Turkey Calls for NATO Meeting to Discuss Security Threats
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Turkey called for a meeting of its NATO allies to discuss threats to its security and its airstrikes targeting Kurdish and Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) groups.
The move on Sunday came as Turkey's state-run media reported that Turkish F-16 jets again took off from the country's southeastern Diyarbakir air base to hit Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) targets across the border in northern Iraq. The PKK said Saturday that the airstrikes likely spelled the end of a cease-fire announced in 2013.
Hours before the call to convene alliance members, Turkish authorities said PKK fighters used a car bomb to target a military vehicle in the country’s southeast, killing two soldiers and wounding four others.
NATO announced that its decision-making body, the North Atlantic Council, would convene Tuesday after Ankara invoked the alliance's Article 4, which allows member states to request a meeting if they feel their territorial integrity or security is under threat.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry said Turkey would inform allies about the airstrikes, which followed an ISIL suicide bombing on July 20 near Turkey's border with Syria that left 32 people, mostly Kurds, dead.
Kurdish groups have blamed the Turkish government for not doing enough to prevent ISIL operations. On Wednesday, the PKK claimed responsibility for the killing of two policemen in the Kurdish majority city of Sanliurfa. The group has executed a number of low-level attacks on police and military since.
Turkey requested the meeting, Al Jazeera reported, which includes ambassadors of all 28 member countries, "in view of the seriousness of the situation after the heinous terrorist attacks in recent days," NATO said.
NATO itself is not involved in operations against ISIL, although many of its members are. As an alliance, however, NATO is committed to helping defend Turkey.
Since the ISIL suicide bombing and subsequent attacks by the PKK, Turkey has simultaneously targeted both groups in Iraq and Syria, and carried out widespread police operations against suspected Kurdish and ISIL operatives and other outlawed groups inside Turkey. Hundreds of people have been detained.
The PKK has fought Turkey for autonomy for Kurds in a conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives since 1984. The two parties signed a cease-fire in 2013.
The recent eruption of violence between Turkey and the PKK further complicates the US-led war against ISIL, which has relied on PKK-affiliated ground forces making gains in Iraq and Syria.
Late Saturday, the White House said Turkey has the right to defend itself against attacks by Kurdish rebels. Spokesman Alistair Baskey strongly condemned recent attacks by the PKK, which the US has designated a “terrorist group,” and said the PKK should renounce terrorism and resume talks with Turkey's government.
But Baskey also said both sides should avoid violence and pursue de-escalation.
Meanwhile, a deputy national security adviser to President Barack Obama said Sunday that Washington welcomed Turkey's "increased focus and accelerated efforts" against ISIL fighters.
