After British Military Forces launched its first airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq, will Turkey be the next to join and support the US-led coalition in its crusade against extremist group ISIS? The Turkish Parliament is still in deliberation whether to authorize the use of military force against Islamic State insurgency in Syria and Iraq.
Turkey, a NATO member, has refused to join the US-led coalition, posing only implicit support to some 40 nations that make up the group going after ISIS in Iraq and Syria. But that appears to have altered in recent days when tens of thousands absconding across its perimeter and reports that the tomb of the grandfather of the Ottoman Empire has been enclosed.
Despite its location inside Syria, the white marble mausoleum ossuary is considered a Turkish reserve. As part of the 1921 Treaty of Ankara, which concluded the Franco-Turkish War, Turkey was permitted to preserve the tomb, place sentinels at it and raise a Turkish flag over it.
On Tuesday, as Turkish militaries and tanks took up position along the border with Syria, Turkey's government place a motion before its Parliament requesting for approval to take military action against the terror group ISIS.
As per Turkey's semiofficial news agency Anadolu, legislators are anticipated to deliberate the measure in a special session Thursday before election, with one of the motives of increasing security threats posed to the tomb.
However on Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan dismissed reports that ISIS has surrounded the site. Meanwhile, newly appointed NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg emphasized at his first news conference Wednesday that the defense coalition was committed to protect and support Turkey if it comes embattled.
In line with the US-led coalition, airstrikes against ISIS have rain down over Iraqi and Syrian skies. And the attacks have already cost almost $1 billion, so the US could really use some help. While France, Britain and other Arab allies have supported America's crusade, Turkey's absence was remarkably noticed.
In the intervening time in Syria, where over a 3-year civil war furies on between the government forces and rebel groups including ISIS, twin explosions hit that nation's third largest city, Homs. The blasts befell near a school on Wednesday. As said by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, the death toll from the detonations has scaled to 39, with at least 30 children ages between 6 and 9 were killed. Syria's state-run SANA news agency said that an explosives-packed car was blowup minutes before a suicide bomber blew him up in front of the school. The bombings were programmed to correspond with students leaving school, to mete out maximum fatalities.
Turkey's debate over whether to support the fight against ISIS comes as an abundance of refugees from Syria has rocketed, with 150,000 people absconding to Turkey in recent days. Meanwhile, ISIS fighters armed with tanks and heavy artilleries advance on Kobani in northern Syria, abolishing villages along their way.
According to a 2011 NATO evaluation, Turkey has the second largest standing armed force in NATO with an estimated strength of 495,000 deployable militaries. Turkey is also one of five NATO member states which are part of the nuclear sharing dogma of the treaty, together with Belgium, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands. A sum of 90 B61 nuclear bombs are hosted at the Incirlik Air Base, 40 of which are apportioned for use by the Turkish Air Force in case of a nuclear crisis, but their use necessitates NATO's consent. With this information, Turkey's support against ISIS destruction would be very beneficial and advantageous to the US-led coalition.
Turkey has gone from declining to take part in the US-led coalition to its legislature voting on a motion that could lead the nation to support the battle against ISIS in Iraq and Syria and to allow foreign troops to use its territory for that purpose. Nonetheless, few believe Turkey to go in ordnances raging. It shares a long, susceptible border with both countries and dreads retribution, not least against Turkish troops defending an Ottoman sepulcher in Syria, which ISIS has loomed.
Turkey is a significant player in the coalition. The nation's support to the mission against ISIS is deemed vital and valuable. But how far is Turkey willing to go? Turkey's decision on the coalition is still indistinct but with the deliberation on its way, experts are hopeful that the nation will finally join and support the crusade.
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