{"id":849,"date":"2014-09-04T00:25:54","date_gmt":"2014-09-04T00:25:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.firdevstalkturkey.com\/?p=849"},"modified":"2014-09-12T22:49:10","modified_gmt":"2014-09-12T22:49:10","slug":"where-will-turkey-fit-in-an-anti-isis-coalition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.firdevstalkturkey.com\/where-will-turkey-fit-in-an-anti-isis-coalition\/","title":{"rendered":"Where will Turkey fit in an anti-ISIS coalition?"},"content":{"rendered":"
Summit meeting of NATO Heads of State and Government, opening in Wales on the 4th of September is likely to be the platform to shape an international response to Islamic State (ISIS). Over the next three days, leading NATO powers, including Turkey will be discussing options for dealing with the threat posed by ISIS in Iraq and Syria as well as on their home soil.<\/p>\n
The United States and Britain will be leading the efforts to come up with a viable and coordinated action plan. \u00a0\u00a0With two American citizens already beheaded, and a British aid-worker threatened with the same fate by ISIS, President Barack Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron are under increasing pressure to come up with a coherent strategy.<\/p>\n
President\u2019s Obama\u2019s reluctance to get involved in Iraq and Syria inevitably limits the range of military options.\u00a0 Last year, the British Parliament voted against an intervention in Syria. This, too, makes Mr Cameron\u2019s options limited. Nato also has formally ruled out an involvement in Iraq and Syria.<\/p>\n
There is now a growing consensus that the most effective approach will be to create a coalition of the countries from the region to tackle ISIS. The most obvious members of such an alliance would be Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and the Kurdish forces both in Iraq and Syria.<\/p>\n
Some commentators believe that in order to defeat ISIS, it is necessary to encourage Sunnis to revolt against the jihadis.<\/p>\n
Ambassador Dennis Ross who served as a special assistant to President Obama from 2009 to 2011 wrote for the Washington Institute<\/a> \u00a0that the region\u2019s leading Sunni powers, the Saudis, Emiratis, Jordanians and Turks must all play a role.<\/p>\n Others think that the coalition must not be confined to Sunni powers but the alliance must include Iran and Syria, too.<\/p>\n With a UN commission of inquiry \u00a0report<\/a> on\u00a0 Syria this week \u00a0making clear that both the Syrian government and ISIS have been committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, it is not easy to swallow the option of \u00a0building \u00a0bridges with the Assad regime even if ISIS is perceived to be greater threat.<\/p>\n