NATO Says Would Help Defend Turkey If Threatened By Islamic State

[Purveyor]

August 11, 2014, Monday/ 13:22:06/ REUTERS / BRUSSELS

NATO would take all steps necessary to defend alliance member Turkey if it were threatened by Islamic State fighters who have made gains in neighbouring Iraq and Syria, Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Monday.

"We are very much concerned about the activities of the so-called Islamic State, which is a bunch of terrorists, and it is of utmost importance to stop their advance," Rasmussen told Reuters in an interview.

"If any of our allies, and in this case of course particularly Turkey, were to be threatened from any source of threat, we won't hesitate to take all steps necessary to ensure effective defence of Turkey or any other ally," he said.

Short article, nothing further...

http://www.todayszaman.com/diplomacy_nato-says-would-help-defend-turkey-if-threatened-by-islamic-state_355282.html

[IronGate]

1. I hope ISIS are stupid enough to try to take on Turkey,

Turkey has a well trained, well equipped, well led military and they would make short work of ISIS.

[gordianot]

2. Well gee good to know your alliances work, just maybe the terrorist are smarter than Sarah Palin....

They know what continent they are on and there is a NATO.

[CJCRANE]

3. My housemate just said to me...

"So we're now fighting the people we were helping before?"

He hates watching the news because it's "too depressing" and isn't interested in politics because he thinks "they're all the same". He's pretty much just into sports and fitness so I don't talk to him about current events.

However, I haven't seen him for a few days so I thought it was interesting that even he's figured out that there's something not quite right going on here.

[NuclearDem]

4. I seriously doubt we were ever "helping" ISIS.

The groups we were supposed to be helping (FSA, among others) aren't exactly their friends either.

That said, some of those arms and funds were bound to end up in ISIS hands one way or another.

[Bragi]

5. NATO officials always want more war

It's what they do. Fortunately, the governments in NATO are not always as keen to rush into conflicts as NATO bureaucrats.

However, if the IS decides to make Turkey part of the new Caliphate, the stress lines in Turkish society and politics will be severely tested. Turkey has a powerful anti-secular Islamic governing party and administration, a pro-secular army that's been downgraded and sidelined, and a polarized population divided into secular and religious factions. What's going to happen there in coming months and years -- even without an IS thrust -- isn't at all clear.

Having said that, an IS move into Turkey would give NATO countries an easily-explained opportunity to mount a full-scale war against IS in Turkey, which may be where we're headed, whether or not Turkey approves.

Anyway, if you ever wanted to visit Turkey (a historically fabulous and naturally beautiful country) I'd say do it sooner rather than later.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

6. Duh! Turkey is a NATO member country.

http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/nato_countries.htm

If a NATO member is threatened, the others come to it's aid. The exception would be if two members were fighting one another. Then we get to choose which child we love more.