Why is Turkey in Nato?

Turkish soldiers sat on their assess while ISIS threatened a Kurdish city in Syria on the border with Turkey. Turkey doesn't want to act because it doesn't want to encourage its own Kurds. What's the point of having this country as an "ally"?

The US has used airpower to try to push back ISIS, but says they have tanks and there's nothing the US can do from the air. Whatever happened to those warthogs they used to have for tank busting?

2 words: Dardanelles and Bosphorus

Because they border Russia.

Next dumb question ....

1st The A10's are Afghanistan and US/Korea DMZ assigned. 2nd call the POTUS after he's done smoking his bong and keg. The US Executive branch has been MIA since 08.

My wife's cousin was a Canadian Army trooper in Cyprus during that near endless "peacekeeping" mission, there. (He was a Lynx driver.)
Anyway, they often had contact with Greek and Turkish soldiers there while conducting their mission. He said that the Turks were ALWAYS respectful, professional and helpful and that the Greeks were arrogant, obstructive and that they treated the Canadians like shit, every chance that they could get. I suspect that the Turks represent the "better part" of NATO and that they will probably prove to be better allies than the "Club Med." members will.

Does anybody REALLY trust the French to come to the aid of our alliance? Back in deGaulle's day, they declared themselves to no longer be a member.

Not so far. Meanwhile the French have conducted bombing raids, and had one of their people beheaded as a result. While there might be a new confrontation brewing with Russia, the world is a lot more complex, and Turkey is not being a good ally right now. Respectful or not.

The Turks are in a very complicated situation vis-à-vis Syria, the Kurds. Those tanks are idling and are ready to roll but they also live in that neighbourhood and, perhaps, they know a few things that we don't.

Not this shit again. That was the excuse given why Ukraine couldn't stand up to the rebels. It's clear Turkey is playing both sides here, just because they are afraid of their own Kurds. In fact is seems a lot of trouble in the region comes about because everybody is afraid to piss off Turkey and properly arm the Kurds so they can defend themselves. Time to hold Turkey's feet to fire, make a decision which side they're on. Same with all the arab "allies" - always some good reason why they can't fully stand up to ISIS or such. Time to call bullshit. The system the West (ie US) has supported there is collapsing. Trying to prop it up just isn't working anymore. Keep it up and we'll be caught behind the 8 ball again - time to get in front of it. Maybe pay a bit more for gas.

Turkey playing Russian Roulette??

The politics of Islam is complicated.

The two key reasons Turkey is reluctant to get into the fight on the ground is that their involvement directly assists Assad who Turkey has been actively trying to depose.

The second reason is their involvement begins to empower and even legitimise the Kurds in their borders whose aspirations of independence Turkey has been suppressing for generations.

For Turks those issues would be as repugnant and not all that dissimilar in nature to the American government cooperating with Al Qaida to help the Chinese gain significant control over Mexico and also allow Mexican migrants to create an autonomous Latino state out of parts of Arizona, New Mexico, California and Texas.

It's the same with funding terror by the gulf states. We bray on about our holy cause, but continue to do business with states that are a major source of funding for terrorists and jihad worldwide. Heaven forbid that our business people be prevented from making money making deals with the scum that run those states. Better just to send our soldiers to die over there while keeping the system going. The Brits might be the most guilty of this, but with Bush smooching and holding hands with that Saudi ruler, the US isn't far behind, and Barry's doing no better. Capitalism at its finest.

I've always wondered whether terrorism is a convenient bogeyman to keep the people in line and allow more and more restrictive govt. That Bush didn't really want to find Bin Laden, because he made a much better stalking horse out there.

Turkey is going to have to make up its mind which side of the fence its on. I doubt that having ISIS on its border is any better than Assad, as ISIS begins to infiltrate Turkey. And the Turkish Kurds are getting restless because Turkey won't help the Syrian Kurds. These people are playing with fire.

U.S. to press Turkey on Thursday to step up in battle against ISIS

Turkey's inaction despite its supposed participation in a coalition forged to crush the extremist group is frustrating Washington and its NATO allies, and reviving a rebellion by Turkish Kurds.

Amid fears the Kurdish town of Kobani could fall any day, U.S. and NATO officials are travelling to Turkey on Thursday to press negotiations for more robust Turkish involvement in the coalition.

With its ambitious demands, Turkey may be betting that its geography makes it an indispensable partner and that it can leverage that position to force the U.S. and its allies to expand the coalition mission — an assumption that is causing frustration in Washington and strains within NATO, a senior U.S. administration official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record.

Adding to the pressure on Ankara, Kurds in Kobani and in Turkey accuse the Turkish government of standing idly by while their people are being slaughtered and even impeding their own efforts to save Kobani. The anger boiled into violence Tuesday, amid widespread protests that threatened to derail promising talks to end three decades of insurgency by the PKK militant group. Nineteen people were killed as Kurdish activists clashed with police and members of an Islamist group in Kurdish areas across the country. The jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan has warned that the peace process will end if Kobani falls.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/u-s-to-pre ... -1.2793365