Turkey wants to inform its allies about the action against the Islamic State
(B2) An exceptional meeting of the North Atlantic Council (NAC) in ambassadorial format will take place on Tuesday (July 28), following Turkey's request to hold Article 4 consultations, a statement confirmed. statement by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
Turkey has, in fact, requested the holding of consultations, after the attacks of recent days, and to inform the Allies of the measures it has decided to take. NATO member countries follow developments very closely and express their solidarity with Turkey.” says the press release.
NB: According to Article 4, any Ally may request consultations whenever, in the opinion of one of them, its territorial integrity, its political independence or its security is threatened. This article has been triggered several times, mainly by Turkey: in 2003 on the Iraqi conflict, and twice, in 2012, at the start of the Syrian conflict, in particular after the destruction of a Turkish plane off the coast of Syria. Poland had also contacted the Alliance in March 2014 to raise the alarm about Russia's action in Ukraine.
The attack on Suruc sows the end of a certain Turkish angelism on the Islamic State?
It all started on Monday (July 20) when a suicide attack killed 32 in Suruç, while Kurdish students gathered at the cultural center to participate in the reconstruction of Kobané on the other side of the border in Syria. The Turkish government denounces a terrorist attack and blames the organization of the Islamic State (Daesh / ISIL). A rather late indictment. The Turkish power having often had a complicated attitude with this organization.
On Wednesday (July 22), two Turkish police officers were found dead, shot in the head, in Ceylanpinar, a border town with Syria. Murder claimed by the PKK (Workers' Party of Kurdistan).
Air strike against the Islamic State... and the PKK
On Friday (July 24), Turkey authorizes the American army to use its bases to carry out air raids towards Syria and Iraq – a belated concession to the allied offensive against ISIL. It also launches its own air offensive against the Islamic State in Syria, and takes the opportunity to also strike PKK bases in northern Iraq. The Kurdish movement reacts by indicating that the ceasefire in force since 2013 is broken. " The conditions are no longer in place to observe a ceasefire. says a statement from the PKK. Nearly 600 people are arrested across Turkey.
On Saturday (July 25), three police officers and a civilian were injured by gunfire. unidentified gunmen in the Okmeydani district of Istanbul. Two Turkish gendarmes were killed and 4 others injured after their car was targeted in the Diyarbakır area. A police station is attacked in the Bağlar district of Diyarbakır without victims this time, etc.
The air raids continued all weekend. All leave for Turkish army units has been cancelled, the daily Hürriyet reported on Sunday (July 26).
(NGV)
