Turkey, ISIS, the Kurds, Nato. It's complicated.

[cali]

Erdogan really wants Assad deposed and action on the part of the U.S. and allies against Assad. In addition, Turkey, as the posted article explains, is happy to see Kurds damaged- whether by ISIS or anyone else. And if they are attacked by ISIS, NATO gets in the game.



Islamic State: Why Turkey is hesitating to prevent fall of Kobane

The future of the Syrian town of Kobane hung in the balance Tuesday as the Islamic State’s three-week assault on the Kurdish-held enclave appeared to enter its endgame.

Its last hope likely hinges on Ankara, whose armed forces remain poised on the border only hundreds of yards from the battle, resisting mounting pressure from Turkey’s own Kurdish minority to assist Kobane's defenders.

Despite a range of strategic and ideological factors inclining Ankara against direct intervention, increasingly angry protests both in Turkey and abroad are creating mounting pressure for it to act.

<snip>

“Turkey is more than happy that the semi-autonomy declared by Syria’s Kurds is being demolished by the so-called Islamic State,” says Cengiz Aktar, a political scientist at Istanbul’s Suleyman Sah University.

<snip>

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2014/1007/Islamic-State-Why-Turkey-is-hesitating-to-prevent-fall-of-Kobane

[neverforget]

1. Who replaces Assad? What happens to Syria post Assad?

Turkey, Syria's neighbors and the world had better think about that one long and hard. Be careful of what you wish for and all that.....

[cali]

2. Who knows? What a freakin' mess.

[neverforget]

3. Is this one of those the devil we know is better than the one we don't deals?

It's a fucking disaster thanks to Bush and his "preemptive war".

[cali]

4. that's one jumping off point, but its a fucking disaster not only because of bush

[Baclava]

5. Turkey is happy to sit and watch