Wednesday

27th Sep 2023

Turkey requests emergency Nato meeting on Syria

  • Turkey has invoked article 4 of the Nato treaty (Photo: svenwerk)

Turkey is stepping up airstrikes against Islamic fighters in Syria and Kurdish PKK separatists in Iraq as the regional conflict escalates.

On Sunday (27 July) Turkish F-16s hit Kurdish militant camps in northern Iraq in response to a car bomb attack blamed on the rebels.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

The moves are likely to unravel any chance of peace between the two sides and follow a separate Turkish attack against Islamic state fighters in Syria on Friday.

Turkey’s prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Ankara’s military excursions “can lead to consequences which can change the game in Syria, Iraq and the entire region”, reports the BBC.

Davutoglu said Turkey has no plans to send ground troops into Syria.

Ankara has since requested an emergency meeting with its Nato allies on Tuesday after invoking article 4 of the Nato treaty, used whenever a member feels threatened.

Nato in a statement said it would “follow developments very closely and stand in solidarity with Turkey”.

“Considering the recent developments in #Syria and by the PKK, #Turkey needed to take a very dif(ficult) step,” Turkey’s president Tayyip Erdogan tweeted.

The EU’s policy chief Federica Mogherini, for her part, told Turkey’s foreign minister to maintain the peace process with Kurdish people.

“Any action taken should avoid the risk of endangering the ceasefire and the Kurdish peace process”, she said.

The Kurds, who are asserting their independence near the Turkish border, are also fighting against the Islamic state in Northern Syria.

Last week, a bomb killed around 30 young Kurds near the border town of Suruc. That attack was blamed on the Islamic State.

But the PKK held Ankara responsible and then killed two Turkish police officers in a revenge attack the following day.

Turkey then launched a military campaign against Islamic State fighters in Syria, which quickly expanded to include air strikes against Kurdish positions in Iraq.

Turkish troops, tanks, and heavy artillery had also pushed into Syria to drive away IS fighters. One Turkish soldier was killed in the fighting along with some 30 jihadists.

Meanwhile, the PKK have long accused Ankara of helping the Islamic State by allowing supplies and foreign fighters to cross into Syria along its 800 km border.

US special forces in May raided an Islamic State compound in eastern Syria to stop a jihadist leader from smuggling Syrian oil and selling it on the black market to mainly Turkish buyers.

The oil smuggling trade is thought to have contributed several million to Islamic State coffers on a daily basis.

A senior EU official told this website in February, in reference to prices in 2014, that IS can produce oil for around $12 per barrel and then sell it for around $100.

“If you don’t control the passage of goods out of the borders than you cannot stem these informal trade networks, which include anything that may have some commercial value,” said the official.

The rapid expansion of the Islamic State last year caught international observers off guard after it seized Mosul and then took over large swathes of Syria and Iraq.

US-led efforts to crackdown on IS in Syria were frustrated by Ankara’s refusal to allow coalition planes to launch attacks from inside Turkey.

But Turkey’s government has changed its position. Last week it lifted the airspace restrictions against the coalition in a move welcomed by Washington.

Turkey and Nato meet, plan IS-free zone

Turkey is meeting Nato allies in Brussels to discuss its anti-terrorist operations amid reports it will co-operate with the US-led coalition to create a buffer zone in Syria free of Islamic state militants.

EU’s €500m gender violence plan falls short, say auditors

The 'Spotlight Initiative' was launched in 2017 with a budget of €500 million to end all forms of violence or harmful practices against women and girls in partner countries, but so far it has had "little impact", say EU auditors.

Latest News

  1. Germany tightens police checks on Czech and Polish border
  2. EU Ombudsman warns of 'new normal' of crisis decision-making
  3. How do you make embarrassing EU documents 'disappear'?
  4. Resurgent Fico hopes for Slovak comeback at Saturday's election
  5. EU and US urge Azerbijan to allow aid access to Armenians
  6. EU warns of Russian 'mass manipulation' as elections loom
  7. Blocking minority of EU states risks derailing asylum overhaul
  8. Will Poles vote for the end of democracy?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators, industry & healthcare experts at the 24th IMDRF session, September 25-26, Berlin. Register by 20 Sept to join in person or online.
  2. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  3. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  4. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators & industry experts at the 24th IMDRF session- Berlin September 25-26. Register early for discounted hotel rates
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch
  6. Nordic Council of Ministers20 June: Launch of the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  2. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable
  3. World BankWorld Bank Report Highlights Role of Human Development for a Successful Green Transition in Europe
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic summit to step up the fight against food loss and waste
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersThink-tank: Strengthen co-operation around tech giants’ influence in the Nordics
  6. EFBWWEFBWW calls for the EC to stop exploitation in subcontracting chains

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us