My 11/7 letter in the Jerusalem Post on Turkey

Submitted by Dave (United States), Nov 21, 2018 at 18:46

Note: I realize that no mechanism currently exists to expel a NATO member. Nevertheless...Talking Turkey

A recent news article by Seth Frantzman ("US facing crisis in Syria as Turkey shells Kurds," Jpost.com, November 4) discusses the increasingly problematic dilemma of NATO ally Turkey working at cross-purposes to our goals. This crisis will only worsen as Turkey continues its devolution into extremism.

One consequence of this extremism has been racially motivated nationalism that has manifested itself in violent suppression of our Kurdish allies, pro-Western moderates whose help has been so crucial in the fight against ISIS. In addition, the Kurds provide valuable stability to the areas they control; attacking them undermines our basic strategy in Syria.

Another consequence has been Turkey's quiet effort to aid ISIS in Iraq. According to Iraqi general Aref al-Zebari in an October 25 report in Breitbart, Turkey has permitted foreign agents to pipeline support to the remaining recently defeated ISIS fighters in Mosul to help them regroup.

As hard as it is to accept, Turkey can no longer be considered a reliable ally and should be expelled from NATO. We should cut off all military aid to Turkey, withdraw our bases and cease intelligence sharing. Turkish President Recep Erdogan is hell-bent on transforming Turkey into a Sunni version of Iran. As future confrontations will be inevitable with such a state, we could come to regret having helped arm it.

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