Turkey to explain stance on anti-IS fight to visiting US envoy
A foreign ministry official in Ankara told AFP that Turkey would make clear its concerns and the threats the country faces to retired US general John Allen, the US special envoy for the coalition against IS.
Accompanied by the US pointman on Iraq, Brett McGurk, Allen will Thursday begin two days of talks with Turkish officials to seek greater support from Washington's Nato ally in the war on IS militants who have seized swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq.
"We and our allies have some problems, but they can be resolved," the foreign ministry official in Ankara told AFP on condition of anonymity ahead of the talks.
"Turkey and US have already reached consensus on several issues, including the fight against terrorism.
"During the talks, we will convey our concerns, our opinions and what kinds of threats Turkey is facing (from IS)," the official added.
IS militants are battling Kurdish fighters for control of the mainly Kurdish Syrian town of Kobane on the Turkish border.
While US-led air strikes have helped push back the fighters, pressure is mounting for more international action to save the town.
More than 200,000 mainly Kurdish refugees have fled to Turkey from Kobane, putting Ankara under increasing pressure to act.
The Turkish parliament last week authorised the government to take military action against IS extremists, but Turkey has so far announced no plans to carry out military operations.
Ankara is seeking a commitment from the West to move against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and implement a no-fly zone above Syria before even considering military action in the country.
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Turkey has taken a million and a half syrian refugees on its soil, is allowing the American aircraft bombing advancing ISIL forces, but has no intention to take the role of a bully in the region especially when dealing with Arabs.. It will not invade syrian territory to combat ISIL, unless other arab countries as well as its NATO partners participate in the invasion with the objective to remove both syrian and Iraqi regimes. Turkey's position is known to the American President and his erratic vice as well. General Allen is the man from the past when Vladimr Putin was a great pal and Turkey was under the influence of Turkish Generals. Things have changed now, the country with the largest contingent in NATO force will ask for a price for its sacrifices.
Rex Minor
Turkey has her own interest and she is least concerned in case Kobane falls and Kurdish fighters get killed by IS . Turkey , Saudi Arabia and USA too initially supported moderate rebels of Syria to take on Assad but Assad with the help / support of Russia was able to confront the rebels successfully . Later KSA and turkey helped entry of extremist militants hailing from country other than Syria which showed their brutality and started killing ethnic Shias in Syria causing civil war and consequently fleeing of common people to neighboring countries for shelter/ survival .Emergence of ISIS militants changed the scenario and the priorities of USA and Saudi Arabia get changed to stop/ destroy ISIS militants while Turkey's priority remain unchanged and that is removal of Assad and also the Kurds.. there shall be friction in the relations of Turkey and USA because of this unwillingness to take on Barbaric IS militants on their border ( to save the Kurds of Kobane.)