Initially a reluctant participant in the international coalition against Islamic State militants, Turkey last week (July 24) launched its first
ADVERTISEMENTInitially a reluctant participant in the international coalition against Islamic State militants, Turkey last week (July 24) launched its first bombing raids on IS positions in neighbouring Syria.
The strike came after a suicide bomber killed 32 young Kurdish activists in the Turkish border town of Suruc.
On Tuesday (July 28) NATO held an emergency session to discuss the increasingly unstable situation along Turkey’s border.
“All allies stand in solidarity with Turkey,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters after the meeting in Brussels. “Terrorism poses a direct threat to the security of NATO countries and to international stability and prosperity. NATO is playing its part in addressing these challenges. All allies are part and contribute to the global coalition against ISIL.”
NATO, however, stopped short of joining a Turkey-US initiative to clear IS militants out of Northern Syria and create a security zone along the Turkish border.
As well as the threat from IS, Turkey is also facing renewed hostilities with Kurdish rebels from the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK.
Relations broke down after the Suruc attack, which Kurds blame on the Turkish government.
Speaking to reporters in Ankara, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today confirmed that the fragile peace talks with the PKK were over.
“Now, there is a truth: in this country, in my opinion, it is impossible to continue the solution process with those threatening our national unity and brotherhood.”
After the Suruc attack, PKK gunmen killed two policemen who they accused of collaborating with the IS bomber.
They also target a military convoy in Diyarbakir province, killing two soldiers.
Turkish authorities responded by launching a series of airstrikes on a PKK base in Northern Iraq.
Hundreds of people have been arrested in terror raids across the country, accused of supporting the outlawed PKK guerrillas.
World leaders have pleaded with both sides to keep the peace process alive – apparently to no avail.