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2014-10-16 The Grand Turk

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Posted by Fred 2014-10-16 00:00|| || Front Page|| [1 views ] Top
File under: Islamic State

#1 Turkey wants Assad gone and Syria a Sunni state. ISIS are a means to that end and screw the West.

I'm a bit surprised Erdogan hasn't directly attacked Assad.

Posted by phil_b 2014-10-16 00:59|| 2014-10-16 00:59|| Front Page Top

#2 Oh, the fantasy of walling off the entire middle east, bar Israel, and letting the Turks, Arabs, Persians and Pashtun fight to the death while the rest of the world enjoys hot, buttered pop-corn.

Posted by AlanC 2014-10-16 07:38|| 2014-10-16 07:38|| Front Page Top

#3 Poor strategy? Turkey has three problems here: Assad, ISIS, and the Kurds. When this all plays out, they'll have one problem. They just don't know which one it'll be, and in the meantime, their opponents can slag each other.
The biggest threat to Turkey is that the surviving opponent emerges stronger than before. That's what the 'strategy' is intended to prevent.

Posted by ed in texas 2014-10-16 08:27|| 2014-10-16 08:27|| Front Page Top

#4 Ah excellent Ed, that actually makes sense.

Posted by Shipman 2014-10-16 09:22|| 2014-10-16 09:22|| Front Page Top

#5 I'm a bit surprised Erdogan hasn't directly attacked Assad.

There was that Turkish Phantom which was flying about over Syria and got shot down. Turkey also shot down a Syrian Aircraft.

I remember some arm waving on the former, calls for NATO protection. The latter may have been Turkey protecting a toll booth, or just wanting to shoot down a Syrian aircraft. That is, trying to pick a fight.

And if I remember correct, the Phantom shoot-down led to calls for a buffer zone and flight restriction so supplies from Turkey could go to Syrian refugees; basically ceding a chunk of Syria to Turkey. When that stalled, we had the dubious chemical weapon use incident, then the red line affair, in an attempt to bring world power against Assad.

Turkey has been trying to get Syria Assad for what, two three years now? without using the Turkish Military in a direct action.

I think Ed sums it up in a nice paragraph. Keep in mind Turkey has a say in Hellespont/Black Sea activities, as well as Cyprus/Israel activities.

Posted by swksvolFF 2014-10-16 12:58|| 2014-10-16 12:58|| Front Page Top

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