Calis Beach and Fethiye Turkey Discussion Forum

Turkey Related Subjects => Turkey Discussion Forum (Not Calis specifically) => Topic started by: Somerset Simon on July 24, 2015, 08:36:39 AM

Title: Turkey bombs Islamic State targets in Syria
Post by: Somerset Simon on July 24, 2015, 08:36:39 AM
From the BBC Website - it looks like Turkey are now aligning with the US.

Turkish planes have for the first time carried out air strikes against Islamic State (IS) group targets in Syria.

Turkish police also raided more than 100 properties in Istanbul, arresting 251 people linked to IS, the office of Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said.

On Thursday, Turkish forces exchanged fire with IS fighters near the Syrian border. One Turkish soldier was killed.

Turkey will now let the US launch air strikes against IS from the Incirlik air base, US officials have said.

The raids in Istanbul alone involved 5,000 officers. Members of the youth wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and of a far-left group were also arrested.

The state-run Anadolu news agency said there were also arrests in the cities of Ankara and Izmir and in Sanliurfa province, near the Syrian border.

In a separate statement, Mr Davutoglu's office said that F-16 jets had hit three IS targets in Syria.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-33646314
Title: Re: Turkey bombs Islamic State targets in Syria
Post by: JohnF on July 24, 2015, 10:17:37 AM
I think the IS link is a little bit of a smokescreen here.  No-one has published a breakdown (that I've read) of the arrest figures but I'm willing to bet that there has been a far higher number of Kurds arrested compared to IS members/sympathisers.

Or maybe I'm just being cynical...

JF
Title: Re: Turkey bombs Islamic State targets in Syria
Post by: kevin3 on July 24, 2015, 13:30:42 PM
I'm with you on that John, I think situations are being created for the benefit of one man, while the "opposition" bicker with each other.
So many chances for change being missed.
Title: Re: Turkey bombs Islamic State targets in Syria
Post by: kayakebab on July 24, 2015, 14:13:45 PM
 Some interesting articles about ISIL being manufactured by CIA...that wouldn't surprise me.
Title: Re: Turkey bombs Islamic State targets in Syria
Post by: JohnF on July 24, 2015, 14:16:18 PM
Not just the CIA...  I think you have to remember that IS, as it is known now, partially evolved from a raggety arsed collection of Syrian rebels who were being aided by more than one Western (and ME) country.

JF
Title: Re: Turkey bombs Islamic State targets in Syria
Post by: kayakebab on July 24, 2015, 15:52:07 PM
Yes, very true.
Title: Re: Turkey bombs Islamic State targets in Syria
Post by: apollo on July 24, 2015, 15:57:06 PM
Some interesting articles about ISIL being manufactured by CIA...that wouldn't surprise me.

If this is true , it proves that they have very short memories. It was not that long ago when they were "encouraging" the Taliban.
Title: Re: Turkey bombs Islamic State targets in Syria
Post by: Colwyn on July 24, 2015, 18:37:14 PM
I think the IS link is a little bit of a smokescreen here.  No-one has published a breakdown (that I've read) of the arrest figures but I'm willing to bet that there has been a far higher number of Kurds arrested compared to IS members/sympathisers.

Or maybe I'm just being cynical...

JF
I've just heard a BBC correspondent who, if not quite cynical, was certainly sceptical about recent events. In particular, he suspected that US use of Incirlik military airfield came with "strings". I wonder what those might be? Perhaps, "You can fly from here as long as you target Assad's forces"?
Title: Re: Turkey bombs Islamic State targets in Syria
Post by: KKOB on July 24, 2015, 18:55:41 PM
Given that the Americans built the base in 1951 and have been there ever since, currently with about 5,000 staff on base, I can't think what "strings" the Turks are attaching to their latest "permission".    ;)

Bear in mind that Incirlik Air Base was the main U-2 flight base in this entire region until 1 May 1960, when a volley of about 14 Soviet SA-2 surface-to-air missiles shot down the U-2 of the American CIA pilot Francis Gary Powers near Sverdlovsk, Russia, a test site in the Soviet Union's Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) program.
Title: Re: Turkey bombs Islamic State targets in Syria
Post by: kayakebab on July 24, 2015, 19:56:22 PM
The string is that for a long time Turkey have wanted a no mans land between the 2 countries, so I've read anyway.
Title: Re: Turkey bombs Islamic State targets in Syria
Post by: villain on July 27, 2015, 15:33:59 PM
On an entirely selfish level, I never thought that a Tunisia-type IS terror attack was likely in Turkey, but Erdogan has succeeded in making me jittery about potential renewed PKK activity.
Title: Re: Turkey bombs Islamic State targets in Syria
Post by: JohnF on July 27, 2015, 16:30:59 PM
In particular, he suspected that US use of Incirlik military airfield came with "strings". I wonder what those might be?

The string is that for a long time Turkey have wanted a no mans land between the 2 countries, so I've read anyway.

KK you are spot on.  That's the condition the Turkish government have supposedly attached to the agreement to allow Incirlik to be used for air strikes in Syria.  It wouldn't surprise me if the agreement also allows for Batman air force base, near Diyarbakir, to be re-opened to coalition forces.

JF