Foreign Affairs
Related: About this forumTurkey could cut off Islamic State’s supply lines. So why doesn’t it?
In the wake of the murderous attacks in Paris, we can expect western heads of state to do what they always do in such circumstances: declare total and unremitting war on those who brought it about. They dont actually mean it. Theyve had the means to uproot and destroy Islamic State within their hands for over a year now. Theyve simply refused to make use of it. In fact, as the world watched leaders making statements of implacable resolve at the G20 summit in Antalaya, these same leaders are hobnobbing with Turkeys president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, a man whose tacit political, economic, and even military support contributed to Isiss ability to perpetrate the atrocities in Paris, not to mention an endless stream of atrocities inside the Middle East.
How could Isis be eliminated? In the region, everyone knows. All it would really take would be to unleash the largely Kurdish forces of the YPG (Democratic Union party) in Syria, and PKK (Kurdistan Workers party) guerillas in Iraq and Turkey. These are, currently, the main forces actually fighting Isis on the ground. They have proved extraordinarily militarily effective and oppose every aspect of Isiss reactionary ideology.
But instead, YPG-controlled territory in Syria finds itself placed under a total embargo by Turkey, and PKK forces are under continual bombardment by the Turkish air force. Not only has Erdoğan done almost everything he can to cripple the forces actually fighting Isis; there is considerable evidence that his government has been at least tacitly aiding Isis itself.
It might seem outrageous to suggest that a Nato member like Turkey would in any way support an organisation that murders western civilians in cold blood. That would be like a Nato member supporting al-Qaida. But in fact there is reason to believe that Erdoğans government does support the Syrian branch of al-Qaida (Jabhat al-Nusra) too, along with any number of other rebel groups that share its conservative Islamist ideology. The Institute for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University has compiled a long list of evidence of Turkish support for Isis in Syria.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/18/turkey-cut-islamic-state-supply-lines-erdogan-isis
KoKo
(84,711 posts)What you Say....that does raise questions.
Jesus Malverde
(10,274 posts)KoKo
(84,711 posts)Just had to post that "last paragraph:"
mwrguy
(3,245 posts)Kind of like the Soviets allowing Polish partisans to get exterminated by the nazis before moving in.
Putin is Stalin going against the Polish Partisans? Putin is Stalin to you? You don't get much into WWII and the Conflicting Forces?
Look.......there's much bitterness left over from WWII...but, you'd need to make your point better for us to understand "in context" of today.
mwrguy
(3,245 posts)Turkey is acting like the Russians did in WWII, letting group A get wiped out by group B before dealing with B.
KoKo
(84,711 posts)mwrguy
(3,245 posts)There is no mention of Putin in my post.
Hell, he wasn't even born yet in WWII.