The end of Turkey as an ally?

[Shah-i-Kot]

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2014/09/the_end_of_turkey_as_an_ally.html

September 14, 2014
The end of Turkey as an ally?

By Thomas Lifson

Turkey has made a decision to not only refuse to join the “broad coalition” against ISIS that President Obama promised Wednesday night is more than just a major slap in face for Obama and America. It also presents an obstacle to the success of the president’s promised “degradation and destruction of the caliphate. As The Wall Street Journal notes:

Was it only a week ago that Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel listed a "core coalition" of 10 countries willing to join the U.S. effort to destroy the Islamic State? Since then Britain has categorically ruled out military strikes in Syria, while Germany has ruled out any use of force. Now Turkey is bugging out.
The Turkish abdication goes a step further than the Brits or Germans. Not only will Ankara take no military action, it will also forbid the U.S. from using the U.S. air base in Incirlik—located fewer than 100 miles from the Syrian border—to conduct air strikes against the terrorists. That will complicate the Pentagon's logistical and reconnaissance challenges, especially for a campaign that's supposed to take years.

Turkey is behaving more as an opponent than an ally:

…the reality [is] a Turkish government that is a member of NATO but long ago stopped acting like an ally of the U.S. or a friend of the West. Former U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Francis Ricciardone declared this week that the Turkish government "frankly worked" with the al-Nusrah Front—the al Qaeda affiliate in Syria—along with other terrorist groups. Ankara also looked the other way as foreign jihadis used Turkey as a transit point on their way to Syria and Iraq. Mr. Ricciardone came close to being declared persona non grata by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government last December.

This disaster is a deep embarrassment for bothe President Obama and former Secretary of State Clinton, who both went out of their way to proclaim the virtues of their diplomacy that made Turkey such a great friend.
This American Thinker article from July cites the close relationship that Obama and the lady in waiting, Hillary Clinton, thought they had with the Turkish leader.

"As far as the relationship between the United States and Turkey is concerned, according to the former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Ankara is amongst the best and staunchest allies of America. On the one hand, Ms. Clinton was so excited about the idyllic relations between Barack Obama and Erdogan’s Turkey that she gave a joyous high five to the Turkish Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davitogly, during their meeting in Abu Dhabi back in 2011.
On the other hand, in one of his statements Mr. Obama indicated that he considers the Prime Minister of Turkey, Mr. Tayyip Erdogan, as one of the five international leaders he considers to be his best friend.
The most important part of the problem is that while the prime minister of Turkey is playing a shrewd politically correct game with his influential American friend, who hears from him everything he would like to hear, Erdogan’s strategy in Syria is completely different."

As Ed Lasky notes, the basis of the friendship between Erdogan and Obama is based on other common interests than Syria: “He is one of Obama’s best friends because he is anti-Israel, anti-Semitic and anti-American.
Hat tip: Mike Nadler

[Shah-i-Kot]

Btw, I inadvertently locked myself Shah-i-kot account with a password issue. The admins are going to fix it.

It seems that there is now a lot of focus on Turkey in the Western press due to their refusal to support and be a part of the US/Western military intervention in Syria and Iraq that helps Assad and Iran. This actually was Turkey's main objection towards US/Western military intervention.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/21/world/europe/us-criticizes-efforts-to-intimidate-times-reporter-in-turkey.html

http://www.voanews.com/content/us-turkey-relations-suffering-over-islamic-state/2455776.html

US-Turkey Relations Suffering Over Islamic State


Dorian Jones
September 19, 2014 2:07 PM

ISTANBUL— Turkish state sources say that relations with the West are strained and Turkey may not allow coalition planes to use Turkish airspace for attacks against the Islamic State militants in Iraq. The Turkish government is facing growing pressure from Washington amid allegations that it provides tacit support for the militants.
Turkish officials say that relations with the United States has been suffering from ups and downs behind the scenes.
Turkey borders both Iraq and Syria, and there are Islamic State bases close to its frontier. Ankara is seen as key to the U.S.-led coalition against the jihadist group. In the past few weeks, both the U.S. secretary of defense and secretary of state have visited Ankara.
Secretary of State John Kerry this week told the U.S. Senate that Ankara knows what is expected of it.

"Turkey understands the challenges, believe me. We have had some very candid conversations about it. Turkey will have to make its decisions in the days ahead. We will see what happens," said Kerry.
But some regional analysts say there is little room for compromise on the issue of the Islamic State. One of the main reasons is an incident last June when the militants overran Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city. The group took over the Turkish consulate there, capturing 49 people, including the consul general. They are still held hostage.
But political scientist Nuray Mert of Istanbul University says there are growing questions beyond the issue of the hostages regarding the motives of the Turkish government's strategy in dealing with the militants.
"The hostage issue, it's not even certain it is using it as a pretext not to do anything. Turkey is losing more and more creditability in the eyes of its Western allies in terms of taking enough measures against radical Islamist groups," said Mert.
Turkey officially lists the Islamic State a terrorist group, but Ppesident Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been reluctant to use that label.
At the end of June, shortly after the militants captured the consulate, he warned Turkish media and the political opposition not to pressure him into making “provocative statements regarding this group.” Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu more recently referred to Islamic State as “a radical organization with a terrorist-like structure.”
As a result, Ankara is being accused of turning a blind eye to the Islamic States recruitment efforts in Turkey.
President Erdogan this week angrily condemned such claims.
He says some international media outlets try to equate Turkey with terrorism. There is no such thing as Turkey offering weapons and medical aid to terrorist groups.
This week U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations committee, voiced his concern.
"These foreign fighters are crossing often from Turkey, which either because of fear or maybe ideology has declined to participate to stop that flow of fighters and to counter ISIL," said Menendez.
Analyst Mert says the conservative Islamist background of the country's ruling party means Turkey needs to be far clearer in words and actions in its condemnation of the Islamic State fighters.
"They have been reluctant to be seen as critical of any movement, no matter how brutal or whatever, to be critical of anything made in the name of Islam. So it leaves room for skepticism. Let alone all these accusations especially on the behalf of Kurds, that Turkey is helping some radical groups, against Kurdish advances in Syria," he said.
With the international coalition rapidly stepping up efforts against the militants, some regional analysts warn that pressure on Ankara to take an unequivocal stance is likely to grow.

[asad71]

Turkey is the sword arm of Islam. She has returned to the fold of the Ummah. Alhamdullilah! Allah be praised.