Turkey demands Nato talks over Isil threat
NATO will hold an emergency meeting tomorrow after Turkey demanded talks on military operations against Isil and Kurdish forces.
The meeting between Nato’s 28 ambassadors will take place in Brussels and could see Turkey ask its allies for military assistance against the jihadists.
Jens Stoltenberg, the Nato Secretary-General, said Turkey requested the meeting “in view of the seriousness of the situation after the heinous terrorist attacks in recent days”. He added: “Nato allies follow developments very closely and stand in solidarity with Turkey.”
There was speculation last night that Turkey could ask for surveillance aircraft to help seal its 500-mile border with Syria. Over the weekend, Turkey increased air strikes against Isil and Kurdish separatists in Iraq.
Yesterday David Cameron argued that Isil could only be defeated if countries united against “one of the biggest threats our world has faced”.
TURKEY has called for an emergency Nato meeting tomorrow to discuss security after Ankara stepped up its assault on Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) and Kurdish opposition forces with intensified air strikes.
All 28 Nato allies will meet tomorrow in Brussels after Ankara made the request under Article 4 of the Nato treaty, when “the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the parties is threatened”.
Turkey could ask its Nato allies for military assistance in the fight against Isil or call for the establishment of a “safe zone” in northern Syria.
Reports suggested that Ankara could ask for surveillance aircraft to provide assistance on its Syrian border.
Ahmet Davutoğlu, the Turkish prime minister, yesterday said he would not send ground troops into Syria but agreed with the US on the need to provide air cover for “moderate” Syrian rebels fighting Islamic State.
Although Britain cannot be forced to take action by Nato, David Cameron, who has spoken of the need to tackle Isil, would politically be in a difficult position to refuse.
The crisis began last Monday, when a suspected Isil suicide bomber blew himself up at a cultural centre in southeastern Turkey, killing 32 mainly Kurdish youth activists who were intending to ferry aid to the Syrian Kurdish enclave of Kobane six miles away, across the border.
Kurds immediately rounded on the government, blaming its laxity in patrolling the 500-mile border with Syria. The PKK, the outlawed Kurdish separatist group, has since claimed responsibility for a series of revenge attacks which killed three policemen in separate incidents.
On Saturday, two Turkish soldiers were killed and four others wounded when a car bomb struck their convoy in the Kurdish-majority province of Diyarbakir.
The attack occurred when an armoured military vehicle was travelling to Lice district to subdue Kurdish protesters in the area, according to Turkish state media. It added that “security forces have launched a wide-scale investigation to find the perpetrators”. It was accompanied by another attack on a police station in Diyarbakir that caused no injuries.
In addition to launching air strikes against Isil and PKK positions in Syria and northern Iraq, Ankara has detained hundreds of people with suspected links to both groups.
“As of now, a total of 590 terror-- linked people who pose potential threat to Turkey are under detention,” said Mr Davutoğlu in a press conference on Saturday, according to reports.
Yesterday, Turkish jets again pounded PKK targets in northern Iraq, which PKK described as effectively ending the two-year ceasefire with the group.
The US has backed Turkey’s air strikes against the PKK, saying it “has a right to take action”.
“Turkey requested the meeting in view of the seriousness of the situation after the heinous terrorist attacks in recent days, and also to inform allies of the measures it is taking,” Nato said in a statement.
‘Turkey requested the meeting in view of the seriousness of the situation after the heinous attacks’