'We were outraged' when Turkey pulled a fast one right after the anti-ISIS deal | World Defense

'We were outraged' when Turkey pulled a fast one right after the anti-ISIS deal

Redheart

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US and Turkey tension in ISIS fight - Business Insider

An American military source told Fox News that US military leaders were "outraged" when Turkey began launching airstrikes against the Kurdish PKK in northern Iraq just hours after striking a deal with the US opposing the Islamic State, the militant group also known as ISIS, ISIL, or Daesh.

A Turkish officer entered the allied headquarters in the air war against ISIS and "announced that the strike would begin in 10 minutes and he needed all allied jets flying above Iraq to move south of Mosul immediately," the source said.

"We were outraged."

The US special forces stationed in northern Iraq advising and training Kurdish peshmerga fighters had virtually no warning before Turkish jets started striking the mountains, where the PKK is headquartered.

"We had no idea who the Turkish fighters were, their call signs, what frequencies they were using, their altitude or what they were squawking [to identify the jets on radar]," the source said.

Turkish military leaders asked coalition officers to reveal the trainers' specific whereabouts to avoid bombing them, but the officers flatly refused.

"No way we were giving that up," the military source said.

"If one of our guys got hit, the Turks would blame us. We gave the Turks large grids to avoid bombing. We could not risk having US forces hit by Turkish bombs."

The confrontation highlights the tension growing between the US and Turkey, which became a reluctant ally in the fight against ISIS after years of turning a blind eye to the militants' illicit activity on its southern border.

On July 24, Ankara announced it would begin to strike ISIS strongholds in northern Syria and would allow the US to do the same from its Incirlik airbase in southeastern Turkey.

The ongoing bombing campaign against PKK strongholds in northern Iraq came as a surprise, but it probably shouldn't have: Turkey has long seen the PKK — a designated terrorist organization that waged a three-decade insurgency inside Turkey — as more of an existential threat than ISIS, which refrained from launching attacks inside Turkey even as its militants lived and operated along the border.

"There is no difference between PKK and Daesh," Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.

But Ankara's recent anti-terror sweep — which has resulted in the arrest of more than 800 suspected PKK members, compared with just over 100 suspected ISIS sympathizers — and the intensity of its bombing campaign in northern Iraq has made it clear that Turkey's main goal is not to prevent the consolidation of ISIS, but to halt the creation of an autonomous Kurdish state along its southern border.

And blowback — most recently in the form of attacks on security forces and the US consulate in Istanbul — is becoming increasingly likely.
 

T-123456

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Surprise!
Really,you didnt know(yeah sure)?
 

Lieutenant

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So the US supports PKK terrorists with hand and fighting Daesh with the other one !
 

Corzhens

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Okay, I am at a loss again with this Turkish attack. This reminds me of the debacle in Mindanao when a hundred cops raided the den of a terrorist. The cops did not coordinate with the army who were stationed there because they don't trust the army - may be in cahoots with the terrorists, maybe. But that mistake costs the police 44 lives of their comrades. With the Turkish attack, that might be the case - they don't fully trust the US pilots.
 

Redheart

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After the attack on the U.S consulate I suppose the U.S has [or will quite soon] stop looking at the PKK through rose-tinted glasses. And as for the Kurdish terrorists they never should have trusted the U.S. This won't be the first time Uncle Sam betrays his allies.
 
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