the one fighting force that is actually taking the fight to ISIS. They need weapons but they don't ask for US soldiers. When Americans fought in Iraq, the Kurds were firmly on our side while the Iranians smuggled bombs and other weapons in to those who fought our troops. It is simply wrong for Obama to put the USA on the side of those who murdered our soldiers instead of those who have been our allies.
I doubt that Obama is likely to change the US policy regarding weapons for the Kurds any time soon. Nevertheless, the USA needs to warn the Turks that actions across the border against the Kurds will be viewed very unfavorably by America and that there will be major negative consequences for Turkey should that action be taken. Of course, such action by Obama would require both an understanding of the realities in the Middle East and the courage to do what is right. That makes the chances of that action ever happening quite small.
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