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TURKISH INACTION ON ISIS ADVANCE DISMAYS THE US - THE NEW YORK TIMES
11:50 * 08.10.14
By Mark Lander, Anne Bernard and Eric Schmitt
As fighters with the Islamic State bore down Tuesday on the Syrian
town of Kobani on the Turkish border, President Obama's plan to fight
the militant group without being drawn deeper into the Syrian civil
war was coming under acute strain.
While Turkish troops watched the fighting in Kobani through a
chicken-wire fence, Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said
that the town was about to fall and Kurdish fighters warned of an
impending blood bath if they were not reinforced -- fears the United
States shares.
But Mr Erdogan said Tuesday that Turkey would not get more deeply
involved in the conflict with the Islamic State unless the United
States agreed to give greater support to rebels trying to unseat the
Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad. That has deepened tensions with
President Obama, who would like Turkey to take stronger action against
the Islamic State and to leave the fight against Mr. Assad out of it.
Mr Erdogan has also resisted pleas to send his troops across the border
in the absence of a no-fly zone to ward off the Syrian Air Force.
Even as it stepped up airstrikes against the militants Tuesday, the
Obama administration was frustrated by what it regards as Turkey's
excuses for not doing more militarily. Officials note, for example,
that the American-led coalition, with its heavy rotation of flights
and airstrikes, has effectively imposed a no-fly zone over northern
Syria already, so Mr. Erdogan's demand for such a zone rings hollow.
"There's growing angst about Turkey dragging its feet to act to prevent
a massacre less than a mile from its border," a senior administration
official said. "After all the fulminating about Syria's humanitarian
catastrophe, they're inventing reasons not to act to avoid another
catastrophe.
"This isn't how a NATO ally acts while hell is unfolding a stone's
throw from their border," said the official, who spoke anonymously
to avoid publicly criticizing an ally.
Secretary of State John Kerry has had multiple phone calls in the last
72 hours with Turkey's prime minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, and foreign
minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, to try to resolve the border crisis,
American officials said.
For Mr. Obama, a split with Turkey would jeopardize his efforts to
hold together a coalition of Sunni Muslim countries to fight the
Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. While Turkey is not the
only country that might put the ouster of Mr. Assad ahead of defeating
the radical Sunnis of the Islamic State, the White House has strongly
argued that the immediate threat is from the militants.
But if Turkey remains a holdout, it could cause other fissures in the
coalition. It is not only a NATO ally but the main transit route for
foreigners seeking to enlist in the ranks of the Islamic State.
http://www.tert.am/en/news/2014/10/08/obama-erdogan/
11:50 * 08.10.14
By Mark Lander, Anne Bernard and Eric Schmitt
As fighters with the Islamic State bore down Tuesday on the Syrian
town of Kobani on the Turkish border, President Obama's plan to fight
the militant group without being drawn deeper into the Syrian civil
war was coming under acute strain.
While Turkish troops watched the fighting in Kobani through a
chicken-wire fence, Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said
that the town was about to fall and Kurdish fighters warned of an
impending blood bath if they were not reinforced -- fears the United
States shares.
But Mr Erdogan said Tuesday that Turkey would not get more deeply
involved in the conflict with the Islamic State unless the United
States agreed to give greater support to rebels trying to unseat the
Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad. That has deepened tensions with
President Obama, who would like Turkey to take stronger action against
the Islamic State and to leave the fight against Mr. Assad out of it.
Mr Erdogan has also resisted pleas to send his troops across the border
in the absence of a no-fly zone to ward off the Syrian Air Force.
Even as it stepped up airstrikes against the militants Tuesday, the
Obama administration was frustrated by what it regards as Turkey's
excuses for not doing more militarily. Officials note, for example,
that the American-led coalition, with its heavy rotation of flights
and airstrikes, has effectively imposed a no-fly zone over northern
Syria already, so Mr. Erdogan's demand for such a zone rings hollow.
"There's growing angst about Turkey dragging its feet to act to prevent
a massacre less than a mile from its border," a senior administration
official said. "After all the fulminating about Syria's humanitarian
catastrophe, they're inventing reasons not to act to avoid another
catastrophe.
"This isn't how a NATO ally acts while hell is unfolding a stone's
throw from their border," said the official, who spoke anonymously
to avoid publicly criticizing an ally.
Secretary of State John Kerry has had multiple phone calls in the last
72 hours with Turkey's prime minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, and foreign
minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, to try to resolve the border crisis,
American officials said.
For Mr. Obama, a split with Turkey would jeopardize his efforts to
hold together a coalition of Sunni Muslim countries to fight the
Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. While Turkey is not the
only country that might put the ouster of Mr. Assad ahead of defeating
the radical Sunnis of the Islamic State, the White House has strongly
argued that the immediate threat is from the militants.
But if Turkey remains a holdout, it could cause other fissures in the
coalition. It is not only a NATO ally but the main transit route for
foreigners seeking to enlist in the ranks of the Islamic State.
http://www.tert.am/en/news/2014/10/08/obama-erdogan/