Posted on 07/25/2015 5:07:27 AM PDT by markomalley
Turkey’s decision to send fighter jets against Isil positions in Syria and open its Incirlik and Pirinçlik air bases to US jets is a step change in its involvement in the fight against militant jihad.
Whether it turns into open war on Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is another matter.
The deal between the reluctant AKP government in Ankara and the United States has been a year in the making, though only announced after Isil effectively declared war by bombing a cultural centre in the Turkish border town of Suruc.
Turkey has until now tolerated Isil to some extent, even on its territory as it recruits fighters and smuggles them with their weapons into Syria. The AKP and Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have always believed the Bashar al-Assad regime is the real threat to peace; Isil can be dealt with after it has gone.
Events of the last few months have changed that, and not just the direct threat to Turkey that Isil represents.
More important is the increasingly complex nature of the fighting in northern Syria. The regime has - in line with Turkey’s wishes - all but disappeared from Syria’s northern border areas. But it is not the rebels, whom Turkey has backed in all their variety from the start of the conflict, that have taken its place.
The two dominant forces along the 500-mile border now are Isil and Syria's Kurds, led by the PYD, a party allied to Turkey’s own banned Kurdish movement the PKK.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
To translate the article (with some "minimal" editorializing):
Erdogan's objective is to wipe out a secular opponent (Assad) and then subsequently dealing with a rival caliphate. After all, his intention is to re-establish the Ottoman caliphate to its previous "glory."
It disgusts me to no end that Turkey is a NATO “ally”.
The JV "effectively" declared war? How did they get in? Is it your fault that your borders aren't sealed properly? Are you sure it wasn't a gas leak? Are you sure you're dealing with this possible internal "workplace violence" and/or "isolated incident" effectively? Is Obambam trying to send some armaments? Is this international Fast and Furious with hidden agendas? Did you get U.N. approval? So many questions...
/sarc
Obama is the opposit of Westboro, different side of same coin. Cuz God hate f@gs vs. Obama hates Christians.
The strike against ISIS is just a fig leaf for the attack on the Kurds.
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