The party’s caretaker government seems uninterested in forming a coalition. A jihadist was also reported dead.
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“In the period to come, there is no chance of a respite on these two points”, said economist Gungor Uras in the Milliyet daily. Oh, and the construction boom in Christchurch that has been one of the few signs of life in the domestic economy has now peaked.
The prolonged absence of a government, however, has resulted in doubts as to the sustainability of both economic and political stability in the country, with business unions and conglomerates calling on political parties to compromise on a coalition nearly every day. Usually, the price of petrol at the pump is a reliable flashpoint.
Turkey, which is a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member, had shown years of reluctance to take part in the fight against ISIL.
The United States begins using Turkish bases to launch airstrikes using armed drones on Islamic State targets in Syria for the first time. His bombing the Kurdish forces – who have been fighting the ISIS terrorists in northern Iraq – amounts to supporting the terrorists.
Since Canada still has special forces operating with Kurdish fighters in the region and Canadian military pilots are also operating there, it’s critically important that Canadian authorities fully comprehend the realities underlying the involvement of Turkey in the battle against extremists in the Middle East. Turkish planes have been pounding camps of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in southeastern Turkey and northern Iraq, and the PKK has responded with attacks on security forces, leaving a two-year-old cease-fire in ruins.
Despite its North Atlantic Treaty Organisation membership, and its misleading image as supposedly the most Western of Muslim nations, Turkey is quite anti-American, more so than many Mideast Islamic states.
Earlier, PKK rebels attacked a military vehicle in neighbouring Sirnak province with an improvised explosive device and later opened fire at the vehicle, killing two soldiers, the military said.
Turkey is now in the anti-ISIS fight – and it’s unclear what happens next.
After months of reluctance, Turkish warplanes last week started striking militant targets in Syria and agreed to allow the U.S.to launch its own strikes from Turkey’s strategically located Incirlik Air Base.
Why, then, has Erdogan decided to move against the Syrian Kurds? America should stop taking them for granted. The YPG victory over Islamic State in the town of Tal Abyad this summer established a physical link between two of the three Kurdish cantons for the first time. He referenced American assurances that their operations are targeting the Islamic State, which he referred to as Daesh, and declared his government supports “any effort to combat Daesh in coordination and consultation with the Syrian government, otherwise it will be a breach of Syrian sovereignty“. In exchange, the U.S. would establish what effectively amounts to a no-fly zone along Turkey’s border in the region.
That’s where the problem arise.
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An offensive of this kind would have driven Islamic State from the border in its entirety. But so far the raids have overwhelmingly targeted the Kurdish rebels.
